Sha Stimuli joins TheNewContent at Mudnoc Studios for A Private Listening of his latest project The Calling. Sha also talks about his journey… Check it out!!

/>Latest visuals from Sha Stimuli from his latest release, “The Calling”. Check out “Me”

Every time I write about hip-hop or speak on it lately, I find myself drifting into a world of negativity. And I am not alone. Whenever my brethren and I get together we are reminiscing on the golden era or saying how much we don’t listen to the radio or don’t have any albums we’re looking forward to. Part of it is due to the fact that in those convos there are at least four out of ten people that wish they were on radio or MTV or whatever. The other interesting thing is that even if we were in a golden era right now, we wouldn’t recognize it.

But most of it is credited to an evolution of a genre that has grown up right before our eyes. It started out pure and different, it is one of the only art forms that can be used to address issues, inspire, express, tell stories and also humiliate. It became industrialized and calculated, but it is now making a desperate attempt to return to its roots as a voice of its followers. But is that possible? Is it too late? The answer is not simple, but first we must analyze the question. And that question is: How did it happen? How did hip-hop just become hip?
Of course we can identify the obvious: The lazy human that wants his/her information fast and easy. The Internet is the gift and curse that allows artists to reach more fans and simultaneously shatters the invisible shield protecting “talentless” individuals from becoming artists. We know that CDs are being replaced by mp3s and television visuals are being threatened everyday by those seen online. You’ve read blogs about that stuff before, and the evolution began way before the worldwide web.

Some say it started with the death of the DJ. No, not the radio DJ or the club DJ. I’m talking about the artist’s DJ. The DJ was a part of the bill. Eric B and Rakim, DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince, Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock.

When you knew a rapper, you knew his DJ. Kane had Mr. Cee, LL had Cut Creator, Guru had some dude named Premier, the list goes on and on. But somehow the DJ became less and less relevant as an attraction once labels got more involved, the marketing strategy switched and cuts on records weren’t as necessary.

There’s no exact moment when it occurred, but it was sometime in between the Nice & Smooth song, “Dwyck” catching people’s attention and Pete Rock lending his horniness to any and everyone that wanted the soul brother sound. The outcome…people wanted Gangstarr beats, or the ones CL Smooth was spitting on. And the fans did too.

The “producer” was stepping up, Howie Tee, Hurby Luv Bug, Dr. Dre, Erick Sermon, the Shocklee brothers were providing sounds for their artists and rappers wanted those sounds. In ‘91 an artist named Nas totally eclipsed the DJ as all the focus was on his Illmatic release that was being worked on and built up as a debut that would alter the game. He sought out Q-tip, Pete, Premo, Large Professor, L.E.S, and all of the producers were excited about him and his poetic style.

By the time Wu-tang came around, “the artist” was alone in the forefront, “the producer” trailing in second place and the DJ became the guy that could possibly come on the road but was easily interchangeable.

So you ask what that does to hip-hop.

DJs began to stand up. Becoming gatekeepers of songs that break, getting jobs at radio and distinguishing the difference between a disc jockey and a button pusher. Some of them followed behind Kid Capri, Ron G and Kay Slay and began putting out tapes with different artists music blended together. And some dude who called himself Clue decided he wouldn’t even blend, scratch or anything; he dedicated his tapes to premiering exclusive songs that he got from labels by any means necessary.

And just like that, some balance was restored. No DJs were in marketing meetings anymore but they were still a big part of the culture. It was a new era though. The fans didn’t care who was spinning for Biggie or Snoop or Jay-Z or Redman. They just wanted to see them in a cool video that was vastly different from the lives they themselves were living. Introduce us to Cristal and Moschino and yacht parties and superior Cali Chronic.

Then hip us to your deadly projects you were raised in and the cocaine-pushing life, and money machines and firearms. This was hip-hop; slightly fantastical yet seemingly attainable. We didn’t want to go to the slums of Shaolin, but we wanted to hear all about it.

Not until 50 Cent’s meteoric rise using the mixtape, did DJs become powerful again, but with technology also came fraudulence. And without blending, cutting or mixing being part of the criteria of a turntablist, fake DJs began popping up almost as much as emcees.

Making CDs in their home and coming up with cool covers and an echoed voiceover allowed them to charge up-and-coming rap guys to be featured so he too can be like 50. Whoever thought DJs wouldn’t need crates of records, or turntables, or skill? Not I.

