Phat Kat

Ronald Christopher Watts (born August 26, 1971), better known by his stage name Phat Kat, is a rapper from Detroit, Michigan, best known as a favorite collaborator of the late J Dilla.

His career began in the mid-1990s as part of 1st Down, which consisted of Phat Kat on vocals and J Dilla on production.

The group was short lived however, possibly because of insufficient support/promotion from their label, Payday, but the two continued to collaborate on many occasions afterwards, starting with an appearance on "Fat Cat Song" and its remix, from Slum Village's Fan-Tas-Tic (Vol. 1).

In an interview, he spoke in regards to his time and music creations alongside Dilla, as well as the producer's work ethic:

Dilla didn’t fuck around in the studio.

Everybody else had to adjust their style to keep up with Dilla, or if they ever wanted the chance to work with Dilla.

You had to be able to knock out your verse in one take.

I’ve seen Dilla make beats in 10 minutes.

We made that track off of Welcome 2 Detroit in 10 minutes flat.

We completed the whole Dedication To The Suckers EP from scratch in less than one night.

He did the beats and I laid the verses.

We started at 9 p.m. and finished by 12 midnight.

His first full-length album, The Undeniable LP, was released in 2003 on Barak Records.

It featured appearances from Slum Village, Dwele and Obie Trice.

Kat released a 12-inch single in late 2006 for the song "Cold Steel", produced by J Dilla, he then followed it with his second album, Carte Blanche, on April 24, 2007 on Look Records.