Born William Heredia to Dominican parents, Fokis was raised on New York City’s Lower East Side of Manhattan. It was during these formative years that he developed a love for music and a work ethic that made him stand out from the pack. Starting out at an early age as a DJ, Fokis would eventually begin rhyming and later producing his own music. He pursued formal training as a recording engineer and later opened his own recording studio Krystal Clear Recordings. There, he recorded and mixed tracks that featured artists such as Big Daddy Kane, Fat Joe, Olu Dara (Nas’ father), N.O.R.E, Joe Budden, and many others.
Fokis has toured both the U.S. and abroad, playing live shows along side the likes of Common, Busta Rhymes, The Game, Onyx, Das Efx and more. For the last few years, Fokis has been spending half of the year in Europe, building a solid fanbase from the ground up. He’s collaborated with many artists & producers from Germany, Poland, France & Czech Republic. He scored a big hit with his single, Game Time which features legendary German emcee Lakmann, from his Universal Dialect album with German emcee/producer Retrogott.
To date, Fokis has released over eight albums along with various EP’s and singles. Some stand out releases include Recognize Your Power with Edo. G & Shabaam Sahdeeq, produced entirely by Fokis, This Thing Called Life produced entirely by Oh No, and his most recent double album Seasons Change, People Too. Through his experiences, Fokis developed a relevant broad appealing style and sound that remains true to the core foundational elements of Hip Hop, with a commercial appeal.
Though achieving success releasing his own music, Fokis realized in this era it would take more than pursuing a career as a recording artist to rise to the level of success he sought to achieve. As his experience with the business side of the industry grew, Fokis established his own independent record label, Loyalty Digital Corp. Through his label, Fokis has worked with and Executive produced projects like Never Left by Sadat X, Everyday People by Local-Mu12 (a membership based artist and producer collective, established by Fokis in 2012) and various others.
Currently Fokis is gearing up for the release of his 9th studio album, The Vintage Album a project he has been working on for more than 13 years. The album has an 80’s & 90’s sound and feel and features many hip-hop legends from the 80’s & 90s including Kurtis Blow, Lords Of The Underground, Spoonie Gee, Brand Nubian, DMC & King Tee, just to name a few. In his own words Fokis states “I am a stubborn headed dreamer with a plan”.
If that is not enough, Fokis also transformed his body by losing over 110 lbs.
Fokis has toured both the U.S. and abroad, playing live shows along side the likes of Common, Busta Rhymes, The Game, Onyx, Das Efx and more. For the last few years, Fokis has been spending half of the year in Europe, building a solid fanbase from the ground up. He’s collaborated with many artists & producers from Germany, Poland, France & Czech Republic. He scored a big hit with his single, Game Time which features legendary German emcee Lakmann, from his Universal Dialect album with German emcee/producer Retrogott.
To date, Fokis has released over eight albums along with various EP’s and singles. Some stand out releases include Recognize Your Power with Edo. G & Shabaam Sahdeeq, produced entirely by Fokis, This Thing Called Life produced entirely by Oh No, and his most recent double album Seasons Change, People Too. Through his experiences, Fokis developed a relevant broad appealing style and sound that remains true to the core foundational elements of Hip Hop, with a commercial appeal.
Though achieving success releasing his own music, Fokis realized in this era it would take more than pursuing a career as a recording artist to rise to the level of success he sought to achieve. As his experience with the business side of the industry grew, Fokis established his own independent record label, Loyalty Digital Corp. Through his label, Fokis has worked with and Executive produced projects like Never Left by Sadat X, Everyday People by Local-Mu12 (a membership based artist and producer collective, established by Fokis in 2012) and various others.
Currently Fokis is gearing up for the release of his 9th studio album, The Vintage Album a project he has been working on for more than 13 years. The album has an 80’s & 90’s sound and feel and features many hip-hop legends from the 80’s & 90s including Kurtis Blow, Lords Of The Underground, Spoonie Gee, Brand Nubian, DMC & King Tee, just to name a few. In his own words Fokis states “I am a stubborn headed dreamer with a plan”.
If that is not enough, Fokis also transformed his body by losing over 110 lbs.