INTERVIEW With Sha Stimuli

I was lucky enough to get to briefly meet Sha Stimuli a couple weeks ago at a show at S.O.B.'s. He's a humble emcee who's also a big fan of Hip Hop. After he tore it down on stage that night he chilled in the crowd to enjoy the rest of the show. Our "EMCEE OF THE WEEK" this week took some serious time out this past weekend to answer a bunch of questions I had for him. Check out this insightful interview I had with Sha Stimuli below:

MONEY MIZ: What up Stimuli? Thanks for takin' some time out to rap with me, I really appreciate it. What's been good with you so far in 2010?

SHA STIMULI: I've been good, can't complain too much. 2010 has been interesting, I got out of the country to do some shows in the UK, tryin' to hit some more spots but other than that I've just been embracing the place that I've solidified in life and focusing on achieving more without overlooking what I've done... if that makes any sense.

MONEY MIZ: No doubt! Never forget where you been, but look forward to where you're goin'. I've read about you workin' on some new music and I gotta say I'm excited about it. What is your "Unsung" project and when can we expect it to be available?

SHA STIMULI: Yeah that project is scheduled to drop this summer hopefully with Coast2CoastMixtapes.com digitally and maybe some hard copies as well but I'm doin' something different from "My Soul To Keep" in a sense that the music won't be all soulful and reflective. I can't help but be myself on record so I'll be bearing my soul but I do feel like some of my fans missed some of the hard edged music on my debut and a little bit of the bravado. You can't please everyone so don't look for me to be all over the place, but I do want to continue to evolve musically and personally. My girl came up with the title "Unsung," she actually named my album and my "Hotter Than July" mixtape and it's not a crazy in-depth process. I ask what I should name a CD and she blurts something out. It works. But with this one I'm doing two parts "Unsung Vol. 1" is The Garden of Eden and Vol. 2 is Cinderella Man. I do believe I'm one of those unsung heroes, under the radar artists that you have to listen to in order to really get and I don't have major financial backing or a co-sign so my voice doesn't always get heard... ah, but when it is, people appreciate it. So I decided not to shy away from the spot I have but to appreciate it, the same way Adam and Eve should have appreciated the Garden of Eden, but it took them to get thrown out to acknowledge paradise. I think we all have a piece of paradise in our lives that we don't see.

MONEY MIZ: Word, I think that's so true. Some might even know it, they just don't acknowledge it enough. Your debut album "My Soul To Keep" is a modern day classic in my opinion. I listed it in my "Top 9 Albums of 2009" and still keep it in rotation in my whip. I personally don't care how many copies it sold 'cause that literally doesn't mean shit when it comes to good music anymore, ya know what I'm sayin'? In your honest opinion, do you feel the album got the recognition it truly deserved?

SHA STIMULI: I think it got what it deserved and will continue to grow as time passes and more people listen to it. On a physical level in terms of sales and magazine ratings, of course more is always better. I would love to live off the sales of this LP, but unfortunately that isn't the case. I thank you for your admiration of the music, it doesn't go unnoticed. And I will say, the words from fans or just regular humans that enjoy the body of work as entertainment and as a release from their everyday lives is truly a blessing. I had to take a step back and think that I'm not selling millions or performing on award shows, but I could've given up years ago when I lost my record deal and not be reaching anyone. I mean seriously, people have stopped me and told me they owe me for getting them through something or I helped their relationship or just altered 24 hours of their lives... with words and beats, that I came up with... it's deeper than we can really imagine. If tomorrow I blow up and Lil Wayne or Kanye or 50 signs me or something and I'm touching millions instead of thousands, this journey has prepared me for everything.

MONEY MIZ: That feeling must be so rewarding, when you hear how you touched someone. Something that absolutely fascinated me about "My Soul To Keep" was that you still had the creative ability to pen that album after releasing 12 mixtapes in 2008!!! How could you have a personal life at all if you're releasing that much music? I mean you gotta be immune to "writer's block" right?

SHA STIMULI: (Laughing.) Nah, I wouldn't say that, the mixtapes were like training camp. It really was a good idea that should've gone further if Twitter was as popular then or if I was on my Facebook grind like I am now but ummm I don't think I ever wrote so much material in such a short amount of time. The emotions and places I put myself in to write the "March on Washington" disc, "Love Jones" and "Hotter Than July" were really amazing if I step outside of myself. I was worried if I should just take some songs from those CDs and make my debut or if I would be able to channel energy all over again, but music is my life. I have a personal life. It mainly consists of playing basketball, eating food and watching movies, but I try to squeeze in some things that make me smile. Writing is my passion, my BlackBerry is loaded with scripts, books, songs, and verses. Maybe I shouldn't have let that out, but yeah, I get stumped sometimes with trying to say the hottest stuff and really concerning myself with not being too deep or too hard to follow while still being clever but mostly my biggest issue is remembering verses. Inspiration comes from everywhere.

