Feeki

The Van’s Warped Tour has always been a place to see a vast mixture of bands that represent the youthful exuberance in all of realms of rock music, from indie pop bands all the way to metalcore outfits, as well as established bands who brought the star power to the festival. As the years have gone by, not only has the Warped Tour grown, you have seen the bands grow too, for example with Hatebreed, who was on the bill in 1998 and now back here in 2017.

As much as the Warped Tour has been ahead of the curve within the ranks of rock music, the traveling festival has been a showcase for the left of center types from the hip-hop world. It was at the 1999 Warped Tour that we saw the beginning stages of who would become one of hip-hop’s biggest stars in Eminem. Since then, hip-hop has had its niche at the Warped Tour. With performances from Jurassic 5, Machine Gun Kelly, G-Eazy, Yelawolf, Shwayze, Public Enemy, Talib Kweli, Atmosphere, N.E.R.D, MC Chris, T. Mills, Kool Keith, Esham, and D-12, among others, Warped shows that hip-hop has as much in common as any other genre of music that was bread from a youth culture that continues to grow.

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This year, Warped Tour includes hip-hop acts Futuristic, Watsky, Sammy Adams, and Feeki, and here’s a breakdown of who they are and where you might have heard them before.


Futuristic

Born in Illinois then moving to Arizona in his teens, the now North Hollywood-based Futuristic has had the itch for hip-hop stardom since he was a kid. As an independent artist, Futuristic holds his creative freedom dearly in the palms of his hands releasing his own music since his first album Dream Big in 2012 and would eventually hit the charts in 2015 with The Rise. Since then, his collaborative album Coast 2 Coast with Devvon Terrell and his latest album As Seen on the Internet continued to chart for the burgeoning rapper. Futuristic has been endlessly touring for the past three years and there looks to be no end in sight for him.

For more information on Futuristic, visit onlyfuturistic.com.


Watsky

Haling from San Francisco and now based in Los Angeles, George Watsky is a writer/lyricist dipping around the hip-hop and poetry worlds. While Watsky was featured on Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry, beforehand, George won the Youth Speaks Grand Slam Finals and the Brave New Voices National Poetry Slam. In 2007, under his rap name Watsky, he released an album with his band titled Invisible Inc, and would continue to release a slew of full-length album, mixtapes, live albums, and EPs since then, including 2016’s x Infinity. Mixing a sense of humor with the serious, Watsky has become quite the popular entity in the world of alternative hip-hop.

For more information on Watsky, visit georgewatsky.com.


Sammy Adams

In the post-MySpace world, music artists have to use the current platforms to make a name for themselves, and the Bostonian named Sammy Adams went from making music in his dorm room to racking up millions of listens on YouTube and even a RCA Records deal. Since then, Sammy Adams has parted way from RCA and rejoined 1st Round Records, the label he previously recorded a slew of singles and EPs with for the release of his debut full-length album The Long Way. For Sammy Adams, staying independent is the right road to be on for now.

For more information on Sammy Adams, follow him on Instagram at @sammyadams.


Feeki

This guy is from Reno, rocks a mullet, and he raps. Only craziness can ensure when around Feeki, born Alex Ficco. With over 132,000 likes on Facebook, Feeki is becoming a force to reckon with and his dedication is helping him live out his dream of becoming a star. Reno is not exactly a hotbed for hip-hop, but Feeki is proof if you work hard enough, you can get known for your talents.

For more information on Feeki, follow him on Instagram at @yoitsfeeki.

The Van’s Warped Tour starts on June 16th in Seattle, Washington and goes all summer until August 6th in Pomona, California. For all the dates, tickets, and line-up information, visit vanswarpedtour.com. - Huffington Post

Associating one’s self with Hip Hop culture is all about pride in being completely authentic regardless of societal placement. For the past several years, Feeki has remained true to himself as he battles praise from fans and criticism. There wasn’t a better example than his appearance on Viceland’s new series Payday.

The program focuses on the economic struggles young people face in America as they attempt to make due on a single pay period while fighting for their dreams and livelihood. Spending time in Reno, Nevada, the debut episode featured Feeki and others simply trying to make it. For the past several years, Feeki maintained a solid rise through social media and online video outlets due to his aesthetic rooted in a rural American lifestyle.

