Life & Work with Ricky – Stage Name – (F.A.B.L.E.) Evans of Westside, Chicago IL

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ricky – Stage Name – (F.A.B.L.E.) Evans.

Hi Ricky – stage name – (F.A.B.L.E.), so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My name is F.A.B.L.E. (Ricky Evans). I was born and raised on the west side of Chicago. I’m a producer, designer, singer & MC. I’ve been creating music seriously since 2012. Some of my early influences were Jamiroquai, Busta Rhymes, slum Village, J Dilla, Wu-Tang Clan, Daft Punk, common, twista, do or die, crucial conflict, Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West, so on and so forth, lol. My mom and dad were both singers in the church. My dad played drums for his church when he was a little kid. My dad was a huge parliament funkadelic fan. My dad also loved Commissioned and the Rance Allen Group on the gospel side. Oh the Winans and Hawkins family as well. I’ve always been surrounded by music, been around music, influenced by music, literally lived and breathe music since I was a little boy. While I was in college, I started dabbling and design, and eventually created my own clothing/creative brand INFNTPWR. Some of my fashion influences are Pharrell Williams, Kanye West, Virgil Abloh, Ralph, Lauren, Don C., Zo (Fashion Geek) just to name a few. I am still creating music and closing to this day. It definitely fulfills me.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Like anything in life you have your mountain top experiences as well as your low valley experiences. You really go through a wide range of emotions. A lot of the times life gets in the way of your creative process. Life is always gonna throw you jabs and curveballs I’m still navigating through the ups and downs of life and balancing that with consistently creating something whether it’s music, a piece of clothing, a design, whatever brings me fulfillment in that time. I also am a full-time father and husband, so I also have to balance my responsibilities against making time to create more than anything. It’s taught me to be multifaceted and efficient so when it is time to create, I don’t waste any time. I get straight to the point, get my ideas out and move on. Life is all about how you respond to it as it’s happening to you. I choose to be positive and solution based.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m known first and foremost as a rapper /MC. After that a producer and then a designer. However, I feel like those three switch places from time to time. I usually just go with what inspires me in that moment I most proud of the creative language that I have created for my brand and myself as an artist and a creative. I design my own album and single artwork, I designed the dragon logo for my brand INFNTPWR, i’ve also designed merch for other artist here in Chicago. I remember a long time ago I would ask people for help with artwork, designing logos, etc. and I was always met with apprehension. I got sick of waiting on people so I learned how to do it myself. A lot of the times I find that what I lack forces me to figure it out myself. It’s made me more self-sufficient. When it comes to my music, I have a very distinct sound production wise. I tried to make very large sounding soundscapes and songs that transcend any box that I could be placed in. I literally have the capacity to do anything that I want to music wise. And I strongly believe that everyone should have the same attitude as me when it comes to creating anything. What sense does it make to doubt yourself? Why not just empower yourself to figure it out? Why not be overly confident in your ability? No one will think you’re great if you don’t believe that, you’re great first, right? So I always go forth and everything that I do with that mindset.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
My favorite childhood memories are going to my older cousins, Jesse and Jason‘s house. I grew up in a strict Christian household, so I couldn’t listen to any secular music. But when I will go over to my cousin’s house, they literally had all of the new albums that came out; Wu-Tang Clan, NWA, Dr. Dre, 2Pac, twister, A Tribe Called Quest, 2 Live Crew, etc. they also had all the new game systems that were out at the time. Going to the house was definitely like going to Disney World. Haha. I consume so much music at their house. I contribute a lot of what I learned musically from my time spent with my cousins house.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/fablethegreat
• Twitter: https://Twitter.com/foreverfable
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@1987fable?si=B18GGqyEfbpc88yE
• Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/jEkgNMmfNOBf3ClIzq

Image Credits
All professional photos taken by Sulyiman Stokes.