Fatal Lucciauno

I just finished a 4 hour flight which gave me plenty of quality time to dive into Seattle battle rapper Fatal Lucciauno. Born Rahmeece Chevosier Howell to respected Jazz and Gospel singer Josephine Howell, Fatal is pure street. His intelligent, hard-hitting preach is an emotional weave of the life he’s lead since a boy growing up on the streets of Chicago and Seattle. To be true, I don’t write nearly enough Rap/Hip-Hop reviews; I know the talent exists. It’s just not as apparent and often gets lost in the mainstream. That’s why I was more than pleasantly surprised when I launched into Fatal’s freshman CD ‘The Only Forgotten Son’ (2007 Sportin Life Records). Each track is wicked hard and laced with ghoulish lyrics and chill instrumentals. Pay particular mind to ‘Q.U.E.E.N.’, ‘Focus’ and ‘Won’t Change’, my 3 fav cuts. There are a few tracks that didn’t strike a note but all around Fatal Lucciauno will round out any discerning Rap aficionado’s collection. I picked up all 20 tracks at iTunes but you can also pick it up directly at Sportin Life Records. - Fierce.com

Fatal Lucciauno :: Hard Times
Sportnlife Records
Reviewed by Paul Glanting

Although Seattle rapper Fatal Lucciauno has a mellow drawl, it doesn't mean he can't get crazy - remember, it's the calm ones that need to be watched closest. Lucciauno's debut, The Only Forgotten Son, which dropped in June, is packed full of seething tales of his rise from poverty, crime, and drug slanging all the way to what he hopes shall pan out to be rap greatness. With a flow which sounds something like Shyne meets Lloyd Banks, plus an enormous chip on his shoulder, Fatal L. is here to keep hustling like a true rap Don. Check "Hard Times" for a taste of the concrete hard flows spewing from Lucciauno's rough Seattle streets. - By Paul Glanting

If it seems like I've spilled a few quarts of ink on Sportn' Life Records over the last few (and I am not paying for the dry cleaning, y'all), it's only because in my ever so humble opinion there is not a more exiting collective in town right now. Fresh-out MC Fatal Lucciauno is a riot-making behemoth (who's opening for Wu-Tang Clan at the Sho-Do December 1 with Scribes and Graves), Spaceman wields one of the town's illest voices (shades of the Rockness Monsta) and rock-star-level charisma, and D.Black's sage self-discovery has given the MC, father, and Sn'L co-owner an arresting dimension and depth—"God Like" from White Van Music and a new sampler of material cut from his upcoming Rejuvenation LP testify to that. The Life is shutting shit down, quite literally—its recent showcase at the Sunset came to a rather unexpected end when power in a three-block radius suddenly shut down right before Black hit the stage. Thankfully it was just a run-of-the-mill blackout and not the jump-off of the imminent zombie apocalypse; as Hov once said: Lights out niggas! - By Larry Mizell, The Stranger

I just finished a 4 hour flight which gave me plenty of quality time to dive into Seattle battle rapper Fatal Lucciauno. Born Rahmeece Chevosier Howell to respected Jazz and Gospel singer Josephine Howell, Fatal is pure street. His intelligent, hard-hitting preach is an emotional weave of the life he’s lead since a boy growing up on the streets of Chicago and Seattle. To be true, I don’t write nearly enough Rap/Hip-Hop reviews; I know the talent exists. It’s just not as apparent and often gets lost in the mainstream. That’s why I was more than pleasantly surprised when I launched into Fatal’s freshman CD ‘The Only Forgotten Son’ (2007 Sportin Life Records). Each track is wicked hard and laced with ghoulish lyrics and chill instrumentals. Pay particular mind to ‘Q.U.E.E.N.’, ‘Focus’ and ‘Won’t Change’, my 3 fav cuts. There are a few tracks that didn’t strike a note but all around Fatal Lucciauno will round out any discerning Rap aficionado’s collection. I picked up all 20 tracks at iTunes but you can also pick it up directly at Sportin Life Records. - Unknown

Fatal Luccianuo has easily been the most talked about figure in Seattle hip-hop for the past week and a half. It started ten days ago when he was yanked from a bill at The Crocodile as a supporting act on this week’s Dyme Def show. It was partly due to his criminal past (he’s a two time felon and was recently release from prison for firing a gun outside of an area nightclub) all of which made the venue nervous. But the manner in which he was kicked off that show sparked a sizable outrage amongst urban music lovers and it’s actually working in Lucciauno’s favor. This Friday night, he’s now booked to play The Corner, one of the best hip-hop monthly’s in Seattle and there will no doubt be a huge crowd coming out to support him. Because what often gets left out of the conversation when talking about Lucciauno is that he’s one of hottest rappers in the tri-county area and people strongly believe in him. His graphic, spitfire lyrics about street life might scare some, but that’s mostly because he represents a side of Seattle’s urban poor that people would rather pretend doesn’t exist. He’s a savvy hood poet that knows how to ride a beat, but you really need to see him perform life to fully grasp the way he’s using hip-hop as a vehicle for rehabilitation. - Jonathan Cunningham

