HFR founder Samir Becic chatted with Fitty Smallz, the world’s first fitness rapper, about his music career. The Youtube personality wants to make fitness fun and accessible to everyone, and has collabed with former MMA fighter Chuck Lidell, Instagram fitness celebrity Lindsey Pelas, and TLC star Whitney Way Thore.
Health Fitness Revolution: Fitty, what is the message of your first two videos?
Fitty Smallz: “Hamburger, Fries, Shake” is partially a joke. Its other message is that if you exercise and eat healthy you can occasionally reward yourself with cheat days.
“Muffin Top” goes against the marketing brainwashing that says young girls have to look a certain way, or they’re not socially acceptable, when in fact the majority of people can’t look like the image marketer’s want. A majority of people will have a muffin top, and that’s okay. If you go back in time to the 1920s, the societal standard prized curvier women as beauty standards. Now the standards are for super thin models, that beauty is being thin, yet society is unhealthier than ever. “Muffin Top” comes right at that and exposes this. You have to be comfortable in your own skin.
I went out and I found Windy Way Thore to appear in the video after she started her new body shape campaign. She has polycystic ovarian syndrome and her whole thing is that there are other things that come into play in regards to body size, hormonal in her case, and most people don’t realize the pressures society puts on women and the female body. It’s a body acceptance and empowerment video.
Health Fitness Revolution: She’s a great singer. Is that your voice in the videos?
Fitty Smallz: The female vocals in all my songs are actually preformed by Joy Dennis, a talented and well known R&B singer. But yes, we don’t alter my voice at all.
Health Fitness Revolution: MMA legend Chuck Lidell is also in your “Hamburger, Fries, Shake” video. What kind of guy is he? Has he kept in shape?
Fitty Smallz: Chuck’s a great guy. He has a great work ethic, was on set for 14 hours and never complained or shrugged his shoulders. We had done the whole dance routine, rehearsed it at his house but never got to do it because the shoot went so long.
He totally has kept in shape. He could go into the ring tomorrow and beat 70% of the guys out there. It was fun working with him, I’d like to work with him again but you have to choose who you work with. For example, I got Dani Mathers in my most recent video, “Thunder Thighs.”
Health Fitness Revolution: Let’s talk about that video. You’re a vampire. We know what they stand for. They’re strong, very fit, very muscular, very healthy looking considering they’re dead. Besides that they’re practically fitness models. I know sex sells. Vampire sex probably sells even more. Is that what you were thinking?
Fitty Smallz: I was negotiating with some people and I landed on Dani Mathers, who is the 2015 Playmate of the Year. Then we had Lindsey Pelas who is the Instagram’s “It Girl,” and then I went after both of them and then I cut the deal.
I shot the video on my 55th birthday, and what better way to celebrate your 55th than with two of the most beautiful women on the planet? The reason I did the vampire thing is that if you look back at “Muffin Top” and “Gluteus Maximus,” people ask, ‘Are you going to get another heavy girl?’ That’s the connotation of thunder thighs. But when you think of thunder thighs it represents power, fitness. Thunder thighs, in my definition, means powerful fitness.
I wanted to do a bootcamp concept, so what it is is a vampire bootcamp. So in the opening scene you have two initiates and a bunch of vampires. and throughout the video these fit vampire women are trying to turn them into vampires .
Health Fitness Revolution: Are you trying to turn America into vampires?
Fitty Smallz: I’m trying to take their souls, get the souls of America, with fitness. It is so easy in this industry to get sucked into talking about obesity, morbid obesity. But just talking about it is not working, you can talk about it until you are blue in the face and that’s what everybody has been doing for the past two decades.
Health Fitness Revolution: I agree, but how do you suggest we improve health and fitness in America?
Fitty Smallz: To try and make fitness fun, which is what I’m trying to do. Get people to laugh, not take it so seriously, it’s all about planting a seed. I’ve gotten so many comments over the years and I think that i’ve inspired thousands of people to change their lives. Everyone is in different phases in their fitness journey.
Health Fitness Revolution: How does it feel to be the first fitness rapper?
Fitty Smallz: It feels great. If you go in and ask anyone who is between 20-30 in the fitness profession and you ask anyone who Frank Bond, Ruddy Smith are, and and they won’t know. Nobody knows or remembers a club operator. History will never remember a club operator. But Richard Simmons did something crazy. He reached more lives than the entire industry combined because he was this crazy white guy with crazy hair and a tank top. And he reached people. History will remember personalities like that.
Health Fitness Revolution: So what are the plans for Fitty Smallz 2016? Fitty Smallz 2020?
Fitty Smallz: Once you become famous it isn’t an overnight success. It takes 10 years to become an overnight success. So I am going to keep doing what I’ve been doing. The challenges are time, energy, and money. Those three things drive all decisions in life pretty much. I have to manage my time and responsibilities.
Health Fitness Revolution: So will you do 10 pushups and the join the #PUSHUPSEVERYWHERE campaign?
Fitty: Yes! When do I need to do it by?
Health Fitness Revolution wishes Fitty Smallz a great career, and thanks him for spreading the message of health and fitness. Health Fitness Revolution is challenging Fitty Smallz to do ten pushups by January 15.
