Frak
Frak
Frak, real name Alex Fraknoi, is an San Francisco-based songwriter, battle rapper, producer, and music video director.
Music
Frak got into music when he was 13 years old.
He loitered a lot on the popular hip hop forum KanyeToThe.
It turns out, he was actually good friends with Kevin Abstract of BROCKHAMPTON, a hip hop group that formed on the forum back in 2015. He's even got a few collaborations they worked on before Abstract broke into the limelight. [14]
When Frak was 15 he won the MC Olympics, a regional hip hop competition put on by the organization Youth Speaks.
He went on to compete in the national MC Olympics at the Brave New Voices Festival in Philadelphia and won at age 17.
His victory led him to compete in other competitions in Canada and the United States. He has also opened for the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Earth, Wind & Fire, Anderson Paak, Shad, Travis Scott, Mistah F.A.B. and Watsky.
Frak dropped his first mixtape, Bagels**,** back in 2012, a baker's dozen at 13 tracks, and it gained more than 200,000 listens. It was also praised by SF Weekly as one of the best local hip hop albums. [15]
In 2018, Frak released his debut album, Limewire '03.
The Album did over a million streams and views across platforms.
[22] A few singles garnered sucess from the project, including "Draymond", a Bay Area anthem that ended up getting the attention of Draymond Green and playing at Oracle Arena during the Warriors 2018 playoff run[23]. He teamed up with San Francisco native, Watsky on the song "Small Talk," touching on gentrification in their home city [14]
In 2020, Frak released his latest album, B-List Celebrities.
The project was his first label release on Bay Area Legend Zion I's label on Empire Records, and each song was named after a different B-List Celebrity. Singles like Macauly Culkin, Rick Moranis, and Aubrey Plaza have featured memorable music videos and even resposnes from the namesakes themselves, including Aubrey Plaza and Gilbert Gottfried.
Battle Rap
Frak started battle rapping at the Legendary Oakland burlesque and comedy event, Tourettes Without Regrets.
All the battles at this event were completely freestyle, as Frak won 10 in row, but soon he transitioned to the written form of battle rap.
He has travelled internationally as a battle rapper for events like Spin the Mic in England, and King of the Dot’s World Domination in Toronto. Recently, he's battled West Coast legends The Saurus & Dizaster, and continues his climb in the battle rap universe.
Career
in 2018, Frak began his own show series at legendary San Francisco Venues, The Elbo Room and Bottom of the Hill, showcasing the best in local Bay Area talent.
[12] He continued this momentum into playing multiple music festivals, including Michigan's Electric Forest in 2019, and Oakland's Legendary Hiero Day in 2019 as well.
In 2020, Frak and his collaborators, Jontha Links, were featured in a Doritos commercial that landed them $10,000 and an advetisement played during the NFL's opening game.
Frak also worked with the company Rhyme Combinator to create and write a series of viral rap cartoons aimed at persuading people to vote during the 2020 election, totalling over 30 million views across Youtube, Tik Tok and Twitter.
In 2012, Frak worked for a little while at non-profit arts program, Project Level, in artist relations, engineering, and creative writing. Frak went on to intern at Ineffable Music Group before a stint as a journalist for The Student Life. Frak then interned for Sway's Universe, writing for radio host Sway's website. He continued working in music by becoming the creative director for hip hop at Amplifi. Frak spends a lot of his free time as a poet mentor at Youth Speaks, hosting the same MC Olympics event where he got his start, and teaching hip hop classes at continuation schools across San Francisco and Oakland.[12]
Personal Life
Frak attended Brandeis School and Lick-Wilmerding High School before graduating from Pitzer College with a degree in creative writing. [12] Frak was born and raised in San Francisco’s inner Sunset district. The experiences of gentrification where he grew up influence his music and how he gives back to the community. He said: [15]
"My mom worked at this Mission cultural senior housing center where we grew up.
I used to come every day after school to eat with her, it was like a second home for me.
The facades of buildings shifted, condos had started popping up, and, I think the biggest, and most disappointing, change I’ve seen is in the youth culture in the city.
It used to focus so much on creativity and art and culture and it’s just been replaced by this bro-tech culture of getting fucked up, making money, and waiting in line for expensive tapas."
Although Frak doesn't consider himself especially religious he has shared that his exposure to Jewish music and education at Brandeis has deeply influenced his music: [15]
"My cultural Judaism has a profound effect on the topics of my music. I am always questioning. Also the music itself: I draw inspiration from the dark notes of songs I remember from temple. I often sample those songs."