Brian Fresco may hail from Chicago, but it’s a Minneapolis all-time music legend that he could talk about all day.
To hear Fresco heap praise on Prince is to hear a true fan gush about the late “Purple Rain” artist’s musical prowess.
“To go on tour with him and see him perform every night, you would have to be blind to not come out of that experience 100 times better,” says Fresco. In fact, he’s still jealous a fellow Chicagoan singer, Eryn Allen Kane, was featured on one of Prince’s last songs “Baltimore.”
“I’m like, you lucky mother fucker,” laughs Fresco with a pang of envy. “I could talk about Prince all day.”
ED Magazine caught up with Fresco, courtesy of StripJointsMusic.com, to talk about the Chicago-based hip-hop collective he’s a part of, working with friends and peers, including Chance the Rapper and his new single “Bad 4 You.”
ED: You are a part of the SaveMoney Collective out of Chicago where Chance the Rapper is also a member, please tell our readers about the collective and what it has done to help with your career?
BRIAN: That collective is more so a group of friends, brothers actually — we all grew up together — this didn’t start like ‘We’re going to make music together.’ One day we were in the park and a bolt of lightning shot down and we all got rapping. It really saved my life, being friends with guys like Chance, Joey (Purp), and Kami. Kami and I went to grade school together so I’ve known him since second grade. A lot of guys that are part of this collective have grown up together. We all came together and now we have Save Money.
ED: What a dream come true …
BRIAN: It’s definitely crazy. It’s a diverse group of guys, we’re from every facet of the city. I’m very close with Nico Segal who’s a trumpet player. We are a very divine pick — guys from the West Side, the North Side. I was able to go to beerpong parties and stuff like that.
I want to tour with somebody that has a lot of energy. I’m going to have champagne dripping from your ceiling when I’m done performing. — Brian Fresco
ED: Chance the Rapper and Lil Xxel are featured on two of your singles, how was it working with these friends?
BRIAN: Xxel is definitely a special dude, a very special young talent. I feel like me and him clicked on an industry level — the connection was industry based. But he’s more than an industry friend, I consider him a little brother.
ED: With Chance and Lil Xxel, how have they influenced your music and what other artists have influenced your music, maybe artists outside your group?
BRIAN: Chance is a guy, we’ve slept head to toe in a bed together as kids. Now, he’s got Grammys so it’s like ‘I’ve gotta catch you.’ It’s friendly competition. I’m very blessed to have friends that have set the bar so high. We’re trying to compete each other, it’s. a race.
ED: How has the use of Soundcloud benefitted your career?
BRIAN: Soundcloud is where we all started, we all put our music there. Really it was YouTube and then it was Soundcloud and people started to notice. Soundcloud has always been a huge part of a lot of people’s movements, not just ours. Soundcloud has done wonders for tons of artists. It was a term: Soundcloud rappers. They were breeding new sound. Soundcloud is a huge part of the culture.
ED: How personally active are you in your social media — how much time a week do you dedicate to interacting with your fans?
BRIAN: I could do a little more and want to do more because fans deserve more. I definitely have a very colorful personality and I feel like I need to let everybody know that — I’m not just this mysterious guy.
ED: If you could go on tour with any artist in the world — living or dead — who would that be and why?
BRIAN: Living, it would have to be either Travis Scott or Playboi Carti because I see Playboi Carti fans breaking into arenas. I want the wild shows. I like Tory Lanez, too. He had a show with Chance a while back before he got big. I remember he was walking out on people’s hands in the crowd, like ‘Who the fuck is this guy? This guy is lit.’ I want to tour with somebody that has a lot of energy. I’m going to have champagne dripping from your ceiling when I’m done performing.
ED: Now that StripJointsMusic has delivered your song to the stripclub DJ community, why would “Bad 4 You” be a great song to play in their stripclub?
BRIAN: What stripper isn’t bad for you but also good for you?
For more information, visit stripjointsmusic.com.
