<\/p>\n
Long before Zack Fox was making scene-stealing appearances in \u201cAbbott Elementary,<\/a>\u201d releasing music<\/a> and amassing millions of views on his sweat-inducing DJ sets<\/a>, he was best known for his Twitter jokes. <\/p>\n Fox, a graphic artist and emcee for Atlanta-based indie label Awful Records at the time, was posting absurdly funny tweets under the alias \u201cBootymath<\/a>,\u201d raking in tens of thousands of followers. His undeniable social media presence and comedic chops are what ultimately brought him to Los Angeles in 2017 when filmmaker, artist and producer Flying Lotus tapped him to co-write and star in his body-horror comedy \u201cKuso.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cThen I just got stuck and then I got married,\u201d says Fox, who tied the knot with Mayumi \u201cKat\u201d Fox, a DJ and entrepreneur who launched the popular Mayumi Market AAPI marketplace. Thankfully, he\u2019s enjoying living in L.A., which he says has a similar Southern hospitality charm as his Atlanta hometown. <\/p>\n Fox\u2019s latest adventure? Starring in writer-director Alex Russell\u2019s \u201cLurker<\/a>,\u201d a gripping psychological thriller that explores the insidious parasocial bond between a rising pop star and a seemingly meek retail employee, which is out in theaters Friday. <\/p>\n He\u2019s also gearing up to unleash his \u201ccreative sandbox concept\u201d called UWAY, which is hosting its first rave<\/a> in collaboration with the L.A.-based record label and jazz community Minaret<\/a> on Sept. 6 in New York. <\/p>\n Fox takes us along for his highly caffeinated Sunday in L.A., which involves losing track of time at a Yemeni cafe, taking his dogs Kiwi and Pepper for a walk at Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area and having dinner at a plant-based Thai spot with all of his friends. <\/p>\n This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n 10 a.m.: Doomscroll on TikTok<\/b> 10:30 a.m.: A calisthenics workout at home <\/b> 11:30 a.m.: Have a guilty, delicious breakfast <\/b> 12 p.m.: Walk Kiwi and Pepper <\/b> 2 p.m.: Lose track of time at Jalsah <\/b> 4 p.m.: Get fresh at Nepenthes <\/b> 5 p.m.: Take the dogs on another walk <\/b> 7 p.m.: Plant<\/b>–<\/b>based dinner with the homies <\/b> 9 p.m.: Go to the movies <\/b> 11 p.m.: Work on music <\/b> 1 a.m.: More caffeine to power through the night<\/b> 8 a.m.: A caffeinated, low BPM rave <\/b>
I\u2019ll be generous to myself and say I might get up at 10 a.m. Even if I say I\u2019m going to get up at 9 a.m., you know I\u2019m going to do the TikTok ingestion at the top of the day so let\u2019s pad it with 30 to 60 minutes of just doomscroll. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
We have a third room in the crib where we keep workout equipment, so I\u2019ve become a calisthenics freak. I never was like that before, but something about having it in the house makes me want to do that more. So I\u2019m really getting into pull-ups and dips. I\u2019m getting kind of scary good at the dips, and if you\u2019re a fan of me you know Shemar Moore is my muse, so I\u2019m trying to do whatever I can in life to look like that. So Sunday, it\u2019s my free day, I\u2019m going to get in there [and] get that work in. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Usually by that time, Kat is already up and she\u2019s Filipino, so she\u2019s going to start making food that you are existentially required to eat or the relationship is gonna turn bad. All I know is I just have to eat it whether I\u2019m hungry or not, so I guess we\u2019ll call that a guilt-trip breakfast [laughs]. A guilty breakfast that has a 100% hit rate of being delicious. That\u2019s the cool trade off. One time she made this savory waffle with rice, eggs, green onions and other stuff. She put the sweet and savory ingredients and eggs in the waffle maker. It honestly sounds super illegal, like a way that you summon a troll or something. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
We\u2019d probably take our dogs around the neighborhood. We like to give Kiwi and Pepper their red carpet at least twice a day. We have a very social dog network out here. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
