“I be in the 413 / You already know what that means.” Yes we do — it means Austin Fair has re-entered the ring.
The 413 area code is practically the calling card of the Chicopee-raised rapper, who’s been proudly repping Western Massachusetts since his 2017 debut project Everlasting. Fair’s new record ever since then — home to the aforementioned lyrics — is peppered with more nods to his home turf, as well as Fair’s other hallmark: Intimate introspection.
While most artists appraise their storytelling as reflective and vulnerable, Fair has always possessed a flair for escorting listeners through his life, as he did on past albums like Alumni and PIONEER. With ever since then, he presses rewind once again, connecting dots between his childhood and his creative trajectory as an adult. “As a kid, I was hungry and left out / From the life that I faked with my best pals,” he recalls on album opener “deep breathe,” a contrast to the quiet joy of the penultimate track “gas,” where Fair marvels “Never thought I would get money from touching a stage / This shit is a blast.”
“My album ever since then is sort of a look back at my youth, and who I’ve become along the way,” he tells Vanyaland. “There were points in my life where I wasn’t the most confident in who I was, but being artistically free helped me figure it out. Today I am fully aware of the type of man I want to be, and this project circles around the thoughts a lot of young Black men grapple with at this stage in life. The determination to do more, and to get up out of your momma house and go become something your family can depend on is a consistent theme.”
Fair’s new record is also a cumulation of homegrown influences, both past and present. He cites Eskay, Gio Dee, and the mid-2010s “wave of bubbly and fun music” from Cousin Stizz, Leano, and Vintage Lee as guiding forces for the album’s sound. Contributions from New England producers like Hetriks, Kidd Wizzle, and Sandman round out the representation.
“I think people will hear influence from the classic sounds of Massachusetts rap that I grew up hearing, and really just a more refined version of the Austin Fair they may have heard in the past,” Fair concludes.
Run it back with ever since then below.