If you think you’re seeing double, think again! Rappers Rich and Fameus aren’t only a hip hop duo, but also twins! And they’re breaking into the scene with their new mixtape Don Cannon Presents: Ready for Takeoff and their brand new video for their song Fired Up! Find out more in their Kidzworld Q&A.
Kidzworld: How did you first become interested in music?
- Fameus: We first got interested in music back in the day when we did the whole choir thing, growing up our mother made us, even though we just wanted to play sports. We did a couple of talent shows and we actually were called Boys to Men 2, and then we kind of got distracted with sports for a while but kind of jumped back into it by accident, Rich actually was invited to the studio by a guy we went to school with who was all heavy into music and wanted to put one of us a song and when everyone heard it they asked ‘yo who is the guy on the second verse?’. So that pretty much started it off, after that Rich kept writing and I kept jumping in, and here we are today!
KW: Your mixtape Ready for Takeoff is available for download, what did you want the feel of it to be like?
- Rich: When we sat down to do this mixtape, we thought of the word mixtape and we thought we wanted it to be like a ‘fixtape’, we want people to think it was a mixtape but hear it and say ‘wow this is an album’. We wanted an album sound. The way we went about it we decided to just go with what we feel, our manager brought us a beat and we just sat down and got inspired. Our producer is great at that up-tempo but not really dance sound and with good lyrics, it was kind of an easy process. We recorded in a great place, so we were inspired. You can hear a different vibe on this track, so everybody will be able to get jumping.
KW: Who are some artists you look up to?
- Fameus: Some new guys like Drake but also the legends like Jay-Z, for different reasons. Drake is a new artist, and even though he honestly has great music I like the fact that he’s himself, he’s not worried about image and being all flashy about it and that’s what Rich and Fameus is all about, actually being yourself. If you look at someone like Jay-Z you know he has hundreds of millions of dollars but he has a way of explaining himself and telling his stories without just doing the usual, and that’s what our brand is about: inspiring the other 90 per cent of the population that is not rich and famous and that can’t be rich and famous. It starts in your heart, like you can rock a chain even if it’s a wooden chain.
KW: What was it like filming the video for "Fired Up"!
- Rich: It was a blast, it was exactly the way the video looked, it was just a fun time. We went out to Orlando, had fun with it, invited some friends over. You look at the video and feel like you can just jump in the TV and grab a red cup, that’s the feel we wanted.
KW: What was some of the best advice you ever got?
- Fameus: Pretty much the best advice I ever got in the studio is “be yourself and let it all out.” Like whatever you gotta do, if you gotta go across the country and get in the car and drive, keep grounded and stay humble and keep that inner feeling of who you are who are before other people tell you who you are. Where I’m going, I’m already a star, I don’t need someone to tell me.
- Rich: For me it’s as long as I’m having fun, everything is good, you know? You gotta have fun with this thing, there’s gonna be ups and there’s gonna be downs, some good times and some bad times but as long as you’re having you’ll be able to keep going forward.
KW: What’s it like being brothers and performers together, do you ever get sick of each other?
- Fameus: We’re twins, we shared the womb and every day we’ve spent a bunch of time together but the unique thing that me and Rich have which is we kind of have a thing where we’re competitive and we bring the best out of each other but we don’t every fight to the point where I don’t want to be around him or he doesn’t want to be around me. We don’t really take anything too seriously. We used to always fight over who will introduce the records.
KW: Do you think being from the Bronx has influenced your music?
- Rich: I think it definitely does, you know cause we’re not thugs but it gives us that understanding that life is not easy, and it gives us that edge, that little swagger you hear in the verses.
- Fameus: Growing up in the Bronx helps shape our whole brand because we’re doing it for everyday people just struggling, the Bronx helps us to see that, we want to inspire people to see that it’s not just where you’re at that’s important.
KW: What is the coolest thing that’s happened to you since you started making music/performing?
- Rich: I have to be honest, I will have to say the most memorable moment is when I first ripped off the package on the Take Off CD, I know it sounds kind of corny, but listening to it, it was like ‘wow, this is mine.’ It kind of sealed the deal for me mentally.
KW: What are your favorite hobbies outside of music?
- Rich: Me and Fameus are big sports fans, we watch sports, we play basketball, play catch, we don’t try to get too serious now because we don’t want to risk an injury, but we’re huge sports fans. We’re not big gamers! We’re not always in front of the play station and stuff.
- Fameus: I am just a sports maniac. We’ve always played sports, and you know having fun with the ladies and partying it up with our red cups, like any other regular dudes. We like to enjoy life to the fullest.
Check out Rich and Fameus' new video "Fired Up" below!
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