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“We often grew up being into cars, trucks and dirtbikes,” he explained. “I started doing music and was trying to find myself. One day, I was like fuck it, I’m going to get a mullet because all my friends had one when they were kids and I never had one. I was already wearing weird shirts and stuff. Shortly after I started understanding the idea of branding, I just went with it and used it to my advantage.”

As many criticize Hip Hop for excessive materialism, Feeki not only found a fan base by being himself, but his segments revolved around his job as a casino valet driver.

“I’m not too concerned with that aspect of Hip Hop at all anyway, with the bragging about things and talking about how better I am than you,” he said. “This opportunity just presented itself and it didn’t cost me anything and gave me a lot of exposure being on a national TV channel. I thought it was worth it.”

When Feeki wasn’t hustling between vehicles on the nine-to-five, he spent a large majority of his time in his fairly elaborate home studio making music and videos. Watching him put every last dime into his dream could be relatable to anyone in his position. In the meantime, viewers watched how he lyrically dismantled haters and online trolls through response freestyles.



“That idea came to me because I was getting a lot of bad comments online which happens no matter who you are,” he explained. I got a couple of videos earlier that year in 2015 on WorldstarHipHop and those comments were the worst. We were working out the studio and just laughing about them because some were pretty funny. I just thought it would be cool to rap back to these people and then I could screenshot the comments and have them come on screen as I’m responding. It was kind of new comment for me as I hadn’t seen anyone do it before. Fans who aren’t in music can see all the horrible shit artists get.”

Though the episode of Payday he’s featured in has only been out for about a week, he already sees the benefits. “I guess I got more fans and tractions through my socials,” said Feeki. “People are checking in telling me to keep it up. It was good exposure.”

Using momentum gained from his time on the small screen, he took a different approach for his music videos as well. Late Sunday night (November 20), Feeki premiered his video for fan favorite “Saying Nothing,” on Facebook Live. The single, featuring on his Unbound EP released in September, was shot live and in one take.



“I saw news outlets uploading live video to Facebook, but I hadn’t seen it done in music,” he said. “Usually, we go for a lot of plot and story in the video and that takes a lot of planning.”

Feeki has come a long way, to say the least. Like many artists of the internet era, he’s evolved from simple gimmicks to honed-in skill. He also found inspiration from Young Sinatra.

“I think that comes from practice,” he continued. “I was listening to a lot of Logic. He was like my favorite rapper. I was already rapping at the time, but he was good and could flow. I just listened to him a lot and tried to rap like him. I give that credit to where I learned how to flow. It’s just not from him though. I figured out I could flow like someone else, take pieces of what I liked and do my own thing.”

As Feeki continues to grind it out, he has plans to drop a project at the top of next year alongside a new work schedule.

“I went to two days and only work on Mondays and Tuesday,” continued Feeki. “And, now I have the rest of the week to work on music.”

Watch the premiere episode of Viceland below. - HipHopDX

The BLC’s most popular music artist remains unknown to most Renoites. But hip-hop artist Alex Ficco — “Feeki” — has blown up online: the route to indie success in the Internet Age. He’s a rapid-tongued rhymer-singer with a nasal, raspy tone, smooth, gymnastic delivery, in-your-face wit, topical lyrics leading into tuneful hooks, an indelible image (redneck rapper with a cowboy-thick mustache and, ahem, mullet) — and the business smarts to partner up with a dope producer and pro videographer.

His stats paint an impressive portrait:

• 127,000 Facebook likes; 10 million-plus video views (www.facebook.com/OfficialFeeki).

• 7,500 YouTube followers. 1 million-plus views (www.youtube.com/user/FeekiFreshTV).

• 350,000 SoundCloud clicks (www.soundcloud.comfeeki).

• 2,300 Twitter followers (www.twitter.com/yoitsfeeki).

• 7,000 Instagram followers (www.instagram.com/yoitsfeeki).

Who is this guy? Relatively new in a town with a small, intense community of hip-hop veterans, he neither considers himself a Reno rapper nor aims to be “Reno famous.”


“Today it doesn’t matter where you are located to launch a career in music,” the 24-year-old says. “It’s 2016. Anyone that blames Reno for their lack of success is just making excuses.” While building a local fan base is cool, “You can reach way more people online.”

He’s only been rapping five years. Growing up an only child to non-musician parents in Gardnerville, he played bass from 12 to 15 in a rock band, The Devices. But his real love was motocross. He turned pro but an injury curtailed that career. By this time, he’d moved to Reno and was consumed by a new passion, anyway: rap. He spent marathon hours spitting to tracks by the genre’s giants.