Last night, the lucky-thirteenth edition of The Corner- Candidt's much-beloved monthly hiphop showcase at The Rendezvous- went down without a hitch as always, headlined by Seattle's most controversial MC, Fatal Lucciauno. It was another classic Corner- complete with house party vibe and intimate performances. Tacoma grinder J-Mar kept it surprisingly soulful with a battery of backup singers, and rhymed hard times over a couple of classic D'Angelo instrumentals- and Beacon Hillionaires Helladope proved why they're the illest up & coming crew in the town.
The main event, however, was a diminutive MC that hobbled out onstage, holding a cup and a cardboard sign reading "Will Rap For Food". Funny, and more self-aware than 99.9% of the MC's that could be said to be on a "gangster tip", Fatal handed off his props, discarded this brief bit of comedy, to get to the serious business at hand.
If you've never seen Mr. Lucciauno, you might not get it- but the guy has the most commanding stage presence in the scene, the swagger of a general, and a hellafied heart, a palpable quality, immediately recognizable. Appropriately, the Corner crowd was locked right in- going patently nutso during his raucous songs (including several new joints that sounded incredible, such as the roof-on-fire banger celebrating his Sportn' Life family), yet attentive to the utmost; applause was loud but brief, as every ear hung on his words between cuts. When he spoke, it was no-bullshit pin-drop silent in that packed-out room- as he dedicated his set to the souls who couldn't figure out how to change their life, as he asked the crowd to chant "DYME DEF" and ever-graciously, "SUPPORT THE CROC". (Because, as he said here- "they're under the microscope like I am now".) When Fatal said "L's up"- the call to throw up The Life- seemingly every hand shot up.
Fatal's DJ Swervewon started to play a crowd favorite- the rowdy pre-Only Forgotten Son nihilst-rap "Fatal's World"- but Lucciauno told him to cut it off- seemingly closing a chapter in his narrative. Instead he launched into his set-closer, the new Jake One-produced cut "Cry For Help"- where the MC wonders how he'd be perceived if he really did all the things people say:
What If I
Maybe then you would listen and wish you had paid more attention to me
What If I
Maybe then you would try to understand why am what i am- a g
What If I
Maybe then i wouldnt feel like a loser every time i didnt win
What If I
Oh i get it, if i aint fake & fraudulent, then i aint fittin it
I think of the other night at the War Room, where Fatal confided- "I am absolutely growing as an individual- but I won't turn my back on where I'm from, never." I would never ask him to. Lucciauno has emerged as the keynote MC of the Central District, a position which bears it's own uncomfortable, symbolic weight- there were a couple of people last night who saw parrellels to 2Pac's fiery orator, shouldering the burden of every hood.
If it sounds like I'm lionizing the dude, trust me- he needs no help; his life, his literal trial and tribulations have put him in a unique situation, making his art more potent and his truth more truthful. No offense to anyone, including myself for that matter- but right now, Fatal Lucciauno is hands down, L's UP, the most important rap artist in Seattle.
- Larry Mizell, Jr

The most talked about rapper in Seattle right now is Fatal Lucciauno. The Central Area MC is like a heavy dose of nitrous oxide — he'll knock out any comers, whether audience members or phony rappers, but they'll be smiling as they go down. Lucciauno has persevered through a difficult past to arrive at a post-gangsta stance that's hard to argue with; he transforms past mistakes into a launching point for relentless personal improvement. He expects as much from his audience, and both his flow — rugged, assertive, hilarious, poignant — and his physique — pit-bullish, prison-hardened — work in his favor. Though he's supporting Scribes for their CD-release party Saturday at the Vera Project, all eyes are on Fatal. Also on the bill: BYC, Camila and Shankbone (7:30 p.m. Saturday; $10-$11). - Jonathan Zwickel

(Havana) The organic cross-pollination between hiphop and everything else in this town is the real prize of all the hype—I haven't been watching it for as long as many, but I haven't seen it like this in the time I've lived here. The good folks at the Ghost Gallery have the plain good taste to combine Fatal Lucciauno—the Central District firebrand whose firepower is full disclosure, uncomfortable truths, and scary-good rhymes to boot—with Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground's sumptuous orchestral psych pop. It's just our town's music scene living up more fully to its always-exciting promise, recognizing one another, and I'm so not mad. Now can we get a Fa' guest verse on "Oh Motherfuckers" or something? - Larry Mizell, Jr

Yesterday, one of Seattle’s fiercest intelli-thugs, Fatal Lucciauno, released a heart-clinching track that finally sees a local rapper rhyming over Just Blaze’s “Exhibit C” beat. The song is called “Gabriel Fallen” and it seems like Fatal is rapping about a fallen angel trying to regain his wings. A lot of people can relate to a topic like that, myself included, and Fatal definitely does the track justice. Don’t expect to hear anything Jay Electronica-esque. Although Fatal’s rhymes are strong enough “to make the devil hit his knees and say the Our Father.” Give it a listen below. Fatal is more about breathing life into the world than his name would suggest. Confusing? Listen up. - Wordlush

I've written about Fatal many times now; it's only because he's like, my favorite local MC, and the most truthful by far; I've described him to more than a few people as "our (as in Seattle's) 2Pac", only because he understands that exemplify-the-struggle, hood-on-my-back martyr thing much the same, and is an absolutely electrifying presence live. His in-the-works album-length collaboration with Jake One is full of promise—the new tracks from this project that are sprinkled throughout his recent live shows are unrelentingly self-evaluating, gloriously celebratory ("it's The Life that we live," one goes), and unquestionably gangsta, all those great things that drew me to the best cats, dudes like Scarface and Cube.

In case you're wondering: the DOC that Fatal is dissing in the beginning is the Department Of Corrections (whose supervision Fa recently became 100% free of), not the Texas-born MC, the legendary D.O.C. Because after all, nobody can do it better. While we're on this old-school West Coast tangent— Fatal always had something to his voice that reminded me of the great King Tee. So let's go dippin.
- Larry Mizell, Jr