Music
Phat Kat
born 1971 · rapper
Detroit rapper best known as J Dilla's closest early collaborator, partner in the duo 1st Down and voice of the classic Carte Blanche.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 55- Birth name
- Ronald Christopher Watts
- Also known as
- Ronnie Cash
- Detroit years
- 1971–present
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Ronald Watts, known as Phat Kat, is a Detroit rapper whose career began in the mid-1990s in 1st Down, a duo with Jay Dee, later J Dilla, on production. Signed to the Payday label, the pair became one of the first Detroit rap acts on a national label, but the group was short-lived. The two kept working together for years, starting with “Fat Cat Song” on Slum Village's Fan-Tas-Tic (Vol. 1). Phat Kat later described Dilla's studio discipline: verses had to be cut in one take, beats could be made in ten minutes, and the whole Dedication to the Suckers EP was finished in a single evening. He appeared on Dilla's Welcome 2 Detroit (2001), released The Undeniable LP on Detroit's Barak Records in 2003 with Slum Village, Dwele and Obie Trice, and followed Dilla's death with the single “Cold Steel” and the album Carte Blanche (2007), which critics count among the best Detroit rap records of its decade.
Highlights
- Formed 1st Down with J Dilla in the mid-1990s.
- Featured on Slum Village's Fan-Tas-Tic (Vol. 1) and J Dilla's Welcome 2 Detroit.
- Debut album The Undeniable LP (Barak Records, 2003).
- Carte Blanche (2007) includes several J Dilla productions.