Femcee of the Week: Fiona Simone

Fiona Simone is definitely not a “newbie” to the music industry. She got her feet wet at an early age and even had a major deal with Universal Records. She’s done tracks with Kut Klose, Jagged Edge, and she’s also written for Trina as well as a few other artists. She’s currently signed to her own production company and recently just launched a clothing line. She’s more than just a Femcee she’s taking brand building by storm.

Where are you originally from?

I’m originally from Miami. That’s my hometown and where all my family is.

You currently reside in Atlanta right?

Right, I’ve been here about 10 years. I’m an ATLien now.

How long have you been rapping?

I’ve been rapping ever since I could put together complete sentences. My aunt use to work at a radio station in Miami so she was always around local artists and artists that would come in town. I had to be like 11 or 9 and around music and industry people. I was in and out of the studio trying to do demos. So it’s been a long time.

Your single, “Tomboyfresh” has been out for a while now but, you just launched your clothing line “Tomboyfresh”. What inspired you to launch the clothing line?

Basically just being the type of artist I am and having a brand that you would love to expand on outside of music. Anybody that’s doing music knows it’s not as profitable just being an artist right now. You have to definitely find different things to branch off and use the brand that you built as an artist to make other avenues of money. So that would be the primary reason, to embark on the brand.

Just being a “tomboy” and having the problem with finding clothes that fit me and my style. Like the baby tees they don’t cover your whole stomach. Then when you go buy men shirts and they’re too big. So I always had that problem. I’m so glad that the dress code changed a little bit and you can buy smaller clothes now. It’s easier for me to find stuff that fits me but, that was probably another reason why I wanted to do it. I know a lot of “tomboys’ have that problem with finding stuff that fits them properly.

You just recently did the “Tomboy Fresh Bay Area Invasion” where you rocked the stage for almost 4 days in a row. How was that?

It was amazing. To be an artist on the come up it’s very seldom that you have promoters and vendors that have events that are set up professionally and properly. That was probably one of the best professional set ups that I’ve done. Everything was on point. We got so much love from the people out in the Bay. We did 6 shows in 5 days. So the whole time we were there we stayed busy with work. It was wonderful. I couldn’t have asked for a better situation. I was the first rap artist to ever perform on the main stage at pride. It’s normally artists like Lady Ga Ga, Solange, and just different bands that are big. So for me to be the first rap artist to be on main stage and I’m not even from San Francisco. That definitely was breaking barriers for us.

I saw the video. It was a pretty huge crowd.

Yea it was huge. CNN reported that weekend that it was a million people in San Francisco. So we were on one of the biggest stages. It’s like 6 or 7. They have different types of stages around the whole downtown and they shut down the whole city. They have the Latino Stage, the Soul Stage (that’s normally the urban Black stage), and they have Main Stage and some other ones. We did Main Stage and then we had a performance on the Soul Stage.

It was fun. I was really impressed by the love that we received. In Atlanta, I don’t know what it is. It’s just so crazy to get so much more love outside of your city. I don’t know what that syndrome is. The same people there, local artists were complaining about how people don’t support in the community. We got so much love so I think it’s just that hometown thing.

It seems as if you’ve taken the phrase “Tomboy Fresh” and turned it into a movement. You’ve took it beyond a song and even beyond the clothing line. I think it’s great because people need to know that women and specifically female rappers come in so many different multitudes. How do you feel about being a key representative for the “tomboys” out here?

It’s definitely a privilege. I’m honored by that. Just seeing a lot of the mind states of people in the community I feel like I’m definitely qualified to be a representative. The name “Tomboy Fresh”, I actually started that or came up with that title because I wasn’t feeling how in the community it’s so many different boxes or categories of people. Its so many different names that people have and I just think it’s so petty. We’re bigger than that. You’re supposed to have an environment or community where you can be you. Not where you’re being out casted by mainstream community.

For “Tomboy Fresh” thing what I wanted to do was make it where anybody could identify with that. Any female can be a “tomboy” and it doesn’t label them or put them in a category. It’s about being your self.




I noticed on your MySpace you actually had guys rocking the “Tomboy Fresh” shirts too.

Exactly, that’s what I want to do. To me that’s representation of where we can take this. We don’t have to be bound or limited. That’s what my whole movement is about, empowerment and staying outside of the box.

Your website www.tomboyfresh.com is actually more than just a website. It’s a social networking site as well. What made you decide to go that route?

I was just trying to be as interactive as I could with the fans. I feel what’s going to make my movement more profitable is being able to pull in the people that feel out casted and feel like they don’t have a voice or presence in mainstream entertainment. I wanted people to feel like they really are a part of something. People always hit me on my sites telling me that they really appreciate what I’m doing. They say, “We really need something like this.” To me it’s not just saying ok I have a voice. It’s saying I have a voice and I want to open the door so these other voices can be heard. So the website is just an embark on the culture itself. It’s bigger than just Fiona Simone. It’s not just me. It’s a bunch of people out here that feel like they don’t have representation. I’m trying to prove to a label that the representation is necessary. You have all these people demanding it. So when people go on they can see that it’s bigger than music. It’s a whole market that we are overlooking. So to me it’s just proof of that movement and when it’s gets bigger it’s going to get to a point that it’s undeniable. Money is green at the end of the day. If you’re that ignorant or prejudice to where you wouldn’t want to get money off of an artist that clearly has a market that’s un-tampered, that’s crazy to me.


