MN Fats sat down to chop it up with us at The Source to discuss his position in the game while on Yo Gotti’s #IAmTour2013.

As accurately described by others who have already had the pleasure of meeting and working with Minnesota’s own MN Fats, the already respected Midwest rapper has begun to publicly make a name for himself in the last year or so.

Born as Jason Brown, the WEON Records CEO is a known leader in his circles, targeting and inspiring people on the lower socioeconomic ladder to go further, do better. He earned his college degree in 2006 in Music Business and, ever since then, has knocked down door after door for his region. Fats has worked with artists such as Jim Jones, Johnny P, Cam’Ron, and the Doggfather himself; Snoop Dogg. His single with Waka Flocka Flame, entitled “Can I Freak”, has been receiving airplay from select radio stations throughout the country.

MNFATS – Can I Freak

We caught up with him in New York while on the tail end of Yo Gotti’s I Am tour.

Peep the full interview we did with him below, connect via his social media networks (Official Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram), and be on the lookout for future music from his after the turn of the year.

– Scott Randell (@DefinedByMvsic)
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Q: Tell us who you are/where you’re from/your background/your upbringing.

A: I’m Fats – Minnesota Fats. I come from the same background I hope every rapper comes from. You know what I mean? Like, or not every rapper but all of the ones I listen to. Those who keep it real. I’m from Minneapolis, but I was born in Chicago. I was born in that little place they call “Chiraq”. All of that. But when we got to a certain age, we tried to switch the environment up. They sent us to Minnesota.

Q: When did you start writing?

A: I started writing when I started writing. It was never like a transformation. It was like as soon as I could write I started writing. That was my thing. A lot of my OG’s say I ain’t never wanted to do sh%t else. I don’t know if that’s because they wanted me to be something else. But besides that I’ve never wanted to be a football player, a basketball player. This ain’t my second option. I didn’t just fall into this. This is what I wanted to be from day one.

Q: So when you writing and recording music, when was the first moment where you felt as though you had traction? Something going for you if you will?

A: It was my freestyle sh%t. It was when people started reacting to the way I freestyled. We all had little bars and whatever, but it was like everyone wanted to freestyle. They’d come and get you. They’d come to your house and knock on the door and be like, “Hey man. So-and-so said such-and-such. Meet us here, meet us there.” It became like a fight club. And that’s when I realized it was real. we started to just win it and I started to become a staple in that. This was in the early ’90′s. They used to come get a ni**a so I could spit. And I was a kid – I was a baby. Twista would come and get me and would be like, “…man this dude wants to battle you.” The older dudes would always seem to bet on the younger dudes. And so Twista would bet $20 against one of his homeboys, you know, and I’d win every time.

Q: Was Twista one of the first “industry cats” to mess with you? When did the “industry” start to take note of you? I know you released your first project [through your own label] in 2002, correct?

A: Yea, I knew Twista from way back. I released my first street record in 2002. And that was just me being happy I was able to release something. That was like my recession. I was coming of age. I had to get out my mama’s house. I was at that graduating age [from high school] and I had to get out of the house. Well, I mean I was out of the house at 15, but you know you’re at that age where you gotta be grown. You have to start making some money the real way. And I was hustlin’ so I was always comfortable. In the streets that’s where I felt I belonged. But I loved rapping so much I thought I should just turn it up. The big homies were talking sh%t and they were like, “If you’re gonna rap all day ni**a get paid for it.” It made sense. We were hustling and rapping. They said do the opposite – rap and hustle. We took it from there and it just became a business.

Q: You’re somebody who’s gone on to acquire a higher level of education. Who directed you on that path? Did you feel as though doing so would better you as a person, aside from just rap? It’s obviously a smart decision.

A: Puffy’s camp. Harve [Pierre] and those guys. Phil and them guys over there. I had access to the industry as I wanted it. I had access to different types of situations as they came about. I’d be in the parties and then I’d be in the hood. Puffy’s got some real hood friends. Some of those friends are my friends. I was out here during that major blackout in the 2000′s and I met Harve Pierre at a party. We were talking as he was like, “The most important thing you could do is go to school.” I was thinking ‘what the f*ck does school have to do with rapping?’ But I went anyway. As I gained an education I learned that it doesn’t have anything to do with rapping. It does, however, have everything to do with rapping when you’re trying to put those rubber bands around that paper. It was a valuable lesson and experience. So shout out to Harve, shout out to Bad Boy, shout out to Puffy.

Q: You own and operate WEON Records. Can you talk about your label as well as what’s made you stay largely to completely independent?

A: WEON Records is a business venture me and my homeboy started. The label name means exactly what it is…”we” “on”. In our situation we feel estranged in the Midwest. It’s like being on an island. Like Juelz and Cam always talking about – shout out to Cam and Jimmy by the way, they my homies – being stuck on an island even though they’re not. Like they have a million and one resources in New York. We ain’t got none. So when we got into the situation where we felt like we were on, it was like the only thing we could call it…”WE ON -> WEON”. We got ourselves there. And we on like 100%. So it’s a double entendre. WEON Records itself was initially an illegal business. It started out as a record label that sold records on the street. And although that was the era, we didn’t pay taxes. We didn’t do none of this, none of that. We thought we were ballin’, until the day somebody said if you ain’t sh%t on paper you ain’t sh%t in real life. So that’s when WEON Records became a “tax paying” business. Incorporated and everything. But WEON is a lifestyle.

Q: How did you get involved with/how does it feel to be the youngest member in ‘The Chuuuch’ community?

A: Shout out to the Bishop [Don “Magic” Juan], you know? Shout out to Snoop, Andy Milonakis, Puffy. You know, all the real players. I am the youngest member of The Chuuuch. I am a two-time Hustler of the Year. I’m hell on a b*tch, man. I could read a woman’s mind. They love me. I don’t understand it, I just respect it. I’m not gonna try to understand it, but I hope it never goes away. And I appreciate it. You know, being the youngest member of The Chuuuch, um, Andy Dick, he had this diamond cross chain in his mouth. I just hugged Busta Rhymes and DJ Quik at the same time. I was naked on the front page of one of the biggest publications with my titties hanging out. I’m the youngest member of The Chuuuch. But these things happen when you’re in a conglomerate with some real players. When you can pick up the phone and you can call Snoop, when you can rub shoulders with 50 – shout out to 50 – and you can ask these people questions because you are a part of a secret society…this ain’t the Illuminati or some weird ass sh%t. These are a bunch of player ass, pimp ass ni**s who say you know what? We’re not gonna allow our younger generation to have to go through actual street sh%t. We did that sh%t ’cause we had to. I’m the next generation. I’m the Internet generation. I’m new blood. I come from that sort of struggle. So Bishop will never die. Snoop will never die. Because they got me. They got Kendrick. Y’all know Kendrick. Kurupt is my big homie. He’s a member of The Chuuuch. So it’s a lifestyle. You know, Schoolboy Q. All of them ni**a’s. That’s the aura that we bring. It’s real player sh%t.

Q: Upcoming projects and things that you can talk about…

A: I got a new record with Game and YG that’ll be out in a couple weeks. Me and Raheem DeVaughn are cooking up some sh%t. I got my new album coming out, probably first quarter of next year. Something nice, you know. We’re still pushing the Snoop street single, which is “Lay You On The Bed”.

MN Fats (@sotafats) – Lay You on the Bed feat. Snoop Lion (@snoopdogg) [Official Video]

Like I said, we didn’t look for any type of success or big radio play with that record. We made that for the women getting dressed. That’s really all I can say. We just keep knocking ‘em down. We’re just listening to these offers that these labels are making all while keeping it funky, just trying to stay alive.