Fashawn's Top 10 West Coast Hip-Hop Albums Of All-Time

Fashawn: I didn't feel the pressure until I was halfway into the album. When I first started, a lot of people didn't really know about me. But as I started dropping mixtapes and really building my buzz up, that's when the comparisons started coming in, about halfway through the project. But me and Blu are two different people, two different perspectives on lives. When I first heard Below The Heavens, it was like a motion picture about a character, about what it was like just being alive at that time, that era—2006 or something like that. So to Exile I was like, "Yo, i would love to work with you. I would love for you to do my whole album, paint my life as a movie." Hes real diverse—Exile could take it anywhere, he's like Thelonius Monk on the MPC.

Complex: Do you think your next album will be a one-producer project, or do you plan on working with a bunch of different collaborators?

Fashawn: I think I might keep going with the one producer thing. I just like the creative aspect of that, man. You're challenging the producer and the producer is challenging the writer. I think that chemistry is priceless, so I might have to do that for the second album. There's a lot of people I would love to do a project with—Large Professor, that would be amazing. People like Scram Jones, definitely Evidence, of course. I want to work with Salaam Remi, a bunch of people, man.

Complex: You had the line "They call me Fashawn, but I don't design clothes." I know you're not really a fashion dude, but I saw you did some modeling for a clothing company a little while ago...

Fashawn: Yeah, this company called Orisu—I did my first ad in Holiday 2008. I'm in Fresno right now, and I'm riding past a store where they have my banner—I'm lookin at it. I remember growing up, we had nothing so we had to shoplift for clothes. If you got caught, they took a picture of you and put the picture in the front of the store like, "Don't let this kid in." Now I got my ad in front of the store and I'm getting free clothes. It's such a big transition.

Complex: You're a young dude from Cali, but I don't really see you dressing like these other kids, rocking tight, bright denim and all that. How would you describe your style?

Fashawn: I would it describe it as "Central Cali," man. In central Cali, the whole skater lifestyle has been around since the '80s, or further back, and I reflect that. You could walk the streets around Fresno and all the kids, theyre most likely riding a skateboard or listening to A Tribe Called Quest on an iPod. That's what my fashion reflects, that world.

Complex: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I saw you skating a little bit in the "Sunny, CA" video. That was you, right?

Fashawn: Yeah, no stunt double! That was me. I've been skating about as long as I've been rapping. I'd probably beat Lupe Fiasco in skating [laughs]. If he's reading this, I'd like to challenge him to a skate-off.

Complex: You also came up writing graffiti, right? What was your name?

Fashawn: BRIEF 1. People always say i talk short, I don't say much, I always say less than necessary, which is where "brief" comes from. I used to write for this crew called 37cents—they still reign supreme here in Fresno, niggas know about it. But I put my Krylons back in the closet. I'm clutching mics now, but i still got my blackbook.

Complex: One of the only other rappers from Fresno who's blown up on a national level is Planet Asia. You must have been around 10 years old when he was coming out in the late '90s...

Fashawn: When I first heard of Planet Asia, i thought it was an Asian guy [laughs]. Or I thought it was a group. But then i saw him in concert for the first time at Fresno State University, it was crazy. He was the first artist to bubble outside from Fresno, gain notoriety in the Bay Area, LA, or even places like Germany, New York. He was the first and only cat to look up to from my town to have a deal with Interscope.  It was crazy when he embraced me. The legendary Planet Asia telling me I'm the future—that just really gave me a battery in the back, an extra boost of energy. I just started writing crazy.

Complex: Actually, aside from Planet Asia, there's one other well-known rapper from Fresno—Kevin Federline. How did Fresno feel about K-Fed's debut when it came out?

Fashawn: [Laughs.] Man, I dont think people were tripping off his music that much, especially when you compare that to what he did for Britney Spears—people talk about that more than anything. A Fresno cat bagged a pop princess, made her his baby momma? That's some Fresno shit! [Laughs] I don't think anyone's talking about his music though.

Complex: Okay, before we wrap this up, I gotta ask—did you ever watch Boy Meets World when you were a kid?

Fashawn: Definitely! Big Fan!

Complex: Did you have a crush on Topanga? Tell the truth.

Fashawn: Definitely! She was very hot. Her lips were incredible! And other things...but, yeah. [laughs]

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