Nor would I think that the monster called “The Industry” would exist. I don’t know the first time a rapper said the name of the producer of a track on the actual track, or the first time someone whispered their label on a song’s first five seconds, but it all became a part of the living breathing mechanism meant to industrialize hip-hop by alerting the audience to what and who was involved to make this music you hear.

I do remember being familiar with BDP, Def Jam and Cold Chillin’ and I knew they were subsidiary labels that were part of a bigger machine, but I never thought it would get to the point where Bad Boy, Roc-A-Fella and eventually Cash Money took it. Michael Jackson wasn’t saying Quincy Jones at the top of each joint on Thriller; you had to read the credits. But this wasn’t pop, this was rap, this was about bragging, being the best and it made sense.

Here we are in today’s world with an art that has been advanced and reduced in the same breath. As for the Scoob and Scraps, Hot Dogs and S1Ws of the world, we remember when you guys were a part of hip-hop too. It’s a testament to how the actual performance side of the game has diminished. But the sacrifice for the Kid-N-Play kickstep and the Bizmark has been a futuristic leap in lyricism. If you view hip-hop as a technology, which it is, that has advanced with some negative side effects you may understand the vast difference from 30 years ago. And to simplify the advancement think about how important a beat is to a record receiving airplay, spins in the club, topping the charts and generating money. And think of when the genre began and the music behind lyrics was often not a beat at all…it was a beatbox…with someone’s mouth.

Let me know how you feel about the genre.

Don’t forget to support my first book here!

This is the second leak from the radio show’s 3rd annual A3C mixtape, Beatz & Lyrics 2 Go. The project was recorded on-site at the A3C Hip Hop Festival in the Unique Squared Mobile Studio & at Salem Psalms Library within an ear shot of the event.

Download the track here =>> http://amondjackson.bandcamp.com/album/sha-stimuli-the-calling-prod-focus-beatz-lyrics-2-go-vol-2

or here.

But if you need some incentive or maybe even insight to the words on the project, I am providing them right here. Here’s a breakdown of my rhymes on The Calling.

Volume prod by V Ladian Productions

If you’ve ever looked in the mirror and spoke to yourself in an attempt to discontinue being a character in someone else’s dream then you might feel this record.

Sometimes I need to listen to my own records where I talk about looking at obstacles in my path and remembering the ones from my past. But I am guilty of losing faith, so it comes out in the music.

It’s a gift and curse since the plight of the rap dude on the rise is an old familiar story, yet the daily struggle of the human trying to find oneself is universal so at times you don’t mind hearing it. I just think it’s so easy to lose sight when it comes to your reason for beginning a journey.

It’s like literally getting on the road, getting lost and continuing without knowing where you want to end up or why. Sometimes we let people turn down our volume because the outside forces are what we listen to. The folks commenting, giving their opinion, or telling you how to do what you do can become the force pushing you. And all of a sudden you’re talking to them instead of the ones who truly are listening. This is my way of telling myself to wake up.

“They gon’ tell you that you can’t, won’t
Try to convince you/That you’re wack, broke,
Get in your mental/But you can’t, fold,
Never back down, volume on ten, I ain’t turning back down…”
Me feat LelaBizz prod by DJ Pain 1

Lela Bizz came up with this chorus to the DJ Pain 1 beat. I wanted something that felt like an intro and I think she nailed it singing, “It’s all up to me.”

I just feel like a lot of us forget that we’re the answer to what we’re looking for. I kind of flipped it and decided to call out the thousands of rappers there are out there that you have to choose from, and in the same breath where “Savior” left off, I deduced that the game’s fate is in my hands. So to be honest, I wasted a bunch of bars hoping that someone would figure out that I went from 17, 440 spitters, where 3,000 were corny and 5,000 were bitter, then I continued running down numbers subtracting until they equaled one.

Now I say the word “waste” because if you don’t get that part then it’s just a heap of rap crap about things you might or might not already know. It still feels good to me and the hook means a lot. The Calling isn’t about anything other than looking inside to find what you really want out of life. Music went from a dream to a crutch to me. I became afraid to let it go because I thought it defined me. Now I view it as a tool that conveys messages and has the power to lift anyone’s spirits or make them reflect.

