100% Fivio Foreign: the NYC drill scene lives on

The New Yorker blew up last year off the viral track Big Drip. Now with a Quavo and Lil’ Baby remix, new banger Wetty and an upcoming mixtape, the rapper is set to take over this year.

The murder earlier this year of Pop Smoke, the self-proclaimed king of New York, was a huge blow to the city’s blossoming drill scene. His monster hits Welcome to the Party and Dior helped build a musical bridge between the UK and NYC, forging an important bond within a genre often demonised by the authorities on both sides of the Atlantic.

Luckily Fivio Foreign, a feature on Smoke’s final Meet the Woo 2 mixtape, is stepping up as the scene’s new vanguard.

The 24-year-old rapper first turned heads last year with Big Drip, the track’s stirring drum patterns and whirling basslines earning the MC a knee-slapping 75 millions YouTube views. It also caught the attention of major industry players, notably Columbia Records – who scooped up the rapper in a seven-figure deal last October – and Drake, who tapped Fivio Foreign for an upcoming collaboration that was teased back in February.

Now the Brooklynite returns with Wetty, a boisterous cut from his debut mixtape 800 B.C, out 24th April. Catch it below before getting the 100% down-low.

10%: Where were you born, where were you raised and where are you now based?

I was born in Brookdale, New York. I was raised in Brooklyn in the 90s but I was back and forth between Harlem cause my cousin was there.

20%: At what point did you realise you’d be able to do what you love for a living?

Once people started giving me shit for free because I rap, I was like: Oh shit, I could probably make a living off this shit.”

30%: What piece of advice changed your life?

I give my own self advice. I figured this thing out. I feel like nobody can really tell me what they did. The advice I would give somebody is just keep going with that shit. Don’t try to be like everybody else.

40%: What emotions and experiences influence your work?

I lost everything: my mum died, I lost all the shit in my crib, all that stuff. I had to go hard. I feel like whatever I did, I was going to go hard with it. Whatever you’re doing, go hard with that shit.

50%: What can you tell us about your next project?

It’s going viral. But the mixtape is only leading up to the album, and the album is the bible.

60%: Break down your typical day at work.

A typical day at the studio I’d probably be drinking and smoking – there’s a lot of smoke in the air – loud music, focus … we’re just going viral.

70%: What can artists do to help save the world?

Right now, [during] corona, they just gotta stay in the house.

80%: Love, like, hate?

I love the pain that I went through because it made me who I am. I like a good vibe – right now, I could give myself anything I want, so the only thing that somebody could offer me is a good vibe. I hate when people call my phone about shit they could have text me about. To me it’s a waste of time – I got mad shit to do.

90%: How did you celebrate your last birthday?

I was just in the crib cause of corona. My birthday just passed, it was on March 29th.

100%: Number One holiday destination?

Dominican Republic.

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