Between the Houston-raised rapper Fat Tony, the Jersey-born rapper Fatboi Sharif, and the New York producer Steel Tipped Dove, there’s a whole lot of combined musical knowledge and skill. Together, they form a veritable underground rap braintrust. Their new collaborative record Brain Candy is casual and masterful, the result of hanging out and eating Chinese food and obsessing over music. Anchored by Steel Tipped Dove’s sample-driven experimentation and pinned to a reference to the classic Canadian sketch comedy show Kids in the Hall, the record stakes out space in a long lineage of idiosyncratic rap. Listen to Brain Candy, which is out now on Dove's Fused Arrow Records, and read an email interview with the trio below.

Is Brain Candy a Kids in the Hall reference? Did you watch Kids in the Hall growing up? Any favorite sketches?

Steel Tipped Dove: Sharif and Tony went on a podcast called Cabbages—the podcast concept was to watch a movie and talk about it. So, yes, that’s the genesis. My favorite Kids in the Hall sketch is "$240 worth of pudding." 

Fat Tony: It definitely is! I grew up loving everything about that show, even the jokes I didn't understand at the time. I constantly watched its reruns on Comedy Central in elementary and middle school. My favorite sketch is "A Dog for Whom I Feel Nothing." It's so bizarre and straightforward. Sitting in your apartment every night, in silence, with a pet you feel zero emotion for. Trying to talk to the dog like a human. The shit is just hilarious. I didn't grow up having pets and never got a dog until my early 30s, so being a pet owner was a mystery to me when I saw the sketch. I'm still laughing at it.

Fatboi Sharif: Yeah, from the feature film. Kids in the Hall was huge for me coming up. To this day, I'd have to say it’s my favorite comedy sketch show ever, always loved the originality and how far they pushed everything, but kept it funny from all angles. 

What is your favorite song on Brain Candy and why?

Fatboi Sharif: I love the entire project straight through for different reasons and emotions but I would say for me it's a tie between “Chocolate Castle Kisses” and “Brainstorming.” We knew both of those were extremely strong when we recorded them and knew they would stand out and be favorites for sure.

Steel Tipped Dove: It changes a lot, but I think my favorite is “Skylight Fixtures.” It doesn’t sound like anything else on the record or anything else Tony or Sharif has made really? I don’t know, it’s a very weird track, and I like that. 

Fat Tony: “Medicine Man.” I think it's the best song and the hardest beat on the project. The way the drums come in are perfect. I love my introspective, emo ass verse. I really meant it too. I felt waves of depression throughout the time we worked on the songs (summer 2022 until the end of 2023) and I put the bulk of those feelings into this track.

What kind of music was influencing you when you were making Brain Candy? Anything unexpected?

Fat Tony: I made a list of the songs I listened to the most during this time and it's all the introspective and vulnerable raps you would expect from the moody sound of this project.

-MJG “Keep Your Mind”

-Nas “Drunk By Myself”

-Future “Xanax Damage”

-UGK “Diamonds & Wood”

-Kilo Ali “Lost Y'all Mind”

I literally reference the Nas song, "Drunk by Myself," on "Medicine Man."

The MJG song was especially on my mind during that long, sad stretch because it gave me hope and reminded me that "we suffer more in imagination than in reality" just like that boy Seneca said. Thoughts come and go and every thought we have isn't the truth of our experiences. Like the great Lil B once said ... I BE TRIPPIN!

Fatboi Sharif: The creation of Brain Candy came with different emotions for me that I wanted to get across musically. During that time I listened to lots of Eightball and MJG as well as Primus, Devin the Dude, Hole, and lots more. 

Steel Tipped Dove: Oh damn, not trying to cop out but this is impossible to answer. All I do is listen to new music and try to copy it, fail, and end up making something unique. 

What makes this album different from the rest of your catalog?

Steel Tipped Dove: Right now, I have been making a lot of single rapper/single producer albums. This is different in that it's two rappers. Wild stuff. But also it’s insane LOL. The song concepts are really different from other stuff, it's laid back, you can tell how fun it was to record. We definitely recorded a lot of it a few years ago and then it sat on my hard drive while Tony and Sharif went on to make a whole bunch of other dope stuff and collab with other people and stuff, so that makes it a bit different too, in that it was recorded without an actual plan, we were just jamming and making songs, and then eventually there were so many songs we put together this project. Also, I am certain this will be the only album in my catalogue where a protagonist is a human possibly fucking an alien.  

Fat Tony: This is a totally different style of production than what I typically do in my solo projects. I've wanted to make a project with Dove for years now and felt it'd be best to jump into his world with another artist that typically lives in that space. As soon as Sharif and I met, I knew he was the perfect guy to rock with on Dove beats. The tracks on this project are slower and moodier than anything I usually do, and it's hugely refreshing to find a new direction years into making rap songs.

Fatboi Sharif: I would have to say Brain Candy was certainly one of my most fun and creative experiences musically because it was created in the studio from scratch with me, Tony and Dove and I love the vibe of that … We would chill, get Chinese food, sip something, and just build on what we wanted to accomplish, vibe and emotion on each track, and the overall world we wanted to create.

"Insane in the Membrane" or "Brain Stew."

Fatboi Sharif: “Insane in the Membrane” but Black Sunday and Dookie were two albums that were influential to me coming up so perhaps a tie. LOL. 

Steel Tipped Dove: LOL, man it really depends on the setting! I’m calling it a tie. Both bangers.

Fat Tony: "Insane in the Membrane" all day for me, even though I love Green Day! It's still in my head constantly after all these years. I was literally jammin’ it loud as hell in the morning a few weeks ago. When I think of Green Day these days, I only dial in to Dookie and Kerplunk. They were a perfect band in their prime because they came with the best hooks and songwriting.

Do you ever experience brainrot?

Fat Tony: If you consider brainrot to be a constant rotation of hundreds of rap lyrics in my head anytime I hear, see, or respond to something, then yes I do.

Fatboi Sharif: I would honestly say my brain gets less foggy than it used to, but it's from just years of discipline, dedication, and knowing yourself.

Steel Tipped Dove: No. I just looked up the definition of this and it's super annoying. Like, I get it, the internet is ostensibly (in the history of all time) new, so we need new terms for certain things, but I don’t think "brainrot" is a real thing—it’s a decision. Barring any medically diagnosed mental issues that have literal tangible effects on the brain ... People are just young, lazy, and annoying LOL. Like, again, if you are lucky enough to be mentally stable, it's very easy to feel when you are looking at the internet too much and you can simply do something with a friend or go outside. This reminds me of that Tyler, the Creator tweet about cyberbullying. Maybe it’s problematic, but I agree with him. if you are "experiencing brain rot," then just freakin’ go outside.

Do you have a favorite kind of candy? 

Steel Tipped Dove: Toblerone; Mike and Ike; Necco wafers; watermelon Sour Patch Kids.

Fat Tony: I'm a dark chocolate enthusiast and I fuck with the Ritter Sport that has hazelnuts in it. I'm always tempted to buy one when it's at the counter at any store. If you put a tracking device in one at a shop near my house, I'd never go missing.

Fatboi Sharif: Oh yes. Now I’m going to break this down, fat man style for you. LOL. It's certain combos for me that are timeless, candy wise … Ice cold peanut M&M’S are unbeatable, room temperature Almond Joys always have had a special place for me, Kit Kat fresh out the fridge, and to bring it home in the most triumphant way possible are chocolate raisins. 

Fat Tony photo by Michael Tyrone Delaney. Steel Tipped Dove photo by Liz C.