He debuted on stage as “Feeki Fresh” shortened the handle for impact, honed his chops, assembled his team — and made his move. He opened for Flo Rida the past December at the Reno Events Center and in January headlined at LEX Nightclub and a Super Bowl party at Cargo. He also earned airplay on Reno’s Swag FM 104.9.

“Feeki’s music has the potential to go head to head with any artist in the majors,” said Swag weekday announcer Tony Tone, averring that the feel-good flows break from the “cookie cutter and predictable” of contemporary hip-hop. “The hip-hop community in Reno has been patiently waiting for an artist to really pierce through to the music spotlight, and I think that Feeki is gonna be the first.”

Feeki will officially release a seven-song EP, “Unbound,” at an age 21-plus show Sept. 8 at a Sparks neighborhood bar, the Elbow Room, 2002 Victorian Ave. The bill starts at 8:30 p.m. with four local artists — Light ’Em Up Music, Fernando Isaiah, Ez Baby X-Ryan Brinnard and Casey Reynolds —and house sounds by Kronyak. Feeki takes the stage around 11 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance from the artists, $12 at the door.

On an August afternoon, Ficco and his DJ and best friend since childhood, Neil Luzzi, 25 (stage handle: Thee Trash Wizard) are hanging out in the front room of the middle-class house on a quiet winding street in Southwest Reno they recently moved into as renters with a third friend, J.P. Preston, 21, who shoots the videos. On the songwriting, Ficco shares credit with his recording engineer, Garrett Raff, and another friend who produces the beats: Allen Lewis, formerly lead guitarist in Reno pop-rock group Wayward. Egos are subordinated for the good of the finished product. “It’s really a collaborative effort,” said Ficco, who writes the lyrics and the vocal melodies.

He brings the same mature approach to marketing. Parked in the driveway of the three-car garage is the 2007 Chevrolet Express van, painted black and detailed with Feeki’s name and logo. He, Luzzi and Preston will soon beon 10-day tour of small venues, starting with the Sparks show and continuing through Elko, Idaho Falls, Salt Lake City, San Jose and Ukiah, Calif.

The EP will have all new, unreleased tracks, not the big fan hits that already have dropped, such as “Way Up” and “Same Ole.” “Things move so fast now,” Feeki said. “The Internet’s really like, what have you done for me lately?”

A video for the EP’s first single, “Wanna Work,” dropped online Aug. 26. The EP can be purchased at www.feeki.bigcartel.com along with an impressive array of merch: hats, hoodies, bandanas, stickers, signed posters, lanyards and three different T-shirts — one showing Feeki in sun-glassed profile, with “Mullets Rule” above and “Chix drool” below.

Make no mistake: This is a pro marketing approach by a young artist with eyes locked on the big picture. But the base of it all is his music — and hundreds of thousands of fans are responding.

Rappers frequently flow about how reaching for their dreams. Listeners identify themselves with the rap. “Everything I write just comes from life experiences, what I believe in, and what I'm dealing with at the moment,” said Feeki, who supports himself parking cars at Atlantis Casino Resort. “If you listen to the music, there is definitely an underlying theme of hard work, dedication, ambition, and going huge.”

Soldiering on to success — to “get it in” — despite haters and societal discord is the theme of Feeki’s video for “Same Ole,” which includes a debate between characters resembling Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, and devolves into a riot.“I'ma write some music, that's my only Novocain/We all got four or five problems, today they go away,” he raps.

In the uproarious video for “Wanna Work,” his character (in white wig, coffee-stained shirt and tie) destroys a suite of office cubicles with a hammer as he quits the life of a corporate slave to pursue his true “work” as a ball-capped rapper. (“I’ma do my own thing, cuz I’m not adverse/(Bleep) it I don’t wanna job, I just wanna work!”)

Feeki’s work means focusing, foremost, on connecting with fans.

“I haven't gotten many props from people in the music industry. Kutt Calhoun (charting Kansas City rapper) has reached out a few times, which is cool,” he said. “As long as the fans keep reaching out, buying music, and coming to shows, that’s all that matters.”