MONEY MIZ: To add to this, your mixtapes are basically like albums. They have themes and are well thought out, not just a bunch of BULLSHIT slapped together quickly with a DJ yellin' over everything. It's quite apparent you take pride in your music. Why is this? Why are you so different from all these NY mixtape rappers?

SHA STIMULI: I have to credit DJ Victorious for steppin' in and helpin' me create concepts and also givin' me direction on certain records. I'm a sucker for a good story. He had to stop me from connecting every song on every tape. I really wanted every CD to go in some kind of weird order where I meet the girl in the beginning and then we get into drama or I start off ignorant then evolve... I just feel like people need a reason to listen to an entire body of work because I definitely don't want to pop in a CD by some rapper I don't know when I can just hear one catchy song on the radio or in the club. I love concepts and I like to provoke thought, it's my gift and curse. People always tell me that the buying public doesn't want to think too much, which is why media is getting dumber and lazier but I don't care. I think folks still want mental stimulation, they just don't always know that's what they want. To answer your question though, I don't know how different I am because I don't listen to much rap music but I will tell you this, no one is doing what I'm doing or talking about the things I'm talking about and that makes me very happy as a human being.

MONEY MIZ: My brother and my boy Khamal actually put me on to you several years ago after hearing you on HipHopGame.com right before your "Switch Sides" mixtape. They were tellin' me you were gonna be the next "big thing" in Hip Hop. In hind sight, being the next "big thing" might be overrated. What happened with your Virgin Records deal and do you think the demise of that relationship may have been a blessing in disguise considering the way the game works now?

SHA STIMULI: I will try to not be long-winded, but if you're still reading this then you're either a fan or I'm sparking your interest so here it goes: Was it a blessing? I don't know, I guess it was in a sense 'cause I don't know what path I was on as an artist. I think I was almost ready to give in and do whatever it was going to take to make it to the next level. Which meant any type of record possible to get exposure. Virgin didn't really have the staff to push an artist like myself at the time but I could've made anything work to my advantage if you ask me. I will say that I may have not been ready for the success that was ahead of me with that situation and I am thankful for the knowledge that I have today. As for what happened: I interned for Roc-A-Fella Records in 1997 and got cool with Hip-Hop, Gee Roberson, Al Branch and then street team leader, Lenny S. Every year after I graduated from college I would go check Lenny and play music and ask him if I should quit and get a job and he told me to keep going. In 2005 he signed me to Virgin Records as his first project. Jay-Z was Def Jam's president at the time and wanted to reunite all his former teammates under his regime and Lenny was offered a job. His only condition was to bring me along, which Jay agreed to. Unfortunately, there was a big stall and Jay didn't really keep his word, to say what happened really would seem like I'm whining or bitter, but let's just say I didn't take my career into my own hands and my ignorance about the business and people came to light. I owed Virgin money, they wanted Def Jam to pay it, Def Jam wanted to wait until I got dropped so I could have a clean slate but Virgin wouldn't drop me. Jermaine Dupri wanted to keep me at Virgin but decided if I didn't want to be there then he wouldn't fight for me. So I was stuck on a label but shelved while trying to maintain a name out there in the industry. I'm thankful for the experience and it could've gone very differently but it didn't and I just hope I can offer info to some other artists out there that may be going through politics in the game.

MONEY MIZ: Wow, Jay-Z didn't keep his word??? Get out... That shit's fucked up man. You've actually been in the game a lot longer than I thought. You're Lord Digga's brother and were exposed to Hip Hop at a young age. A lot of heads don't know you were on Masta Ace's "Slaughtahouse" album and knew Biggie from your brother workin' on his album. How did those early experiences effect your career?

SHA STIMULI: All of those experiences molded me to become who I am today. If it wasn't for Ace, I wouldn't know how to rock a show or how to do my thing in the studio. I was around Hip Hop when it was pure, before it was cool or profitable. People did it because they loved it and also because they had talent. My brother brought me to video shoots, studio sessions, and shows and exposed me to artists that had chosen rap as a career and it made me feel like music was more than just a dream. Roc-A-Fella not only helped me get signed, but it also gave me a chance to witness the meteoric rise of a company that truly believed in an artist and they worked together to make a lot of big things happen.

MONEY MIZ: How has the game changed over all these years and how difficult has it been to adapt to the changes?