“When everyone is just alright,
I’m what’s left…”

From Me To You prod by Black Metaphor

This may be the most seemingly negative albeit clever song on this disc. Going from Unsigned Hype to unhype signed is funny to me. But my dark humor may get misconstrued as bitterness.

I’m really just shedding the expectations and guidelines of the industry. I went from a point where I really was wearing shades on stage, partying every other night out of what was perceived as necessity, and searching for emotionally unavailable women to being a person that is now a bit more evolved.

While “Me” was also about looking inward, “From Me To You” is about the reason I rap. I still focus on improving, and profiting from my passion but I also have an aim to make relatable songs and tell stories that the average person can identify with. I didn’t start out like that.

“I went from hard to difficult, went from spitting to bleeding,
I was rhyming for money, now I view money as freedom…”

 
Conception prod by Big Fraze

Conception took me about four minutes to write. The ideology that I was raised by hip-hop is just something that came out so easily. The influences of Run-DMC and Public Enemy and A Tribe Called Quest were so real. I was inspired to do music but I was also shaped by some of the subject matter. I learned about politics, social content, artists they sampled from, I even got vocabulary lessons from music.

This song is no exaggeration when I tell you that witnessing the rise of some of these people set the stage for what I wanted to do with my career. I observed the power of words, how Queen Latifah and Fresh Prince catapulted from one phase to another. Ice Cube and Ice-T began one way then totally changed their image.

And right in my home was Lord Digga to show me how a young rapping producer could have a vision and turn it into a record deal. This was deeper than just rhyming lyrics to me. This song is a timeline trip through my young mind that was absorbing everything I heard and turning it into fuel that would drive me to this point.

“Nas made his memory lane so graphic,
That we shared a project window where he was seeing the static,
It was just like mine in my mind, dope addicts…”

Walk on Water III prod by Emazin

Someone asked me why I keep doing this “Walk on Water” thing. I don’t really know. It started out as a metaphoric mission to let those that ask me “what’s going on with the music?” know that I’m above it all. Years ago on my second mixtape Follow My Lead, I was in Brooklyn leaving the train station and vibing to beats and I was walking through a puddle with my headphones on and the concept came to me. Sounds corny but it really did happen like that.

I throw in some biblical references just to give the feel that I’m somewhere else with the path I’m on.
It’s also a metaphor for doing thee impossible. We can believe Jesus walked on water because we have faith in Him. But to believe in ourselves that we can make miracles happen is absurd sometimes.

Yet we do it everyday. The small miracles that we experience every time we wake up, breathe, digest food, witness the weather and simply live get ignored. Some circumstance and occurrences that go down get written off as The Creator or luck, but there is so much greatness in us all that we need to reach for the stars and land on a cloud once in awhile.

“You compare me to rappers that’s spitting bars,
While my function is to give you a touch of my gift from God…”

The Realist prod by DJ Qvali

I always felt like rapping came with an image that you have to represent a certain level of thuggery. The hood has to embrace you as one of them. But as I am growing I am also seeing hip-hop grow.

Gone are the days when the Jay-Zs and Fifty Cents set the standard for living criminal lives that spilled into the booth. In today’s world the Drakes, Walés and the homie J. Cole are not selling you anything, killing you or threatening listeners. Wiz Khalifa is Snoop without the murder being a case, Kendrick Lamar is from Compton but he isn’t most wanted by the authorities.

Reality is now in, and it’s ok to be who you are. With that said, there are still some who follow the old blueprint that might is right and fear equals love. And this song is an answer back to the question about the importance of street credibility as opposed to ability and honesty as I answer a kid who wants to know if I’m “real.”

“They say he’s alright but he’s not real,
What if you’re real but you’re not alright, how does that feel?”

Brenda’s Baby prod by Louis G.

I was at a birthday bash for Tupac Shakur in Atlanta when I realized that there may never be records like “Dear Mama” on radio again. Pac’s first single was “Brenda’s Got a Baby” back in 1991 and I sincerely doubt any record company, A&R or homeboy would advise a rapper to put out a record today that is even remotely similar to that song.

But the beauty of not answering to a major is that you can do what you want. And twenty years later I decided to drop a song that is an ode to Pac’s single. I saw someone else did a “Brenda’s Baby” song years ago after a few fans pointed it out to me. But mine isn’t so much of a distinct narrative as it is a reflection of our times.

