Born in 1988, Fashawn grew up in a virtually parentless home. His father was incarcerated, while his mom battled a drug addiction – a combination that caused a boy to become a man quicker than most. Placed in a group home by child services at the age of 12, Fashawn found solace in music, and began writing rhymes to escape the less than desirable hand he had been dealt so early in life.
Eventually taken in by his uncle, Fashawn spent his teenage years calling Fresno, California his home. Here is where he would find skating, the distractions of the streets, and the pursuance of his music career to be more rewarding than school. Yet, he had a constant thirst for knowledge that extended beyond the streets, so he became an avid reader with an affinity towards non-fiction and motivational books.
In 2006, Fashawn released his first mixtape, “Grizzly City”. Catching the attention of fellow Fresno emcee, Planet Asia, Fashawn was invited to go on the road with him. Knowing this was a chance of a lifetime; the then 17-year-old emcee dropped out of school to follow his dreams and has never looked back.
In 2009 Fashawn released his debut album Boy Meets World
(from Wikipedia.org which we here at grownheadz think he wrote himself but that’s aight, somebody gotta do it)
ANYway, just a reminder: these are not the complete songs, just 90-second clips so you can get a feel for the music. If you like what you hear, buy the CD. If we want good hip hop to flourish, we’ve gotta support the artists.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve been bumping song 5, Life as a Shorty, for the last couple weeks straight. Hip hop needs songs like that. So often our songs about childhood and growing up are a litany of complaints about how terrible it was, but we need someone to say it was all right sometimes, even if it wasn’t easy.
“I guess time flies/
when you’re having fun/
so enjoy life, you only get one/
I loved my childhood/
despite the gunfire/
I was quite happy growing up in the slums/
It wasn’t too bad/
Having a few dads/
the only thing I disliked was not having cash…”
I’ve been bumping song 5, Life as a Shorty, for the last couple weeks straight. Hip hop needs songs like that. So often our songs about childhood and growing up are a litany of complaints about how terrible it was, but we need someone to say it was all right, even if it wasn’t easy.
“I guess time flies/
when you’re having fun/
so enjoy life, you only get one/
I loved my childhood, despite the gunfire/
I was quite happy growing up in the slums/
It wasn’t too bad/
Having a few dads/
the only thing I disliked was not having cash…”
Best quotable:
I loved my childhood, despite the gunfire/
I was quite happy growing up in the slums/
It wasn’t too bad
having a few dads/
the only thing I disliked was not having cash/
What I did for a couple of bucks/
Life as a shorty shouldn’t be so rough
–Life As A Shorty