Pardison Fontaine Talks His ‘Sext8pe’ EP, Working With Sexyy Red, His Views On Polygamy
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In an age where the performance of music has threatened to supersede the roots of its creation, Pardison Fontaine has found himself playing both sides of the fence.
Famously making a splash with his Billboard Top 40 single “Backin’ It Up” featuring Cardi B, the rapper is widely known for his interactions and associations with other other artists, particularly of the female variety. A seasoned wordsmith with a background littered with dues paid, Fontaine’s career skyrocketed after linking with Cardi B, with whom he helped pen the entirety of her Grammy-winning, multi-platinum debut album Invasion of Privacy.
The LP, included the chart-topping smash “Bodak Yellow” and certified Diamond “I Like It,” where Pardi is credited as a songwriter. with the latter certified Diamond with sales exceeding 11 million in the U.S. That momentum carried over into the following year and the release of his debut studio album Under8ted. Released under Atlantic Records, it has proved he’s far from being a sidekick, but a main event in his own right.
The elevation in success and public profile brought Pardi in spaces reserved for stars and power players. It birthed a period in which he met and began dating rapper Megan Thee Stallion, a union that brought the ghostwriter even further into the spotlight. Yet, trouble in paradise became apparent in the aftermath of the shooting incident involving Megan, rapper Tory Lanez, and Thee Stallion’s close friend, Kelsey Harris.
Soon, alleged lies, mistruths, distrust, and infidelity caused their relationship’s built foundation — one strong enough for Pardi to consider turning Thee Stallion into a Fontaine — to gradually crumble. Next, the specter of bad blood amid perceived subliminal shots aimed at him on Megan’s 2023 release “Cobra” reared its head, with many painting the man once thought to be loyal as otherwise.
Yet, while Pardi’s relationship with rap star Megan Thee Stallion may have ended in notorious fashion, he’s made it clear that he’s not for the bullsh*t after issuing his response on the recently released “Thee Person.” Addressing the drama surrounding their public fallout, “Thee Person” not only served as an open letter to defend his character, set the record straight, and close one chapter in his life as he prepares to embark the next.
With the past behind him, Pardi looks to place the focus back on himself and the music that put him in the public’s eye a decade ago. Garnering attention with early releases like “Oyyy” and “Bobby Brown,” Fontaine released his debut mixtape Not Supposed to Be Here in 2015. From there, the upstart’s reputation as one to watch began to precede itself almost immediately. Raucous performances like his set at Hot 97’s Who’s Next showcase at NYC’s renowned venue SOBs and beyond served as evidence that Pardi’s sound and style resonate far beyond the borders of his hometown of Newburgh, N.Y.
The rapper recently sat down with VIBE and spoke about breaking new ground for his city and how it’s impacted him as an artists and a person. “Newburgh is a hood, like any other,” he said while lounging in VIBE’s studio space. “You’ve got your parts you stay away from, you’ve got your parts that’s a little nicer, we’ve got everything. It’s what made me who I am today and I’m thankful for it.”
“It’s where I owe a lot of different of my different outlooks and point of views on stuff [to] ’cause I was able to grow up in a space that not a lot of people knew about or tapped into,” he added. “Even from New York, you’ve got ‘Kiss from Yonkers, you’ve got Cam’ and ’em from Harlem. You’ve got Jay-Z in Brooklyn. You’ve never heard nobody from Newburgh, so that being such a unique place, it gave me a different story and a different perspective to share with my fans.”
The perspective Fontaine is looking to share is not one of heartache or bitterness, but one that remains unjaded, which he puts to the forefront on his new project Sext8pe. His first full-length release following a four-year hiatus, aside from a feature from Sexyy Red, Sext8pe is all Pardi. The lyricist puts together eight tracks that range from romantic to raunchy and shows that beyond the tabloid-esque headlines he’s been subjected to, he’s both a creator and performer, first and foremost. Yet, still the life of the Pardi.
Listen to Pardison Fontaine’s Sext8pe EP below and watch the interview above.
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