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Sha Stimuli: Entry #3

I think I’m like a week late with this but sometimes in this music business thing I forget about the reason that I'm doing it. I don't mean that in some corny spiritual, God put me here for a reason crap. I mean He did and all but I'm talking about in the simplest way one can really think about it. We as artists get caught up in writing songs and working on material to gain buzz, to make mixtapes, to get on radio, to get record deals and again forgive my corniness but we forget about connecting with the people. Its not until I do shows like the one last Thursday at Galapagos in Williamsburg, Brooklyn am I reminded that people yearn for good music. I myself want to get open off of a punchline or a singer's voice or just relate to some words I hear. So when I'm on stage and it seems like I'm conjuring up thoughts out of nowhere and I'm delivering songs like this is my first and last performance ever it excites me to see people vibe, enjoy it and even participate. The performance also featured Amanda Diva, Nina B., Torae and Skyzoo closed it out.

Everyone really dented the stage going hard and it felt like a strong movement of some sort that reminded me of 90's hip-hop. It’s hard to explain but I told all of them we need to form some type of group or tour or mixtape project alliance. Maybe I was bugging or maybe not. Up and coming artists for some reason find it hard to get together and pull each other up but I can't help but think about the crews in the past from The Boot Camp to The Wu-tang Clan to The Hit Squad and I can go on and on with movements that were true representations of a region or a particular sound. Shout to everyone that came out that night, DJ Premier, Black Buddafly, Lisa Evers, Tee Smif (Bk Stand Up video director), Raks who did his thing hosting and all of my supporters and teammates (Fame, Steph, Brandi). DJ Ease held me down and most importantly I got to see some talent and it inspired me this week to remember the people that buy the music or download the music or whatever.

Anyway what I'm trying to say and what my brother always told me was to think about the fans first. Fans don't really care about how many bars are in your verse or if you're on enough mixtapes before they decide to like you. If they feel you they feel you and in this industry we look for approval from so many other places than where it counts. The funny thing is that I’ve been doing this for years and I’m finally learning the difference between a show and a performance.

Good lookin’ out to DJ Concept and Mickey Knox for having me on their Sirius show last week. It was a great experience for me, it may have seemed like I was just rapping but I gave them an 80 bar venting session. Thanks. Oh yea Mtv2! What more can I say? The love I've been receiving for that freestyle is ridiculous and to believe it’s that long and y’all cut it down some. I owe somebody in that building lunch, dinner or a rub down or something (females only please).

I'd like to take this time to point out that I'm hearing a lot of talk about censorship and cleaning up music. And I'm not here to take a side at this point because I would need my own talk show for that...but what I am working on is a mixtape series with my boy DJ Victorious and I'm inviting any and everyone DJ or artist to be a part of it. For anyone out there that feels like they would like to use music as a tool not just to get on or get money (not that there's anything wrong with that) but I want to provide an opportunity for folks to "Say Something." So I'm starting the "Say Something" mixtape series and I'm taking submissions right now you can send music to SoWhatchuSaying@gmail.com. The only stipulations are we pick the best music and the song or freestyle has to be about something. I don't care if it’s conscious, political, hateful, loving, and preachy or not. Whatever it is as long as it’s something you as an artist believe in and would like to get out there. The mixtape market is saturated with ignorance; the DVDs are plagued with foolery. I contribute to it enough that I can say that and not feel bad and at the same time provide an alternative to it. Soooo, we can make this shit as big as we want and we can make this hip-hop thing real again. I feel like the business of music, mainstream America, Oprah Winfrey and some powers that be are closing in on us and want to turn rap totally into finger-snapping hollow music. I feel if there's a yin there has to be a yang. And for every 2 live Crew and NWA fan back in the days you had a Brand Nubian and Public Enemy supporter on the other side or you could be into both. I don't proclaim to be Grand Puba, Chuck D. or Uncle Luke but my point is we need balance. I've blabbed enough. Oh yea go pick up that DJ Rhude Block Music volume 4 hosted by yours truly and the hiphopdx.com tape should be out real soon.

-The Present
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/SHASTIMULI

13 Comments             

Sha Stimuli: Entry #2

   
    Someone left a comment on some website in regards to Sha Stimuli that asked the question "What is he rapping for?" "Yea he's dope and all that but what's his message?" I have to admit I didn't pick up my pen 17 years ago thinking about a marketing plan. Damn it’s been that long? I did however start out aiming to be the best that ever did it. Unfortunately being the best in the music business is unlike being the best in something like basketball. When I played ball it was simple, if you drop 30 and 10 you had a good game. If you average 25 and 10 you're nice. In music you can sell 10 million and still be considered wack. You can win every fight klub battle and be a terrible songwriter. You can win all the critical acclaim with freestyles and songs leading up to an album but without notoriety you're just a good emcee...but the best? The best has to do it all. I sit back and think what if Jay, Nas and Big had to release over 100 pieces of material before their debuts. How potent would Ready to Die be if Big had to drop 4 mixtapes, an indie and do 50 DVDs first? Would Reasonable Doubt be Jay’s true first testimony of his life in the underworld if we heard the story on cds hosted by DJ Such and Such for 3 years prior to it?

    All this to say the game has changed and although I began trying to just out rap anyone that did it I ended up not loving the business, missing the days when hip-hop gave me a feeling like no other and finding myself making music as a release and as a tool for those who don't have a microphone in front of them.

