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Los Angeles-based emcee F.Y.I. presents the HighTopBully-directed music video for “eLAyayvate”, the Akili produced single from his new album eLAyayvate featuring The Growth Eternal. F.Y.I. first gained notoriety in 2010 as part of trio Those Chosen on their EP 5ive (Spotify), produced mainly by Grammy-Award winning super-producer, IZ Avila. In 2012 F.Y.I. collaborated with Ab-Soul on "Dopamine" (Bandcamp), which appeared on his first solo mixtape Yo! The Places You'll Go which hit #1 on CMJ's Hip Hop Charts (Bandcamp). That year he also dropped an exclusive freestyle for HipHopDX (Youtube). F.Y.I. had this to say about his new single "I called the new song “eLAyayvate” which is pronounced "elevate" because I’m in a new era of growth as an artist and as a man. It’s time for the frequency to change in my city and in hip hop; it’s time to go higher."
What’s the story behind the name FYI?
First, it's spelled F.Y.I. because it's an acronym that stands for Forever Yahweh Inspired. Yahweh is Hebrew for God. All my inspiration comes from God, especially the music. He inspires me to create it because I am a creator with a little "c". He is the Creator with a capital "C". One of God's many attributes is being a Creator. Just look at the world. The different ethnicities, all the species of animals, colors, sounds, trees, mountains, rivers, oceans, the list goes on and on. His work which is creation is all around us. There's so many things that God has created for us to enjoy. So when I get to create the music I'm basically participating in that process and that in itself is inspiring.
What was your inspiration behind the track "eLAyayvate"?
Originally, that was the title of the album only, but morphed into an actual title track as well. The title song was the last record I found and recorded before I felt the project was ready for ya'll to hear. It was important to make that statement for myself as basically my vision board. To get my thoughts and mind aligned with going higher - mentally, emotionally, financially, relationally, and definitely spiritually. To elevate. There's even some Easter eggs in the way I spelled the title of the song. The e and L are the first initials of the producer, Akili, and myself's birth names. The L and the A is capitalized to emphasize the city. The yay represents the celebration of the city/culture. I'm doing my part to lift up the city in celebration and let the world know that Los Angeles is the creative capital of the world. There's so many layers to the city that people can tap into and the song is the soundtrack to that.
In the video you pay homage to Nas’s Album cover for Stillmatic. What’s the story behind that?
I can't take credit for the video concept. That's all my director and creative partner, Hightop Bully's vision. He creates the treatments and I basically sign off if I like something or not. When we executed it we weren't sure how it would come out, but once I saw it I was like this is it! Iconic. Memorable.
What do you do when you’re not making music?
I love Black History and American history in general. I geek out on stuff like that. My other creative endeavor is being the founder and Creative Director of Deeper Than Read. It's my animated Black History Youtube Channel. We released episode 23 about the origins of Rock and Roll to wrap up Black Music Month this year. New episodes drop every last Wednesday of each month on the channel @deeperthanread I started this project during the pandemic and it's been going on strong ever since. People interested in Black History and the nuances of Black American culture should tap in because we tackle topics and reimagine it in an animated way. We tapped into a lot of topics so far like origins of the American Police, 14th Amendment, Michel-Jean Basquiat. It's a passion project of mine.
What do you mean when you say “It’s time for the frequency to change in my city”?
Change the order of things. From government leadership to the folks on the corner. We, collectively, have to put people before profit. Put love before hate. Put community before commodity.
Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram?
You can link up with me on all platforms at @fyipsalms just google that social handle and the information you are looking for will be there.
