True story behind Eamon and Frankee's infamous 'break-up' diss songs that weren't as they seemed
Topics: Music
Ali Condon
Featured Image Credit: YouTube
Topics: Music
There’s drama to unpack, sides to take, and a moody break-up song climbing up the charts. It’s a thrill!
So, in 2003, when a singer called Eamon released a scathing little single called ‘F*** It (I Don’t Want You Back)’, and his supposed ex-girlfriend Frankee retaliated with a song called ‘F U Right Back’, people went wild.
Both songs were instant hits across the US and beyond. But what happened between Eamon and Frankee? Whose side were we taking? Who was in the wrong? Let’s unpack, shall we?
Eamon Doyle got an early taste for the music industry when he spent his childhood touring with his dad, who was a member of a popular doo-wop group called The Elations.
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It wasn’t surprising, then, when he caught the attention of a record label aged just 15.
With the help of music industry pros, Eamon created his own genre of music that he liked to call ‘ho-wop’, which he described as a mix of ‘hip hop and doo-wop, and hoes'.
Shame it never really took off...
It wasn’t long before Eamon had his first single under his belt - the aforementioned ‘F*** It (I Don’t Want You Back)’.
The initial problem with a song like ‘F*** It’ was that, as you might guess from the name, it had an ungodly amount of cusses in it, so it wasn’t exactly made for easy radio play.
In fact, Eamon once told LA Weekly: “We shopped that record to everybody, and literally no one got it. They were like, ‘This is cool and all, but it’ll never get played'.”
That was until popular NYC morning radio show The Star and Buc Wild Show got their hands on it and their listeners went wild.
“People were calling in saying, ‘Oh my goodness, we wanna hear that song again’,” Eamon recalled.
“All the labels called back and everybody jumped on the bandwagon, like, ‘We get it now! We get it now!’”
So, before long, ‘F*** It (I Don’t Want You Back)’ was a commercial success.
Not only did it climb up the Billboard Hot 100, but it was a number one in the UK, Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
Perhaps even more impressive was the Guinness World Record it won for Most Expletives in a Number One Song (33, if you were wondering).
Not long after Eamon’s song took off, another rival song started playing on the airwaves after it was anonymously sent in to a radio station.
The song ‘F.U.R.B’ or ‘F U Right Back’ was by a singer called Frankee, who claimed to be Eamon’s ex-girlfriend. Cue absolute chaos.
She told MTV that, after hearing Eamon's track, she 'started thinking that maybe it was about me,' so she decided to write her own diss track.
People were immediately invested in this Eamon vs Frankee drama. Fans would take sides as the two singers absolutely tore into each other. But not everything was as it seemed.
We reached out to Eamon and he's ready to set the record straight once and for all.
Some of you may be disappointed to hear that Eamon claims he has 'never met' Frankee, and had nothing to do with her single.
"We had to threaten a lawsuit at first because the song wasn’t registered correctly," he told UNILAD.
"When it finally was taken care of correctly and legally, I didn’t mind the success of the song because it did pretty well in certain territories around the world.
"I got paid like any artist would when someone covers their song. Like Weird Al used to do with artist’s songs. I actually thought F.U.R.B was amusing at first, but quickly became annoying because of the lie that was pushed by the artist and her label that she was my ex. Just ridiculous and based in no truth. Is what it is though."
And as if that wasn't enough of a blow for the hardcore Eamon vs Frankee followers, Eamon also revealed that his own track 'F*** It' isn't even about a girl. It's actually inspired by him.
"It isn’t even a true song," he told us.
"I actually wrote it from the experience of being on the other side of heartbreak because I wasn’t the most stand up teenager.
"I thank God that’s not the case anymore and I’m grateful that so many people related to and identified to the song.
"Everyone has been p***ed off at someone because of betrayal, and I’m grateful I could be a voice for so many throughout the years.”
Unfortunately, Eamon never wrote a retaliation song for Frankee, and the beef eventually died down - but boy, was that a wild few months.
Maybe it was because he wasn’t willing to keep playing up to the drama or perhaps it was down to problems with his record label, but Eamon’s next single ‘I Love Them Hoes (Ho-Wop)’ didn’t do that well.
Eamon has also revealed that, after the unbelievable success of ‘F*** It’, he started struggling with some personal issues, which forced him to slow down.
Speaking to LA Weekly about the difficulties he had been facing at the time, he said: “When a record company expects something from you, a manager expects something of you, fans expect something from you, and you don’t live up to that, you put false hopes on yourself.
“A lot of things that I didn’t live up to, I beat myself up about it, pointing fingers at other people but in reality blaming myself.”
Eventually in 2008, Eamon decided to leave his record label once and for all and take a break from music to get himself better.
A few years later, Eamon got back into music, and has been trying to build his fanbase back up since. After a few stumbles, he managed to get back to doing what he loved.
Eamon has released a few albums since then, including Golden Rail Motel and No Matter The Season, has gotten married (to someone bears a slight resemblance to Frankee), and has welcomed a child with her.
In December, Eamon told fans that he had been ‘sitting on’ a Christmas album and hopes to release it in time for the holidays this year.
From the sounds of things, it probably won't be as shocking as ‘F*** It’ - and probably won't spark a global debate - but he does think it’s his ‘best work’ so far.
So, keep an eye out for that one, I guess.
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