2007.04.13 James Crawford of SweatBox Productions discusses his latest release, Fugyous Vol. One, and why we’re all nobodies. What was the idea behind Fugyous? Fugyous is a simple collection of tracks with no real correlation other than I had a lot of unreleased material and a mixtape was a perfect opportunity to get it out quick. I like the idea that there are buried treasures all around us, especially for musicians, we just have to look. Sometimes the unreleased material shines just as bright as the released. The idea is basically: This is SweatBox, and this is only some of what we have to offer so stay tuned. What can we expect to hear? A little bit of everything, but mainly freestyle material. Pure lyrics, wit, and braggadocio. Most are my personal favorites from previous projects, and others are new tracks altogether. I used songs from Metaphysiks and Life as An M.C. along with a few freestyle tracks I had recorded recently. What’s up with the title? Haha, that’s a jab at the censors. I’m kinda infamous in my circle for my use of foul language, amongst other things. Personally, I think cursing is overrated but it gets your point across very effectively at times. I just try not to overdo it on wax because I have more to say than fuck this, fuck that, piece of shit this, ya know? Barring the adlibs on the tracks of course. Your three favorite tracks, and why. (1) Trust You, because it’s 100% true, and that’s the sad part. When I sat down and wrote it, I really wanted to express how neurotic love can make you and illustrate the kind of mind-frame people descend into when you try to balance wanting to do what’s best for you and doing what’s right for the relationship. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t sorta thing. It still makes me laugh. (2) Nobody, because of the different perspectives and points of view, and the way they’re presented to the listener. Ya know, someone goes to a restaurant, orders a steak rare, gets it medium or well-done, and throws a shit-fit. What the cook experiences might be: it’s Friday night, orders are piling up, waitresses are dropping plates, and now some jerk wants him to stop what he’s doing and cook him another steak. What the waitress could experience is she’s pulling a double-shift, she’s late for her break, the manager’s yelling at her, and now she has to deal with a grouchy customer because the cook screwed the steak up. The other diners are caught in the cross-fire! And everyone is oblivious completely or in-part to the other’s perspective, so they practically don’t exist, they’re nobody. (3) Want To Be, because everything came together so naturally. We did that song in like '04. I made the beat, Moe killed the hook, and I banged out the verses in no time. We had it done in three hours. It was like magic; Moe and I work well together and listening to it reminds me. What’s next from SweatBox? That’s something I can’t even give a definite answer to. The LP’s on the horizon, for sure. Some instrumentals collections. SweatBox is a company that doesn’t anticipate the next big thing because it doesn’t need to, but it’s always ready to mobilize for whatever whenever.