Media
Billboard
"Fab 5 Freddy on the Mission of Netflix Marijuana Documentary ‘Grass Is Greener’: ‘We Need to Re-Educate All These Politicians"
Fab 5 Freddy’s new Netflix documentary Grass Is Greener is as much about politics as it is about pot — and it has earned the praise of the Majority Leader of New York State’s Assembly, Crystal Peoples-Stokes, who is among the Empire State politicians pushing for the legalization of adult marijuana use.
Rolling Stone
Google Doodle
Google Doodle
Google Doodle celebrates the 44th Anniversary of the Birth of Hip Hop
This Doodle celebrates the 44th anniversary of hip hop with a first-of-its-kind Doodle featuring a custom logo graphic by famed graffiti artist Cey Adams, interactive turntables on which users can mix samples from legendary tracks, and a serving of Hip Hop history — with an emphasis on its founding pioneers. What’s more, the whole experience is narrated by Hip Hop icon Fab 5 Freddy, former host of “Yo! MTV Raps.”
New York Times
New York Times
"Can Mike Tyson Become a Heavyweight in the New York Marijuana Industry?
It was the opportunity to raise awareness about how the criminalization of marijuana fueled racial inequality that drew Fred Brathwaite, better known as Fab 5 Freddy, to the industry. Now, he is a co-owner and the chief executive officer of B Noble, a weed brand named after Bernard Noble. Mr. Noble, who is Black, became a national symbol of the nation’s draconian drug laws after he was sentenced to 13 years in prison in Louisiana over the equivalent of two joints."
New York Post
New York Post
"Jalen Rose and Fab 5 Freddy talk nicknames, rap & Basquiat
“I was a graffiti artist in the streets in New York, and that was something that started way back in the ’70s,” he told me. “But at some point, in the midst of doing that, I looked at pop artists like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, and I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, these guys are doing similar stuff. Inspired by the same stuff we were.’ So that led me to be like, ‘Wait, I want to be an artist now.’ And that began a journey for me that led me to become a visual artist, meet other people like Jean-Michel Basquiat that were trying to do the same thing back then in the ’80s. But then I also was very interested in this new thing in The Bronx called hip-hop, which was like an infant trying to find its way.”
Hip-hop horseman: Fab 5 Freddy gallops through Renaissance art
The graffiti art legend is taking a ride through Florence and its masterpieces. He talks about their enlightened depictions of black people.
For many years, hip-hop was the sound of New York City. But in the ’80s, it started to become the sound of young America at large. A big reason for that spread was the highly influential show Yo! MTV Raps. The show debuted on the erstwhile Music Television in 1988, airing hip-hop videos and interviews with rappers and showcasing its cool hosts. It quickly became a surprise national hit.
“People thought it was a passing fad,” says original host Fab 5 Freddy. “Nobody was thinking it would be around for 50 years.”