I’m simply saying that I constantly focus on getting buzz, hotter and watching the throne while even Jay and Kanye are being Niggas in Paris with no real message to the listeners. Not that they have to because maybe living your dream is enough of a message but for me…I just went on an enlightening trip through song that might be more received because of its ties to a legend. Well that is the aim.

“Brenda’s baby is grown and I’m out here watching a throne…”

Dreamgirl prod by Black Metaphor

This was probably the last addition to this CD because I just wasn’t sure if it fit. I also knew it was borderline depressing and possibly a filler if you’re a dude. But there’s something about dreaming that gets me going. I just feel like we don’t reach enough as humans.

I hate when I get complacent and settle for what I see in my face. So whenever I feel a certain way I know others need to hear it. So I created two stories about a girl who gave up on her dream to raise her fam and another who is holding on to a lost child. This is where I get confused about what’s entertaining and enlightening and I am open for criticism when I choose the latter. But I am comfortable with that.

“Passion is the key to finding out the piece to know your calling,

If you want to capture happiness and peace you gotta dream girl…”

Angels & Demons prod by Emazin

I did a whole break down of “Angels & Demons”

The Awakening prod by GZ Beats

My favorite record on this project is a collection of short stories that don’t really end but reach a point where I hope the listener feels somewhat awakened.

I don’t want to give away too much if you haven’t heard it but the reason I enjoy this song so much is because I have no memory of composing it and in the studio I did the whole song in one take. So what you don’t care about that but as an artist I can sit back and marvel at the anecdotes I made up and how I was able to bring them to a close in less than 16 bars. Still not impressed? Well listen anyway and I’m sure you’ll at least close your eyes and see some characters in the stories.

 “We all equal but I boldly discriminate,

Each time I say pause that’s exhibit A…”

 Call On Me feat. Danny Sky High prod by J. Cardim

 I rewrote this record a few times and it started out as me proclaiming to be the man to rescue the hip-hop game. But then I started to think about the spiritual aspect of the concept. And as I went deeper I thought about what it meant to believe in something you may never see with your eyes.

My uncertainty about religion leaked out in the second verse and even though I still feel like saving the game, I need to save myself. So I talk about a trip to church and how it moved me even though I am not a Baptist or anything. The song has a gospel feel and I do speak about God quite a bit on The Calling. I make no excuse for that but I will just say that when you’re looking for your purpose, you tend to look to a higher power.

 “The same way you singing out hymns,

Every time you singing about Him,

I want you to feel my music when it’s like you can’t win…”

Sha Stimuli’s latest offering, “The Calling” has received favorable reviews from critics. Heres the link from hiphopdx =>>> http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/album-reviews/id.1825/title.sha-stimuli-the-calling#.TxzQMKP3mc0.email

“The Calling” is available now here =>>> http://vibedeck.com/coast2coastmixtapes/sha-stimuli-the-calling#order

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Many of you may not have heard, “The Calling” has been pushed slighlty back to a release date of 1.23.12.

Here are the covers and the tracklist to get you ready! And then what’s even better, here’s the pre-order link for iTunes!

5 lucky people and their 1 guest will be added to the guest list for Sha’s listening party at Harlem Nights on January 16, 2012 in Atlanta, GA.

To enter to win email your name, twitter handle if you have one, age, and name of your preferred guest, if known to

teamstimuli @ shastimuli.com.

Winners will be chosen and notified on January 14, 2012. And winner must be 21 to attend.

I thank everyone that purchased, thought about buying, told a friend, or looked at the ad for my book online. We moved some good units for a pre-release and I am truly blessed to have an idea turn into reality. This blog was created for the book and now it has become more than a blog but a chance for me to vent, share and connect with people across the globe. Every comment holds weight, every page visit means something and outside of music I exist in another world that many people couldn’t foresee. With that said, I have lyrics to share:

