Fat Tony And J.KELR Come 'Full Circle' On New Collaborative EP [Premiere]

Photo Credit: Julian Schröpel and Nathanael Turner

Fat Tony's latest EP is also accompanied by a mini-documentary that explores the artist's musical roots from his hometown of Houston to Los Angeles, where he currently resides.

There's a narrative to Full Circle, Fat Tony's collaborative EP with producer J.KELR, which is an exclusive Okayplayer premiere. Inspired by the former's move to Los Angeles for the second time a year ago, the three-track release finds Tony reflecting on the highs and lows of his life — everything from the freedom of being an independent artist to his late grandmother's death in 2011.

"'Full Circle' talks about when I lived in Brooklyn working with my longtime producer GLDN_EYE (Tom Cruz) on

what would become our albums Smart Ass Black Boy and Double Dragon," Tony said in press statement. "My grandmother passed away that summer while I was away from home and I never got to properly reflect on it in a song until now."

Anchored by J.KELR's production — he's known as one-half of the chart-topping production duo Blended Babies, and has produced for Kendrick Lamar, Kid Cudi, Freddie Gibbs, and Ab-Soul — Tony's retrospective musings are complimented by the producer's infectious synths and sounds that allude to the Houston rap sound that continues to influence Tony.

Tony will be performing his Full Circle EP at the Echoplex in Los Angeles, CA for a Buzzfeed/Hyundai event on Saturday (June 16, 2018). Details for that can be found here.

Along with the EP, Tony has released a mini-documentary titled Deeper Look: Fat Tony, which Okayplayer is also premiering. Directed by Jackie Radinsky, the seven-minute-long video uses Tony's move from Houston to Los Angeles to chronicle the artist's upbringing as well as his music career up until now. The short film also includes cameos from frequent collaborator P. Morris and Future Islands frontman Samuel T. Herring.

Deeper Look: Fat Tony can be viewed below. Fat Tony can be found here on Instagram and here on Twitter, as well as here at his own website; J.KELR can be found here on Instagram.