Next up on Freestyle 101’s New Artist Month is Fresno, Calif.-native Fashawn. Brought to our attention by Fresno rap scene kingpin Planet Asia and manager Walt Liquor, 19-year-old Fashawn is a monster on the mic.

Citing Rakim, Nas, Snoop Dogg, 2Pac, and Hieroglyphics as influences, Fashawn blends a penchant for streetwise turf talk with a backpacker mentality and fuses it together with a feel for catchy hooks. This kid has it all: Lyrics, style, attitude, charisma, cadence, and he can freestyle like a mofo. All of which is evident on his latest mixtapes, The Phenom 2 and One Shot One Kill, and during his Freestyle 101, shot at The Engine Room in Hollywood over a dope Messiaz beat. But all of this is merely a warm up for Fashawn’s upcoming debut album, Boy Meets World, which he is working on with Evidence of Dilated Peoples, Mick Boogie, Asia himself and others.

Freestyle 101 goes up at 9 a.m. PST (that’s noon over on the east) every Tuesday. Next week we continue New Artist Month with Ikka-Bod of M.O.P.’s Hevi Medal and Damani of Dub Union. Then we got Heltah Skeltah, Teflon, Kool Keith, and a special Halloween double feature that will rock your world. Make sure to dig our behind the scenes photos, visit us on MySpace and rant in our Forums. And if you dig Fashawn, then check out fellow Fresno native Planet Asia, other New Artists Months rap acts Custom Made and Kash Addictz, and other up and coming artists like Neila, Pack FM, Sav Killz, Bully, and more.