Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
By The Roadie
November 16, 2007
He's old school, and he likes it that way.
It's not that Phil "Phatal" Hudson doesn't like rap, far from it. But what he's hearing out there today, well, let's just say it doesn't float his boat.
Or, we can let him be a little stronger in his words.
"It sucks right now," Hudson, 25, said. "I just can't get into it. That's why my music has a more old-school feel to it."
So if old school is your thing, you might want to check out Hudson — who raps under the mic name of Phatal — when he takes the stage Tuesday as part of the Tech N9ne show at Crocodile Rock in Allentown.
The all-ages show starts at 8 p.m. and tickets are $13.
Tech N9ne is a nationally touring rap group out of Kansas City, Mo. Hudson will have an opening set before Tech N9ne comes on stage for the "Misery Loves Kompany Tour."
You'd never guess Hudson for a rapper. He's just a mild-mannered graphic designer by day at a Carbon County location, but by night the Stroudsburg High School graduate is always working on new rhymes.
His flow is simple and easy, his lyrics meaningful and his promise of an old-school feel is legit.
So he's got his sound, now comes the hard part. The Stroudsburg native naturally wants to play his home area, but the pickings are pretty slim around here for a hip-hop venue.
He tried to play Lippy's Original Music Night at Lippy's Xtreme Sports Bar in Marshalls Creek in October, hoping his first show in his backyard would be a success.
After all, the night is supposed to be about local bands making local music, regardless of genre.
"But it didn't go very well at all," Hudson said. "I don't think the people there were feeling it very much. It may have been the first time they heard rap. That was a real rough crowd. It was good to go through something like that. If nothing else, just to see how bad a show can go."
His next time in the Poconos, he hopes, will go better. Hudson is hoping to fit a venue with the crowd he knows will support a local hip-hop show.
"The crowd is there, I know it is," he said. "You don't get many hip-hop shows around here, so if we could put a good one together, I know there would be people coming out to it."
PHATAL INFO FILE
Name: Phil Hudson
Age: 25
Hometown: Stroudsburg
High School: Stroudsburg Area
Lives: Allentown
Profession: Graphic designer
Influences: He lists everything from Stone Temple Pilots to Onyx. "I like a lot of different kinds of music," he said.
How he got into rap: "Me and my older brother used to listen to it and we used to listen to it together. It just seemed so much different than anything else I was hearing. It just sounded like fun."
Where you can find him: He's opening for Kansas City, Mo.-based rap group Tech N9ne at Crocodile Rock in Allentown on Tuesday.
Show info: All ages (21 to drink), $13 for tickets, show starts at 8 p.m.
More info: www.myspace.com/phatalphd
- The Pocono Record
Discography
2007 - H8trid: Suprise Entrance
2007 - Phatal: Graphic Surgery
2007 - S2R: The Movement
2006 - The Marxmen: Cut Throat Music
2006 - H8trid: Support
2006 - DJ Abyss Pres. The Best of the Lehigh Valley
2006 - The Marxmen
2005 - The Marxmen: No Trust in the Wicked
Photos
Bio
NEVER WAS A GANGSTER, AND NEVER WAS A PIMP!!
These very simple observations of my life motivates me to make music that relates to what I know. These days every hip hop artist out there feels the need to fit into one of these categories...not Phatal!
Ever since he heard hip hop, he accepted that there was good artists, and bad artists. And more often than not, the bad artist were saturating the airwaves. This is when Phatal decided to take a pen and pad, and carve out his own niche in the music industry.
"It sucks right now," Phatal, 25, said in a recent interview with The Pocono Record. "I just can't get into much new music these days. That's why my music has a more old-school feel to it. Cuase back in the day is when people we're trying a lot harder, instead of sellin out."
After years of practice, networking, and refining his skill, Phatal was finally ready to expand into live shows. This oppurtunity was realized in November 2005 at The Platform Hip Hop Fest, hosted by DJ Cap Cee.
Now it's almost 2008, and Phatal is determined to charge forward. With a steady stream of collaborations from the US to UK, and a desire to make music other artists are afraid to make, Phatal is confident that once people hear his sound, they won't be dissappointed!
For Phatal's full newspaper interview in The Pocono Record, click the link below:
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071116/SHARPMAG/711160303/-1/SHARPMAG02
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