Phat Kat aka Ronnie Cash was born on the east side of detroit. An emcee that has always been dedicated to his works in the studio, because as he says..." He is on a mission to save hip hop." His new album Carte Blanche is on Look Records and it features J Dilla, Blk Mik, Slum Village, Dwele, and Truth Hurts to name a few. I had the chance to talk with him on the telephone from Detroit.( We planned to do the interview in person in Detroit before he performed at the J Dilla tribute for the Detroit electronic festival...but it did not happen.)

Tanya: Hey....So how long have you been in the game?

Phat Kat: 15 years, of straight hip hop..no singing.

Tanya: How did you get started?

Phat Kat: I was late night TV show in Detroit called Soul Beat. It was a music video show and that was the first time that I saw the group Whodini's video and I knew what I wanted to do after that?

Tanya: Nice, I was recently at the Detroit electronic music festival (sorry I missed your performance)... I was happy to see that there was a J Dilla tribute show on the last day of the festival, how did you get involved in that project?

Phat Kat: A DJ by the name of house shoe's called me and said that he wanted to do something special for Dilla, and I was down with that. Myself and Dilla had a group called “First Down” before Slum Village and we were signed to Pay Day Records – the same label that groups like Grouphome and Jay Z were on. Unfortunately right after our first single came out the company folded.

Tanya: Nice.

Phat Kat: Thanks, we were the first Detroit group to have a major record deal.

Tanya: What was your 12 inch single called?

Phat Kat: "A Day Wit the Homiez" and another single called "Frontstreet" was on a compilation called "Representing the Streets."

Tanya: Cool, so how do you know Dilla?

Phat Kat: I have known him since 1992; we were always cool.

Tanya: So your  new album just came out and you have some great collabo's with J-Dilla on it?

Phat Kat: Yeah, the album is called Cart blanche, and Dilla is on 6 joints.

Tanya: Your last album on Rack Records was a sleeper hit, any ideas why?

Phat Kat: Lack of promotion, distribution and the company was working like it’s 1985, not 2004. The owners did not know hip hop.



Tanya: To get a bit personal, I noticed in Detroit that there is a lot of misguided, false identity within the music culture, and I think that reflects in the lack of community support and action within Detroit life? What do you think?

Phat Kat: You're right. A lot of DJ's don't support our culture into the city. So the community does not hear it, and that leads to a lot of chaos that we hear now. I would point the finger to the radio program directors because they make the big decisions, but they are choosing the easy way out. So artists like myself never get heard so... we end up going elsewhere.

Tanya: That's sad!

Phat Kat: I know and that’s why I’m never here, and that’s why Dilla moved to Los Angeles. Nothing is here.

Tanya: Have you lived anywhere else in the U.S?

Phat Kat: Just Detroit...My new label is in San Francisco so ...I’m thinking of moving there.

Tanya: Do you have any tours lined up?

Phat Kat: I start a European tour next month...and then hopefully Toronto.

For more info about this artist go to:
http://www.myspace.com/phatkatakaronniecash
http://www.ronniecash.com