* * *

NO-DOUGH SHOW AT SAINT: Alternative-rock station KRZQ-FM 104.1 presents a free show 8 p.m. Sept. 7 at The Saint, 761 S. Virginia St. Singer-songwriter Barns Courtney (radio hit: “Fire”) headlines the age 21-and-over bill. Opener: Reno trio Rachbot & The Garbage Party debuts. Members: singer/saxophonist Rachael McElhiney (formerly of Buster Blue), guitarist Spencer Kilpatrick, drummer Clint Philbin. All three also are in Reno soul-rock band Failure Machine. RGP’s set will feature “mostly Tom Waits-inspired stuff,” Kilpatrick said. - Reno Gazette Journal

By Jordan Berns

On the south side of Reno by Damonte Ranch lives a young man who is making a name for himself. Alex Ficco, better known by his stage name, Feeki, has entered the rap game. But he brings with him his own special twist.

Feeki is a mullet-headed, dirt-bike-riding all-American who is blessed with the ability to sing and rap. His unconventional look and Americana-inspired lyrics make him stand out. He’s one of a kind at the start of his career.

I met with him in his garage, which doubles as his recording studio, after he just got back from a photo shoot. The recording booth is well known among Feeki’s fans as it is featured in some of his most popular videos.

“I have never really built anything before, so [the studio] was a good project,” said Feeki when explaining how he built the studio himself.

By day you can find Feeki parking cars at the Atlantis hotel where he works as a valet. He starts his day by waking up and going to the gym where he listens to music and finds inspiration. He makes it back home around 10 a.m. and listens to tracks when he starts to write a song.

“Very rarely can I do it all in one day,” said Feeki. “I only have four hours so I try to get the song written in that amount of time, but there is hardly ever enough time to go record it.”

Like most artists he starts with the hook and writes from there. After he is happy with the song, he pays for studio time at a professional studio in town to ensure the sound quality with the money he makes from working as a valet.

“I can just go to the studio and bust it out right away, so I can record a whole song in an hour there,” said Feeki.

Despite hard work and an active fan base he struggles to get his name out. His fans are quick to like and comment on social media, but rarely share their love for him with their friends and family. That can be frustrating for a young artist who wants nothing more than to have his music heard.

Feeki isn’t the biggest fan of social media, but knows its importance in promoting his brand. He currently has close to 89,000 Facebook likes and counting. Fans used to be able to message him on Facebook with an average response time of around an hour before he closed that service. I contacted him in this way and was responded to in half an hour.

With just under 2,000 Twitter followers, Feeki’s Twitter presence can be summed up by the buzz he creates on it.

“Nothing but @YoitsFeeki has been coming out of my speakers lately,” said @csimmins115, a fan of Feeki’s on Twitter. “Keep on keepin’ on, brother #ToTheTop.”

His fan outreach on social media is incredible as well. He recently released a new song for free to his fans for 200,000 plays on SoundCloud. This move has been great for getting his name out. The new song already has over 4,000 plays, and numerous people have shared it on social media.

I first heard of him from a YouTube video titled “Haha! This guy with a mullet raps back to the haters!” Internet trolls had commented on the video.

“Your style alone will be the downfall of your career …” read one comment.

However, when people hear his name they think, “Feeki? That’s that white guy with a mullet, right?” He is the only rapper I know who can rock a mullet and a “f*ck ISIS” T-shirt. It’s what makes him so popular. It’s a distinguished part of his image, which makes him stand out in a crowd, especially around other rappers.

His fans strongly disagree with people who dislike the mullet. They believe his style is what will carry him into stardom. There is a large portion of the population that will relate to Feeki and be opened up to rap music. His country-boy persona and Americana-inspired songs will bridge a gap between country fans and rap music unlike anyone else in the music industry.

Although he tries his best to engage fans on social media, he struggles to get more and more people to listen to his music. In addition to social media he has started to expand his local presence with a show at LEX Nightclub on Jan. 28, 2016, and a recent Super Bowl after-party at Cargo Concert Hall.

Feeki dreams of quitting his job and working on his music full time.

“I’m grinding till I get it,” said Feeki.

He will continue to work long hours and balance a busy life of work, love and rap to achieve this dream. He has blinders on only looking forward. Hate goes in one ear and out the other. He is also a humble man who has a lot of respect for himself and others in the game. There are high expectations for the future as he looks for his big break, which I think could be just around the corner in 2016.

Jordan Berns can be reached at tbynum@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @TheSagebrush. - Nevada Sage Brush