B-Boy Fidget has been creating a name for himself in the Seattle scene for the past decade. From cultivating audiences with breaking to his clothing brand F-Rock, as well as his music career. Fidget has done it all in the hip-hop world.
With a storied history in the Northwest, the accomplished creator continues to push the boundaries of success. Lately, his hand has been in a multitude of high-profile events throughout Seattle. Hosting Flattop Fridays in the historic Dynasty Room and supporting breaking across the Northwest. Fidget continues to keep a busy schedule.
Through everything he’s handling, I was able to meet with him to get a deeper look into everything B-Boy Fidget.
RMR: What were the biggest challenges in creating your companies F-Rock Clothing and F-Rock Printing? How did you overcome them?
B-Boy Fidget: I’m overcoming them everyday. Everyday there’s new obstacles. Life’s really all about obstacles and opportunities. One will always follow the other. One of the biggest things is when you decide that it’s no longer a side hustle, that this is what you’re going to do to pay rent. There’s a different type of hustle. You have no backup plan. You do it because you love it, and it has to work. It’s all in the dedication and hard work.
RMR: How did you start F-Rock Clothing?
B-Boy Fidget: It got started because of my break dance crew Fraggle Rock. We’d always be making custom clothes for our shows. After the shows, people would always ask us for T-shirts. Skateboarding brands have their connection to skaters, and F-Rock is kind of like that for breaking. Everyone knows F-Rock clothing stems from Fraggle Rock. It’s been so long now that it is it’s own beast. People identify with it as a clothing brand straight up.
RMR: As the creator of F-Rock Clothing, what’s your favorite piece you ever made?
B-Boy Fidget: One of my favorites is Frank the Hip-Hop bear. He’s basically our polo horse. Throughout the duration of our clothing line, he’ll always pop up throughout our pieces. It’s iconic because he’s lasted so long. People can see the bear and know right away that it’s F-Rock.
RMR: Who were you biggest influences as an artist?
B-Boy Fidget: For dance definitely James Brown, Michael Jackson and Diddy. A lot of people don’t know that Diddy and Tupac got on from background dancing. Even Kanye and Tech N9ne used to break dance. A lot of the people you’d accredit for being great artists and musicians are artistic in different ways. They’ve made a mark with one of their talents, but were good at many different things. I applaud anyone who can mix their talents like that.
RMR: You mentioned mixing talents. With your break dancing and hip-hop mixing, how do you feel about that?
B-Boy Fidget: Combining rap music and b-boying always worried me. I never wanted to do it in a way that it was “corny”. It’s always been a scary thing for me. Now we’re in a good time in music where everyone is just being themselves. It’s accepted now, though. But there was a time where you couldn’t mix the two because it doesn’t match up marketing wise. But that’s my truth, it’s really cool to be able to mix the two together.
RMR: With that, what really came first for you? The music or the dancing?
B-Boy Fidget: It was probably music, but I wasn’t taking it as serious as I was dancing. I came from a musical family. My dad is a percussionist and had me on stage playing African drums and such. My mom is a poet and does a lot of writing. I used to play the trumpet, piano and drums. I wrote my very first rap when I was 9 years old. All these instruments were just in my house and it played a large part in my creativity.
RMR: So when did you really get serious about music after dancing?
B-Boy Fidget: I actually cracked my fourth lumbar vertebra in two places. I couldn’t dance, walk or shit like that for almost a whole year. That’s when I started taking music more serious because I couldn’t dance. I was locked in a room, and it was kind of my escape.
RMR: Who are your top 3 Seattle creatives of all time?
B-Boy Fidget: Vitamin D, Quincy Jones, and Jimi Hendrix. Vitamin D is the one who taught me how to make beats. He put me in the studio at a very young age. He taught me every aspect of being a professional recording artist. Originally he had a studio with Jake One named The Pharmacy. I made my first album there titled In The B-Boy Stance in like 2005 right before I moved to Atlanta.
RMR: How has the Pacific Northwest influenced you as an artist?
B-Boy Fidget: Just being on the West Coast in general, I feel as if you become more freethinking. People historically have always come west to be free. Seattle has really given me an advantage over other artists due to the fact that we welcome the arts in ways that other areas don’t.
RMR: You mentioned that you lived in Atlanta, how was your experience like there?
B-Boy Fidget: Grimy, yet inspiring. There’s a ton of black wealth out there. You see people who are just like you who are trying to do the same exact thing. It’s really inspiring to have that star factor. It does two things. If you’re already motivated to be a star it amps your motivation. But it also makes people think that they’re stars when they aren’t. Overall, Seattle taught me how to hone my talents. Whereas Atlanta gave me a chance to disperse them into the world.
RMR: Tell me a little bit about your Flat Top Friday’s.
B-Boy Fidget: It’s coming up on May 3rd. We’re going to be giving guests something new every single month. It’ll always be the first Friday of the month at the Dynasty Room. It’s going to be DJ’d by DJ Pheloneous & DJ Remi, and hosted by your’s truly.
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