    What most artists are afraid of is being themselves. Saying that they are not killers or multi-millionaires on record is dangerous when there are kids sitting at home wanting to become you. What reason would they have to become Stimuli if Stimuli says he rides the train, never got rich from the block and even worse got stuck in between label deals? Would you want to be him? Or would you feel him when you know you can identify with having a dream you can't give up on. Would you equate getting up in the morning for work with his 24hour grind? Would you believe that one day he will be the best? In the last few weeks I've been featured on websites, mtv2, had a bunch of magazine interviews, hosted dozens of mixtapes and been on DVDs. I’m on the average grind of anyone trying to distance themselves from the unknown as much as possible. The difference between these features and the time before I got a deal is that back then I was trying to get by and I hoped to get signed everything was in order to get a situation that would allow me to do what I love doing everyday and get a check at the same time. Now when I'm doing interviews and I'm rapping my heart out I'm thinking about everybody that misses real music, everyone that thought hip-hop was dead, everyone that believes you have to change who you are to make it and most of all I'm doing it for any human being that feels like they should quit when they hit a wall.

    It’s hard to believe I'm writing this sitting in a club, shout to The Union. Will, Snatch1, Snap, all the djs showing me love when I'm out. I had a conversation with DJ Self one night and he joked around telling me I needed to make a record like the one that was playing at the moment we were in the party. I can't remember if it was T-Pain or Unk or somebody but I laughed it off as he explained further that he was a fan of rap and not hip-hop. He said he plays club joints and that he's a party DJ. "That's what I do" he says. As much as that makes my spins in the nightclub scene tougher because I refuse to cater to any one particular audience during creation I respect Self for being real enough to say that. This industry is full of folks that hate to say "no" so they avoid you until you want to fight them. The key to this thing and the reason I spilled that little convo is because it kept me focused on my path to continue doing what I do. Unfortunately I am not just rap, I am hip-hop and I am not just hip-hop, I am life. I live life everyday, I speak on it, I observe it, I pull from it, and I deliver it to you. Maybe my God complex kicks in as I breathe life into mere words and touch folks enough for them to listen, download and even purchase what I do. The next time someone asks why I do what I do I can tell them this is what I'm supposed to do, I'm here as a voice for you. For you stuck at your job, for you going so hard, for you trying to get on, if you’re someone's baby's moms. Do I do it for loot? Do I do it for cheese? No I do it for you, but the money's for me. Haaa.

-The Present
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/SHASTIMULI

9 Comments             

Sha Stimuli: Entry 1

    For those of you that don't know me I go by the name of Sha Stimuli, Stimuli, S-T-I, whatever you would like to call me but I'd like to thank hiphopdx.com for letting me welcome y'all to my world. To give you a brief history I've been doing this music thing since I was a kid following my brother Lord Digga as he did production for Masta Ace and Biggie Smalls and got signed to Atlantic Records. I was always in the studio absorbing what was going on and a whole lot of years later I got Unsigned Hype in the Source magazine, the top spot in Show and Prove in XXL and got signed to Virgin records in 2005. So why the hell am I writing a journal and when is my album coming out you ask? The 1st reason is that I'm the poster child for letting people know that a record deal on a major label is not the end but the beginning and the 2nd reason is because when you're headed for greatness people love to be a part of the process and witness the rise from nothing to something.

    Soooo with that said I'm back in peoples faces, jumping on every feature, any remix, a bunch of freestyles and as many projects as possible to be heard. I'm working on an independent album with producer J. Cardim called “Cinderella Man,” a new mixtape entitled "Stimuli Returns" and "Thee Emotion Picture" is still in the works. Aside from that I have to shout out Jesse Jess and Mr. Raw for having me perform and speak on the panel at the A&R Power Summit last Sunday. That was a beautiful networking experience and venting session. Shout to Lenny S, Sha Money XL, Midi Mafia, Riggs Morales, Chris Styles, DJ Jaz, Sickamore(loved the intro) and all the folks that were there that showed me love. I also won artist of the month on another site for my video Brooklyn Stand Up. Check it out on video music box, much luv to Ralph McDaniels. I can't explain how big it is to go from being a little dude watching that show everyday to finally appearing on there with a video and getting an interview. Its one of those steps that you have to be glad you didn't skip. Oh yea go cop Joell Ortiz's album on Koch, The Brick. Stay posted for our one on one basketball game. The album is fire and not just because I'm on it. The real emcees have to stick together in this industry.

    Speaking of sticking together I'm going to pause this introduction and say that my next journal entry may be coming sooner than later because I don't think I can cram my personal on goings and the issues of the world today in one blog. But...let me quickly address the current attack on rap lyrics and the Virginia Tech shooting that went on last week. While the 2 subjects may seem unrelated because the families that are mourning right now could care less about a Don Imus comment or an Oprah show this tragedy should alert us that life can be taken away on a street corner or college campus. Life is precious and those 32 people that did not expect to take their last breath on that day should remind us all that we could pass at anytime. Music, movies and television may influence, affect and even persuade our decision making and lifestyles but it is us as people and human beings and parents that shape our society. I'm not sure if a rap line would’ve made a man go on a shooting spree or if a kind word from a family member would’ve halted it. But I will say this; a war against negativity is still a war. And instead of targeting the disrespectful lyrics and trying to censor rap and moving onto other genres and facets of entertainment, Oprah Winfrey and whoever else should focus on bringing more positivity to the airwaves. Labels should consider pushing a Talib Kweli with the same marketing dollars as the artists they are saying bring degrading lyrics to the public. I said I wasn't going to go too deep into this so I'll fall back a little. Shout to mtv2 for blasting my freestyle for 3 weeks, sorry I rapped so long but I got a lot to say. Hiphopdx.com, Joel, Legend good looking. Shout to the whole team, let's get it!

-The Present
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/SHASTIMULI  

11 Comments             

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