Being a part of the tri-state area, when it comes to producing hip-hop talent, Connecticut lags far behind New York & New Jersey. Thankfully for a state sorely lacking elite homegrown rappers, MOOK N FAIR have bubbled up to fill the void. Growing up in the same neighborhood of Waterbury,they met each other during their pre-school years. But after MOOK moved to another neighborhood, they lost touch. While raised apart, classics from Marvin Gaye & The Temptations, while Fair’s older brother introduced him to Afrika Bambaataa, Rakim, & KRS-One. They started feeling the itch to write their own rhymes after discovering Jay-Z, Outkast, Nas, 2pac & Big.

They began making noise separately around Waterbury battle rapping & freestyling. Although Mook mostly worked on his own, Fair joined a popular Connecticut group, The Wolfpack, when he was 14. He eventually moved down to Atlanta with some of the members upon graduating from high school. “It was crazy seeing how the music scene was, ” Fair says. “ Always a show, talent showcase, or something to do with music. One of the lawyers we ended up working with, she had Lil Jon right before he popped. I was down there at the right time for the whole music scene to help build my hunger.” Invigorated, Fair moved back determined to make an impact on his hometown music scene.

After deciding to record as Mook N Fair in 2006, they dropped their first mixtape, Best Kept Secret, at the end of the year. Helmed by on-the-rise producers like Launch Pad and Mike Force, with feat. form J.R. Writer it quickly established them as burgeoning stars. The first single from the project. “On The Low” became a mixshow favorite. Their second single, “Let’s Get Money,” and the subsequent remix feat. Red Cafe became a Husky State favorite, with the former becoming the first song from a CT artist to go into rotation at the hometown Hip-Hop/R&B powerhouse, 93.7. Their Heightened profile let to opportunities touring with
everyone from T.I. to Keyshia Cole to Lil Wayne.

Their Breakthrough moment would come when they recorded the playful Mr. Familiar (Solange)-produced “Who’s Your Daddy” in December of 2008. Mook and Fair used melodic sing-songy versus to taunt ladies shacked up with scrubs over a hypnotic sample of the Zombies “Time Of The Season.” The unbelievably catchy song went straight into rotation in CT, NC, AR, AL, & RI. It was already up to 50 spins a week by the time DJ Webstar reached out asking to get on it. “He was a cool dude when we were in the studio,” Mook says. “It came out good so I was like, ”Let’s do it.”

Armed with a bonafied smash, label interest amplified. In order to tide over fans before releasing their album, Mook N Fair have teamed up with Cinematic Music Group (Sean Kingston, Nina Sky, & Nipsey Hussle) and orchard for a ten-song digital release, Best Kept Secret, Vol.2. “Who’s Your Daddy” is the lead single; but Mook N Fair also view Vol. 2 as an opportunity to brandish their impressive creative range. “We want to show people how versatile we are,” Mook says. “We don’t wanna get caught in a box with people saying they’re just these kind of rappers.” The Blaze Beats-produced “Cuffin” is a humorous ditty about guys that won’t give their girlfriends any space or privacy. “Hey Shorty” & “Feelin You” Are how-to manuals for wooing women, while “Fire” is a laid-back, “roll it up and smoke”- type record. One of the most sentimental songs is the Heavyweights (Ne-Yo)-produced “That’s Okay,” an uplifting and positive record urging the youth not to allow people to stereotype them regardless of whatever humble beginnings from which they may come.

Emerging as one of rap’s hottest new duos, and having accomplished much since first meeting as kids, both appreciate and embrace the weight on their shoulders to carry their state banner. “I think you have to have your hometown locked up first before you can go anywhere else and established yourself, ” Fair says. “So if it was going to be done, it had to be done in Connecticut.” The Husky State finally has stars of their own.