Your latest album out is Ladies Room 2.0. You also have the 2.5 upgrade but, can you tell me about “Detour”? When are you dropping that?

Technically “Detour” has been completed probably 3 times. It’s a work in progress but, the problem is we’re trying to figure out how to release it. I’ve given out “Ladies Room 1”, “Ladies Room 2.0”, and “Ladies Room 2.5” all free. So that’s like over 30,000 free CDs that’s I’ve given out. They’re also available for download. With the music industry changing a lot and the internet being a very powerful resource for us as artists I’m just trying to figure out what’s my best approach. Of course, I always do music that I give away but, at some point you have to take all the money that you’ve been putting into it and try to turn it around.

I’m working with the producer that’s the primary producer of “Detour”; he’s in a good position right now. He’s also produced for Jamie Foxx’s new album, Rick Ross, Cherish, and other artists. He’s in a good position and we’re partnering together for my project. Right now he’s being represented by Jay-Z, Michael Jackson, and Lil Kim’s attorney. So right now we’re just trying to figure out how we’re going to release this record. Are we going to do it totally independent or get some label support behind it? We’ve been talking to different people and negotiating. It’s definitely going to be a dope project. So far I have production from producers that are all pretty much B to C list producers. They already have mad songs out and have already worked with mad artists that are out. They already have platinum plaques. So that’s a blessing for me to have a project as if I have a major label budget but, I don’t.

You used to be signed to Universal. What happened with that?

They signed me and my A&R was like a 50 year old white woman. She had never even signed a Hip Hop artist before. I was the first Hip Hop artist she had ever signed. Actually the only other urban artist she had signed was India Arie. She basically was in a situation where she had the power to sign whoever she wanted to but, unfortunately she didn’t have support from the other people in the building to push the things that she was trying to do. Especially, when you’re talking about a label that has tons of A&Rs that are Hip Hop heads and are from New York. That’s what they do and then you have a 50 year old white woman signing a Hip Hop artist. They didn’t really respect her. They felt like she didn’t really know Hip Hop and that she should have stayed in her lane. So it was a problem before I even got there. So I kind of suffered from whatever was going before I got there.

The truth being told it was also a blessing that she did sign me. I didn’t have to go through a lot of the procedures that a lot of the artists had to go through with the label. I was able to complete my entire project without any outside influence. Besides me and my A&R I didn’t have to deal with anybody at the label to say, “Hey you need to work with this producer or you need to do that.” It was like I had the creative control. Well, I didn’t have the total creative control but, it was between me and my A&R that’s where it stopped.

I pretty much turned in a project that they felt wasn’t any singles on it. So they cut me another budget for 4 more songs. I went to New York for a while and worked with Steve Rifkind who was the founder of Loud Records. Being that I went there and worked with some of the producers that he felt I should work with, that never happens at Universal. That never happens where a no name artists turns in an album and they say, “You know what we feel you as an artist but we feel you didn’t have any singles so we’re going to cut a budget for 4 more records.” Before it was said and done I spent over a half a million dollars, which is definitely unheard of. You’ll be lucky now to get a $150,000 from Universal. So that was definitely a blessing itself. To be honest I really can’t blame anybody for what did or didn’t happen with Universal because the problem was I was no where near where I am now as far as having a vision together. There was no “Tomboy Fresh” movement.

You’re currently signed with Open Mind Music right?

Yes, it’s really my production company that I developed myself. So it’s like me signing myself to myself. That way whatever situation may come at me again the creative control stays with me because I’m signing myself and then you have to sign my company in order to get me.

You’ve written for other artists before. Can you tell me about that and who are some of the people that you’ve written for?

I wrote on Trina’s last album. An artist right now that’s signed to Bangladesh’s label, her name is Muffy. I’ve been writing a lot of stuff for that. There’s a London artist by the name of Dominique. She’s pretty successful over there in her market in the UK. I’ve written some things for her. There’s an artist out in Texas name Lauren Bryan which, is a Pop artist. A lot of stuff that I’ve written outside of the Trina stuff has been Pop. Lauren Bryan is actually charting. She’s upcoming right now.

So you actually do more than Hip Hop.

Yes, definitely. That’s why “Detour” is going to give people an introduction to who I really am artistically. If you’re ever able to check out one of the live shows I’m performing with a band. It’s to show people I’m not an amateur with this music stuff. “Detour” is like me getting my Black Eyed Peas/Kanye on.


You can find out more about Fiona Simone at www.tomboyfresh.com, www.twitter.com/tomboyfresh, and http://www.myspace.com/fionasimone