I wake up with the voice in my head that says God’s watching,
Studied scriptures and even skimmed thru Allah’s doctrine,
Minutes later I’m thinking of killing haters, and ways to bring in some paper so having faith is a hard option,
My moms told me that praying will get me far in life,
And anytime it gets hectic just give ya heart to Christ,
But I don’t know if the Lord can help my bars get tight
Or make the fans think I’m a star that’s nice, I’m an artist writing
Real shit, real feelings, angels in my ear
Like, “Do better, be better, pick a new career,
Maybe teacher, preacher, counselor, physicist, engineer,
Someone doing things with meaning for people,”
But then I hear
These demons with the horns like, “Rap, rhyme, spit it,
Do a song wit a dance, talk about the slutty bitches,
Put half naked chicks in the video, pour liquor
on they asses,
Throw some stacks at the camera and yell, ‘nigga, nigga, nigga,
I’m ill, I’m getting it, fuck school,’
sell drugs, get a buzz, rock some shiny fake jewels,”
But the angels come back screaming, “Make smart cool!
Put depth in ya music, reach the youngest, dumbest fools,
While you kill it over beats and they sleeping,
You break the rules
and have ‘em thinking while they smoking and drinking and gripping tools,”

…And I choose the darkside, sorta like Tre and Doughboy in that car ride

And then I shout “Dough let me out!”
Knowing that this is wrong
I’m conflicted in my life and in my songs.

I got these Angels on my shoulder,

But these demons keep on talking and they’re trying to win me over
Got me thinking bank robbery, Obama I need change,
I envision car jacking this old man in the Range,
Angels: “Work hard at your craft and deal with the pain,
Everyday ain’t always sunny, you wanna just make it rain.”
Demons: “Sha look at how long you been in the game,
Ain’t nobody trying to hear what you yapping, you sound lame,
You ain’t shooting, you ain’t selling, you ain’t balling you’re the same,
Dude rapping ’bout your raps in your raps, then you complain.”
Damn…
But the angels start to whisper,
“Wife up a queen,” then the demons tell me dis her,
The soldiers with the wings say lift brothers and sisters,
But the creatures with the tails say get money consistent,
Angels say, “God’s son showed you the path,”

Demons say, “The savior was hated until he passed,
Sha you was born broke, parents called you accident,
Jesus got gold and a holiday named after him,”

Angels want me Christian or Catholic with wife and kids,
Demons want me flipping bricks, getting clapped, or doing a bid
Angels: “Forget the whores and the groupies, the music biz.”
Demons: “Thinking small, you’ll never be Pac or Big stupid.”

These are two verses from a song on The Calling which will drop later this month entitled “Angels & Demons.”

I’m not sure why I put the words up but I know that sometimes we all have two sides speaking to us when we have to make certain decisions. We wonder which one is right or wrong, and what choice mirrors who we really are. At some points we make decisions that don’t seem like who we know ourselves to be at all. We rationalize our mishaps, or we defend our lies, we omit the truth from our minds so that doing something kind of stupid is acceptable when we stare into our own eyes. I am guilty of this.

To me it’s similar to a demon trying to convince you to do something that doesn’t connect with your heart. But then again if a thought or deed feels like a desire, what makes it incorrect? What if that desire is what will make you instantly joyful? Do you not fulfill it because someone else will suffer or because it’s not morally correct?

How do you know which entity is in your ear? Maybe you never really know for sure until hindsight hits and you get to analyze, learn from yourself, and use the past to affect the present. There are so many times in my life that I am afraid that something I’m doing is not the best choice, and the outcome will be one that I will regret later on.

And then that same decision spawns some negative…as well as positive situations, and the result is I meet people, or spark ideas and most likely I possibly write a song that would not have happened without whatever adversity I faced. It makes you wonder if everything really happens for a reason and if It Is Written for real.

Is this present moment really all there is to concern myself with? Right now was meant to be? Maybe the voices in my head are there to help guide me, but whatever I choose is simply a choice that leads me to the spot that I was already going to reach. Or could every turn possibly be new and unfathomed? There may be no reason to dwell on the path you didn’t pick after hitting the fork in the road. But somehow we still drift off to a dimension that has us pondering, “What if I would have listened to the voice in the other ear?”

For some it’s left and right brain dialogue, for others it’s good vs evil, lazy against effort, instant gratification battling delayed bliss, or simply the higher version of yourself trying to reveal itself while the selfish, thoughtless, egotistical you pokes out its chest in an attempt to run the psychological show. The concept that there is no wrong outcome, no Heavenly mistakes, no coincidences and no real accidents could be an inevitable yet difficult truth. Tell me your thoughts.

Check out my book! No pressure