Album Notes

Recorded over four years while $ucksex (Ben Garbe) was attending college at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana and originally released in May 2005, this album is probably the most unique record to ever be recorded in a dorm room.

With hip hop style ranging from club-bangers you might hear on an Eminem CD (Hodown, Dukes of Hazzard, Turn Your Music Down), to nerdy nerdcore type songs you might find on an mc chris release (She's Got A Boyfriend, I"M A DINOSAURus), or indie hip-hop-esque love songs (She's Getting Ready, She's Got A Boyfriend) this album demonstrates the Former Fat Boys aren't going to be pigeon holed to one type of music. They’ve been compared to young Eminem, Ludacris, The Bloodhound Gang, and Will Smith. Their cover of Ice Ice Baby has garnered obvious Vanilla Ice comparisons, which actually delight the boys because of their deep love for the two good Vanilla Ice songs: Ice Ice Baby and Ninja Rap. Vying to become the first mainstream nerdcore success story they won’t stop until everyone everywhere is humming the hooks or until they can afford to move out of $ucksex’s parent’s basement.

The group hails from Geneva, IL with roots in Chicago and Park Ridge, IL as well as the east coast. By roots we’re talking they used to watch He-Man and when they did, that’s where their TV’s were located. The group is mainly the brainchild of $ucksex and Hard Corey (Corey Wills from Chicago band Inspector Owl). Other cast members who appear on the album are Dirty Erik (Erik Skulborstad) and Chris Lawton. The boys are a sight to see live and shows mainly feature $ucksex and his hype man Mintie Phresh (Pat Ryan), Hard Corey, and an infamous Dinosaurus.

The name does not have anything to do with the awesome and totally unrelated Fat Boys. It comes from the history of $ucksex and his dramatic weight loss "to get girls" his junior year of high school. Growing up, $ucksex was the kid you see in movies that gets beat up every day after school and say that there's no way that would happen to anyone in real life. This included but was not limited to trips to the ER and near-shootings and is dramatized somewhat in the song "My Side of the Tracks". Originally the name had somewhat of a "New Radicals" effect as it was one man with a plural name, but now it makes more sense.

On a lighter note, this version of the album is the re-mastered version of the album Rocky Loves Emily that was originally released in 2005 on RaCheer Records a division of RaCheer Media, Ltd. It features one bonus track entitled "Snakes on a Plane" that was recorded for the second as yet untitled Former Fat Boys album that will be released in late 2006. The song was a finalist in the contest at www.tagworld.com to appear on the soundtrack for the movie coming in third place in total votes.

The Former Fat Boys have appeared on MTV's The Reality Show, have performed with mc chris, and are currently writing their second album as well as contributing songs to the musical for a traveling prevention theater charity group run by the R.Ed.I. Foundation. For more on the Former Fat Boys please visit the official website at www.formerfatboys.com. Look for them on tour fall 2006!