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In a candid sit-down with MiAsia Simone on Hot 107.9’s MiAsia in The Midday, Atlanta rapper Fatt Smaxk opened up about the emotional weight behind his rise—financial pressure from those around him, struggles with happiness, and his plan to protect his peace ahead of his August 20th album, Smack Season 3: Banks House.
Bernard Banks grew up in Thomasville Heights with nothing. Now, the streets of Atlanta know him as Fatt Smaxk—a name going viral, ringing bells, and carrying serious weight in the city’s rap scene. But behind the buzz, Fatt Smaxk sat down with MiAsia Simone on Hot 107.9’s MiAsia in The Midday and got real about what fame actually feels like when the cameras aren’t rolling. What he shared goes far beyond music.
The come-up wasn’t overnight, even if it looked that way from the outside. Fatt Smaxk had been putting in work long before the culture caught up to him. When MiAsia noted that people were calling him “next up,” he didn’t hesitate: “I’ve been next up.”
His breakthrough moment came through “Butta B”—a song he dedicated to his late brother. Fatt Smaxk hadn’t even planned to push it. The focus was elsewhere. But the track crept up on its own, caught fire on TikTok, and took off without a traditional rollout or a polished hook. Just raw emotion. Fatt Smaxk believes his brother is behind it: “That’s him pushing it.”
Putting Thomasville Heights on the map is something he takes seriously. In a city where every other hood gets a shoutout, Thomasville rarely gets its flowers. Fatt Smaxk is changing that—deliberately and with pride.
This is where the interview shifted gears—and where Fatt Smaxk stood apart from most artists who keep it surface-level.
When MiAsia asked who Bernard Banks really is behind the spotlight, he didn’t reach for the usual answers.
“I struggle with communication,” he said. “And I get on my shell sometimes. But honestly, I struggle with just being happy sometimes.”
He was careful to frame it clearly—not depression, but something harder to name. A kind of emotional fatigue that comes from seeing too much, knowing too much, and watching the people around you change.
“You know how they say once you woke up and you see certain stuff, it don’t excite you no more?”
That kind of self-awareness hits different coming from someone whose name is moving through the culture the way his is. Success doesn’t automatically translate to peace—and Fatt Smaxk isn’t pretending otherwise.
Part of what weighs on him is the flood of transactional energy that comes with visibility. People who went years without a word suddenly reappear. His description was blunt:
“Every time I ask my phone, it only be like…need some, pay a bun.”
He traced it back to a harder time—when he had nothing, and nobody came through. “When I would have my problems, ain’t nobody gonna save me.” Now that the money is moving, so are the hands. He’s not bitter about it, but he’s clear-eyed. Fame didn’t change him. It just revealed who was only ever there for what he could provide.
Rather than shutting down entirely, Fatt Smaxk is making deliberate moves toward more positive energy—new environments, new people, new perspectives.
“I need to start traveling more. I need to start meeting like a lot of more people who positive.”
He pointed to a moment in a recording studio where a stranger’s energy—a simple fruit smoothie, an upbeat attitude—reminded him of what he’d been missing. That small interaction landed differently than any congratulations from old faces. It showed him that proximity to the right energy matters, and that surrounding himself with positive people isn’t passive. It’s a strategy.
The MiAsia in The Midday sit-down covered far more than what’s captured here. Fatt Smaxk also broke down his unexpected appearance on 60 Days In, what young Bernard Banks needed that he didn’t have, and his surprising dream of breaking into comedy films.
Most importantly, Smack Season 3: Banks House drops August 20th—and based on everything Fatt Smaxk shared in this interview, this album is the most personal thing he’s put out. Watch the full conversation with MiAsia Simone on MiAsia in The Midday at Hot 107.9 now.
Fatt Smaxk On Being On TV In Jail, New Album, Fake Friends & More was originally published on hotspotatl.com
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