Pursuit of Happiness: Fredo Bang Would Rather Watch ‘Inuyasha’ Than Argue Online

Probing Fredo Bang for moments of personal transformation, I mostly discover nonchalance and casual self-appreciation. Opening up the oven in his lush Miami home, he reveals some especially juicy ribeye steaks to me and his publicist through his webcam. “Put some respek on my name,” he says. If he hasn’t earned props for his cooking acumen, he’s gotten them for his musical career. 

Dating back to 2018, Fredo’s used wounded melody and bullet-riddled songwriting to carve a space as one of the most successful young artists in Baton Rouge. Fresh off dropping “Young Ready,” he’s looking to continue the tradition. “I'm trying different flows and different beats,” he tells me of his new music. “I’m just trying to create and elevate.” 

Speaking with Okayplayer for Pursuit of Happiness, Fredo discusses that path to elevation. And OnlyFans. 

Fredo Bang: Throughout school, I was always very active. I liked running and sports and all of that. Then I stopped for a while, and when I tried to play basketball I hurt my groin. My body is catching up with me a little bit, so I make sure to stretch. I start off my workouts by stretching. I try to stretch throughout the whole day, because I'm getting older now. After that, I might walk 3 or 4 miles on the treadmill. When I run I usually watch anime like Inuyasha. If the treadmill’s taken up, I'll do 7 miles on a little bike and then I use the ab machine.

Running takes a weight off you. I’m also in a men's baseball league. I've been playing in the league the last two years. I joined because a good friend of mine from the New York Yankees, Jazz Chisholm, told me to come out for batting practice with him. When I got in there, I was ass. I had to prove to everybody that I still could do it. So I’ve just been slowly creeping back into it. 

Baseball brings me back to normal. I'm always stressed out 'cause I always want more of myself and I'm always trying to see what I need to do next. I'm always pushing myself. I’m my own biggest critic. When I’m playing, I'm not thinking about music. I'm not stressed. I'm just out there having fun. 

I don’t really care about the negative stuff that goes on on the internet. I had to get to that point. I used to get mad and try to respond to everybody, but then I came to the realization that I can't respond to everybody. It just makes no sense. When I’m online, I’m there to be entertained. I’m watching an OnlyFans creator. When I’m having a bad day, I watch anime or porn. 

I’ve got a lot of moving parts in my life, but I'm getting through it. I don't think I'm where I want to be in life. Having kids gave me a different perspective. I’m more hands-on now. I feel like I have more respect for single parents or something and what they have to go through. The best thing about being a father is having something that is that comes from within you — that is you — grow up and become something. Just seeing it evolve and have a genuine love from something that came from you.

I want a house, I want more love in my life. I want more peace in my life. I just want more for everything that I want. But I'm working at it. I'm trying.