After that, I\u2019m probably doing the thing where I pretend like I don\u2019t have a caffeine addiction, but really, really want to go to a cafe and have multiple caffeinated beverages. I have been going to this Yemeni cafe downtown called Jalsah<\/b><\/a>. Usually I\u2019m going down there because I have a couple other caffeine crackheads in my social group and we go there. I love it because it feels like a little slice of Yemen like there\u2019s Yemeni jazz and they have the right smells going on, the right vibe [and] the right people. You know you go to a bar and order a pitcher of beer that you\u2019re just going to have the whole day? You can get this sort of pitcher of hot coffee for the table and pour it for yourself. It\u2019s got cardamom and the coffee has like stone fruit notes and it\u2019s sweet. I didn\u2019t realize that Yemenis make coffee the way that Black moms make coffee where it\u2019s strong but very sweet. Caffeine has a time dilation on it so it could be hours that I\u2019m in there or 30 minutes. Who knows? <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Because I\u2019m downtown and if I\u2019m with friends, then we might have to go get fresh. We might have to take it on down to Nepenthes<\/b> and get a really expensive pair of socks that we\u2019re gonna lose immediately. Maybe a pair of shorts or something that looks exactly like the other clothes that I already have. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Now that I have the bag of clothes, we gotta take that back home. We\u2019re going to have to think about where we\u2019re going to [take] these dogs again because they are the star of the show. In this family, Kat is the lead singer, Kiwi is on the keyboard, Pepper is the drummer and I\u2019m way off to the side playing bass. Usually, if it\u2019s a regular day, I would say Kenneth Hahn park<\/b><\/a> would be the spot. Or we\u2019d go to Huntington garden.<\/b><\/a> It\u2019s a ways out because once you\u2019re there, you\u2019re like, \u201cWhy am I not doing this every single day?\u201d<\/p>\n
We love going to this spot called Salaya<\/b><\/a> in Thai Town. It is plant-based Thai food. Most of it is on par with what you\u2019re going to get at a typical non-vegan Thai spot. A lot of it is actually beating the Thai spots that I love because I\u2019m plant-based when I\u2019m with Kat, but when I\u2019m out in the world, I just eat whatever. I\u2019ll eat a bald eagle if you fry it right [laughs].<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
After that, we\u2019d probably go see a movie at Alamo Drafthouse<\/b><\/a> or New Beverly [Cinema]<\/b><\/a>. During Black History Month, the New Beverly did a double feature of \u201cCB4\u201d and \u201cDon\u2019t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood.\u201d We had that b\u2014 crackin\u2019. I brought everybody I know. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
At this point, I\u2019ll probably wrap up the day by working on music with friends. Maybe we\u2019ll go to Pirate Studios<\/b><\/a> or we\u2019ll go to a friend\u2019s home studio and make music. Honestly, I think making beats is a good way to wrap up the day. It\u2019s very low pressure and I think it\u2019s good to work out the brain muscles a little bit before bed.<\/p>\n
If we start making beats late, sometimes I like to hit a late-night cafe if things get too social. Sometimes we\u2019ll hit M3 <\/b><\/a>or About Time<\/b><\/a> in Koreatown. At About Time, we\u2019ll sit out back by the fire.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Drinking coffee that late ruins my week [laughs]. Everything\u2019s messed up now. I\u2019m missing calls. I\u2019m missing the email. I\u2019m panicking at the meeting Monday. I\u2019m walking in looking like Nicolas Cage in \u201cLeaving Las Vegas.\u201d On this caffeine Sunday, I\u2019m going to sleep Monday. I\u2019m a raver and I think a group of three or more Black people talking with a substance involved does qualify as a rave. It\u2019s a low BPM rave. It\u2019s about 40 BPM and there\u2019s no CDJs involved, but it is a rave. <\/p>\n