Whilst it..s been only 18 months since the release of ..This Is ...., Sydney rapper Figgkidd (Lee Monro) has gone through some serious personal changes. After spending the better part of 2006 writing and recording his upcoming self-entitled second album ..FIGGKIDD.., it was also during this time Lee (Figgkidd) Monro also endured the ultimate of unpredictable predicaments. Confronting writer..s block, suffering depression, becoming unemployed for the first time in years and just for good measure, becoming a new father. This combination of events made for the perfect reality check and it is through this life experience 25-year-old Lee (Figgkidd) Monro has managed to stay focused during public criticism and personal turmoils, to turn his life around to become a stronger, more dedicated artist.
One listen to Figgkidd..s new album and the maturity is obvious. ..I..ve come to accept who I am as an artist.., confesses Figg ..I..ve always been criticised for always having a commercial edge to my lyrics and music, but its quite frankly who I am and what I listen to along with other styles and genres, it..s the musical trademark I..ve come to accept and right now I feel really good about it, it..s what makes me different from the other rappers who spit the underground style...
Whilst Figgkidd was scouting for beats for the new album back in early 2006, a young producer, who handed him a CD full of beats after an event he had been hosting in Burwood, approached him. Little did Figgkidd realise that the young talented producer called Ace Wonder was only 16 at the time and was producing while still goin to school. Always looking for unsigned talent to work with Figgkidd was so impressed with the young producer, he trusted him to produce a majority of the new album under the Executive Producer guidance of Lui (unda K9)!
Although not usually fazed by industry heavy-weights Figg..s previous bio reads like a hip hop who..s who, his previous associations with big industry players such as Grammy award winning mixing engineer Richard ..Segal.. Hurredia (Dr Dre, Eminem, D12, Xzibit, Snoop, Swollen Members), Proof (D12), Tech N9Ne, DJ Babu (Dilated Peoples), Peter Coppes (The Church), Brian ..Big Bass.. Gardner at Grundman..s (Dr Dre, Snoop, Eminem), RedFoo aka Stefan Gordy, Steve Balbi (Noiseworks & Universe), Tim Dog, Static, Nomb (Goodfellas-Universal), Redzone (Britney Spears, Madonna), Neff-U Feemstar (Dr Dre, Ne-Yo) and having toured and performed along side such artists as Cypress Hill, Nelly, Kool Keith & Kutmasta Kurt & Digital Underground (Park Jam 2005) and Ugly Duckling was what Figgkidd called ..A very humbling experience, especially for a guy out of Bankstown Australia...
Listeners won..t be disappointed in the guest appearances on the new album, nor the topics, this new album addresses, issues ranging from a comeback track called ..FEEL GOOD.. Figgkidd..s first single from the album featuring recent vocal samples of the legendary of Mr James Brown. ..This track is a killer,.. says Figgkidd, ..I still can..t believe we not only got it approved, but then we got the samples to use on it
On a powerful track like ..RENT.. which features Rakaa from Dilated Peoples and Static and Nat Ill (Denmark), ..It..s an omission track about the fact that hip hop does not pay my rent.. says Figg, a circumstance too close to home for many in the music industry. ..This track is my reality check, it..s a track I know a lot of people will relate to, anywhere in the world, coz it..s such a universal struggle.. confesses Figg .. When you are trying to make it as an artist, the rent is always ..That Beast.. that either makes you stronger or weaker, because it has that ability to make you homeless.. ..And when you are not earning that much money and, trying to support a family and, trying to make it as an artist, it just becomes very hard to keep your head above water, ironically, rent is one of those things that can shape you or haunt you for the rest of your life..
..FOR YOU.. is a track dedicated to Lee..s daughter Phoebe Leone. ..When Phoebe came into our lives in 06, my whole perspective changed, suddenly this little person was the most important person in the whole world to me.., ..She actually changed the way I look at women and at myself, Phoebe gave my album a new holistic direction, I could have written a whole album for her, about her, having her was the most amazing experience in my life, I owe it to her for forcing me to find my new found maturity...
Not afraid to show a personal side Figgkidd expresses his feelings of self acceptance on tracks like ..I AM WHO I AM.. a New York style hype track in which Figg features with underground New York rapper Braille and ..PUSH.. a track which vents Figg..s observation about the music industry. ..Yeah, I just want to let people know, that this is it, what you see is what you get with me, I used to listen to all the stuff that people would say about me and I actually started to doubt myself as a person and as an artist, but now I..m like, it doesn..t bother me anymore.. Figg admits ..Over the years I have spoken to some of the biggest artist..s in the world like Rakaa (Dilated Peoples), Tech N9ne, Proof (D12) and Jazzy Jeff they all say the same thing, they..ve all received hate and criticism in their careers, so now I..m like, it obviously comes with the territory, regardless of who you impress or who you irritate... .
This wouldn..t be a figgkidd album if it didn..t push the boundaries of commercial urban music. Teaming up with long time friend and artist Jade Macrae the pair have finally collaborated on a club track called ..WORK THAT SHHH.... ..I..m loving this track, it..s everything I want a club track to be, sexy and bassy with great melodies.. states Figg, ..This track has been a project that has been on and off for a couple of years between Jade and myself, we always wanted to do something together either on a track or touring. When this beat came up, I wrote it in like 20 minutes with only Jade in mind for the hook, we had it sent over to her while she was in New York and fortunately she loved it, everyone will think it..s just simple club lyrics but I actually wrote it about the industry and how it manipulates you to ..work that s**t... I have a couple of other club tracks on my album called ..LIGHTS GO OUT.. and ..REWIND.., I..m really diggin the club vibe, I..m not goin to deny it, it..s definitely a part of my lifestyle, always has been...
Having recorded some amazing collaborations on this album, one collaboration in particular is a sad reminder of how fragile life is. ..I got a call from Proof on Saturday the 18th March 2006 at around 11pm, he was in Sydney and he just finished his show and we were just chatting and he asked me to come n hang out with him at the 411 club in town. I remember telling him, I would but I was so tired coz Phoebe my daughter was born the day before and I hadn..t had any sleep since her birth, I never forget he told me it was cool and that he was coming back in May to do some recordings here and that we would all catch up then in the studio n stuff.. Figgkidd recalls ..and then I couldn..t believe it, he was like shot a month or so later. I recall some many months after he had passed we had a listen to one of the tracks we recorded in Queensland with him and we still couldn..t believe it. Proof recorded that track with me and Bishop for my second album and if you listen to the lyrics, it will make your hair stand up knowing the circumstances that arose after he visited here, we hadn..t written the hook yet, to be honest I found it hard to write anything to it given the circumstances, so Lui, who produced the track came across some lyrics by Diane Warren from an old hit track she wrote and Lui had them recorded later on with this amazing singer called Neho, who I found busking in the Central Station tunnel walkway with his mates Joe & Pokz on my way to the studio one day. The track is called ..LOVE & UNDERSTANDING.., we didn..t want to touch it, so we kept the original production with that haunting piano riff played in by Neff-U Feemstar in LA, we also decided to keep the original mix by Segal and the original mastering by Brian ..Big Bass.. Gardner from Grundman..s. It was the original version Proof recorded to, and I felt that there were something..s you just don..t tamper with outta respect and this track was one of them for me...
Finally a couple of odes to the people Figgkidd appreciates and respects ..MY PEOPLE.. and ..APPRECIATION.. Figgkidd explains ..these tracks speak for themselves, I don..t want to water down my appreciation by justifying them to you, these are personal and heartfelt tracks to the people who supported and believed in me no matter what....