WHEN THE WORLD REOPENS Take Five
Frzy raps about quarantining, zombies and ‘Tiger King’
Take Five with Patricia Sheridan, a new weekly feature, is a Q&A that offers a glimpse of the person behind the persona.
Emmy-winning rap singer Frzy, born Harvey Daniels, grew up in East Liberty dreaming of playing professional basketball. His dreams took a hard right when he won a national music contest for a rap performance during his last year of high school. The 34year-old recently completed a 31-hour freestyle rap, unofficially beating the Guinness world record of 25 hours, 56 minutes. This month he releases “On Tonight,” a new song and music video featuring Donny Wo. It’s a play on sitcoms from the late 1980s and early ’90s.
WHO would you most want to add to your inner circle if you could?
I’d say probably the secretary of defense, Mark Esper. I would get the headsup on whatever is going on in the world and be prepared before it hits. But also if the worst ever happened, like the pandemic creates zombies or aliens invaded or a nuclear bomb is about to hit. Not only would we know but my family would be taken into the secret government bunkers, and we would live to tell the story. Not be in it.
WHAT do you keep on your bedside table?
I actually don’t have a bedside table. I have a big mini fridge right next to me [laughs], and I use it as a bedside table. Even my lamp is on it. In the middle of the night if I want a drink or water or cold chocolate, I grab it. I do it so much sometimes I even do it with my eyes closed [laughs].
WHEN were you the most vulnerable in your life?
To be honest, and this is personal for me, the conversations I have with myself when I’m waiting for my dreams to become my memories. I’m a very confident person, and my faith in myself and God is strong, but it’s the anticipation of the transition. It’s the feeling you get right before you decided to jump because that’s a choice you control. And the moment before you land, because that’s something you must do better than the jump. But it is out of your control.
WHERE are you quarantined? I’m quarantined in Pittsburgh, almost got stuck in New York City before the stay-at-home order happened. Which would have been bad especially with everything that’s going on over there. I am a little immune-compromised, so I haven’t left the house at all. A lot of writing and planning things and preparing for when the world gets open again. But I’m not sure how long it’s gonna last because of the way the world is processing all of this. Personally, I want it to last as long as it needs to to keep people alive and healthy. And I will never complain about this no matter how it affects my career or convenience because a house is a lot more spacious than a coffin.
WHY is “Tiger King” so compelling?
I truly think it’s because people love organized tragedies. I hated watching the show! Maybe because I’m an animal lover, specifically a cat person. Or maybe it’s because I hate celebrating terrible people. What got me is that after this show you saw more Carole Baskin memes posted from people or TikTok dances dressing up as Joe Exotic than you did save the tiger ads or outrage at what these animals had to go through or went through for your entertainment. We’re more concerned with freeing Joe Exotic than we are freeing these amazing animals from their cages. I guess it’s more interesting to care about a guilty human’s one life than an innocent cat’s nine.