Posted by Let’s talk about Bison’s Revenge. Do you consider it to be your official debut album?
Yes. “Bison’s Revenge” is officially my debut album as BISON.FC.
Before that, I spent years releasing music under the name Frank C. Those weren’t just singles or mixtapes thrown together. I was creating full-length independent projects and albums, distributing them through platforms like DatPiff and SoundCloud long before streaming became what it is today. I also burned CDs by hand and sold them in the streets, the way many independent artists did during that era. I still have unreleased Frank C. projects sitting on CDs that never made it to today’s streaming platforms.
When I introduced BISON.FC, it wasn’t because I was a new artist. It represented a new chapter in my life. The name reflected a personal transformation, and Bison’s Revenge became the first official album released under that identity. So while Bison’s Revenge was my debut as BISON.FC, it was built on more than two decades of writing, recording, performing, and independently releasing music as Frank C.
Looking back at the creative process, what guided your beat selection, and how did it help shape the overall sound of Bison’s Revenge?
First and foremost, I’d like to recognize my cousin Rob Nice, because Bison’s Revenge doesn’t exist in its final form without him. Although he wasn’t producing the beats himself, he served as the project’s executive producer and A&R. He understood the sound better than I did at that point because he had spent years studying hip-hop on a much deeper level than I ever had. While I was focused on writing and becoming a better artist, he was focused on finding the right music to tell the story.
He spent countless hours searching for producers, sending me beat packs, narrowing down the direction, and helping shape the album’s identity. Once we found beats that matched the vision, we purchased them exclusively. That was very important to us because we wanted Bison’s Revenge to have its own identity. We also required every producer to provide the individual stems so we could fully arrange, expand, and mix the songs as we envisioned them.
That process wasn’t always easy. Some producers weren’t comfortable with us restructuring their beats or making creative changes, and out of respect, those songs never made the album. The producers who were featured on Bison’s Revenge were the few who trusted our vision and collaborated with us to create the best possible record.
I’d also like to thank the producers whose work appears on the album, including Anomalous, Small Professor, Onaje Jordan, Rob Deniro, Wavy Da Ghawd, and Crosses. Every producer brought something unique while allowing us the creative freedom to shape the music into what became Bison’s Revenge.
I’d also like to recognize Tah Chi, who mixed and mastered the album, One Man Jazz for the cuts that helped tie the entire project together, Create Sober for the artwork, and everyone else who invested their talent into bringing the vision to life.
Looking back, Bison’s Revenge taught me exactly what I wanted in a producer relationship. That’s one of the reasons Bison’s Redemption took a completely different approach. This time, I chose to build the entire album with one producer from the very beginning. He understood my creative process, agreed to provide stems and exclusivity, and allowed us to build a complete body of work together instead of assembling it piece by piece.
Can you tell us about the featured artists on Bison’s Revenge and how they contributed to the overall project?
I wanted the features to help tell the story, not simply add names to the tracklist.
Destiny is my niece, and hearing her sing on the album is incredibly special because, on my very first mixtape, The Gold Tape in 1999, I actually shouted her out when she was just a little girl. More than twenty years later, she became part of my debut album. That wasn’t planned. Life simply came full circle.
RHAPS.OD and VYBN6PM were both members of my former rap group, Three Kings. RHAPS.OD was one of the rappers, while VYBN6PM was the singer. RHAPS.OD happened to be in the studio while I was recording “All God,” so I had him freestyle the ending. To this day, a lot of listeners think that’s me because our voices sound so similar, but it’s actually him.
The credits for III and IV tell another family story. They’re my cousin Rob Nice and his son. Rather than listing their names, we credited them by their suffixes because they’re both named Roberto Santos, continuing a family tradition that started with my grandfather. Rob Nice’s son appears throughout the album representing the younger version of me, while Rob contributed spoken-word pieces that help guide listeners through the story.
Second Chance was the name of my sisters’ Christian singing group. They appear on “The Light,” a song dedicated to my grandmother, Abuela Marina. My niece Luz Marie also sings on that record. We didn’t list her separately because she was part of Second Chance, but I always smile knowing that her name, Luz, means “Light” in Spanish. Even her name became part of the story.
Larcen and Hyfa Tha Prospect represented another important part of the album. Like me, they were both born in the Bronx before making their lives in Tampa. I wanted artists who reflected that same journey because Bison’s Revenge is, in many ways, a story about identity, relocation, perseverance, and never letting go of where you came from.
Finally, while he isn’t listed as a featured artist, I have to recognize One Man Jazz. His cuts and transitions transformed the album into one continuous listening experience rather than fifteen separate songs. His contribution became a huge part of the album’s identity.
Looking back, that’s what I’m most proud of. The features weren’t chosen because someone had a bigger name or a larger following. They were chosen because each person represented a chapter of my life. Bison’s Revenge isn’t just a collection of songs. It’s a family album. A friendship album. A documentary. A snapshot of the people who helped shape the man behind the music.
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