SHA STIMULI: The game has changed drastically, when I started out it was all about having the best mixtape, we were hand-to-hand in the street with CDs and I even pressed up vinyl, shit now that I think about it, I was in a group when I was in college and my first meeting was with DJ Enuff when he was at Def Jam and we played a cassette tape. I did the same with Bad Boy actually, I think that was Conrad. Man, it's been so long. I got Unsigned Hype in The Source when it was really a big deal, I got spins on radio and we had a focus to get that record deal. But the Internet has changed everything. It has allowed many more people, talented or not to break in the game and also have an impact on it with the help of blog sites. It has watered down the buying public and diminished the actual fan that has no access to an artist. It made it possible for me to go to foreign countries and have them know my lyrics but it has also subtracted star quality and scarcity when it comes to artists. There was a time when you didn't know so much about an artist's life, but now you can speak to them directly on Twitter and comment on their music and watch them behind the scenes in reality shows and all of this matters since the chances of you going to buy their disc is very slim. I have adapted to reaching the masses through the net but I have not gotten there totally yet. It's tough to do things to get your career popping and then remember to tell people you're doing it simultaneously as you do it as if they want to know. Right now I should be Tweeting this, but I'm not... it sucks.

MONEY MIZ: (Laughing.) If you could only choose one current emcee as your personal favorite, who would it be and why?

SHA STIMULI: One emcee? I don't know, the only artist I'm truly waiting for is Andre 3000. He always wows me with lyrics and concepts. I need an album from him. I think he would make me re-evaluate what I did with my album and want to do better.

MONEY MIZ: What emcee would you most like to work with on your next album?


SHA STIMULI: I'd like to work with Eminem, maybe. He would push me to do something I wouldn't think of doing.

MONEY MIZ: What producer would you most like to work with on your next album?

SHA STIMULI: I'd love to work with Kanye or Just Blaze. I'm doing something with J. Cardim, he's gonna be big.

MONEY MIZ: Yeah I know of him from Boston. He just did a few hot joints for Joe Budden. I heard you played D1 college basketball. Is this true? And, if so, what was it like to play ball on that level?

SHA STIMULI: I played for a junior college in Iowa, I had the chance to play for a four-year school but it would've been in the Midwest 'cause I didn't get decent in ball until my senior year. I was too short to be a 2-guard in the NBA, but it was a learning experience for me. I learned that if I wanted something, I have the mental capacity to go for it. Music was calling me and it made me have to choose because basketball would have required a serious sacrifice to go to the next level. Obviously I made the choice I am with now. My brother signed to Atlantic Records, so I transferred from Iowa to Delaware State with the hopes of playing for the team. I had the opportunity presented to me, but it wasn't something I really desired anymore.

MONEY MIZ: Who do you think'll win the NBA finals this year? I'm from Boston so I'm very biased (laughing).

SHA STIMULI: I'm a Kobe fan, so I'm still celebrating and I hate to tell you about the repeat that's goin' down this year but it'll be interesting. Sorry about that, the Celtics look good though. Rondo is one of my favorite people, he reminds me of myself on the court.

MONEY MIZ: You might be right, the fuckin' Celtics have lost every god damn lead they've had all year!!! Back to college. Your education definitely shows in your lyrical content and it's refreshing to have a change of pace in the music. As a fan of Hip Hop are you gettin' tired of the same old "shoot 'em up," "pitchin' crack to the fiends" content in the music?

SHA STIMULI: I think everything has its place and that music allows me the chance to do what I do. I just wish two things would happen that would be reminiscent of my early days as a fan of Hip Hop. One would be versatility and variety when it comes to radio. That would decrease the formulaic outcome we've been gettin' where artists think they have to do a certain style of record to break through. Another would be to have artists be technically good at constructing songs and rhymes. I don't care what Jeezy raps about or his slow pattern as long as it's clever. The man cares about his pen... other artists from that region... not so much. And some rappers from New York or wherever preach ignorance all day because that's what they lived, but 85% of them, if you had to interview their family and friends, they wouldn't represent what they speak about on record. So what they say is that they feel like they have to perpetuate a stereotype to be heard and that's sad. Is Hip Hop a cancer or a symptom of a bigger issue? I say it's a symptom, we're not helping people with the negative music but the positive music that exists doesn't get the light of day so who is really controlling what reaches the masses? If I shot people and sold crack with no regard for human life, I would most likely use it to provoke thought and steer the youth in another direction. But that's just me...

MONEY MIZ: I had the pleasure of seein' you live for the first time a couple weeks ago and out of all the performers that hit the stage that night, your performance really stood out. You can tell performing Hip Hop is a very emotional thing for you. As an emcee stage presence is very important. What have you done to perfect your live emceeing skills?

SHA STIMULI: I can't tell all the secrets but I don't take the stage lightly. I want to put a dent in it every single time and make folks understand that you may have an artist that you're feeling but what do I do when I'm up there is give you every piece of emotion inside of me. I watch other people's shows, I imagine being in the crowd and looking up at myself, I try to tear my ego down and think about the fans and most of all, I am in the moment. I never lose myself on the stage, I prepare, I make sure I project and provide lyricism, wit and personality.

MONEY MIZ: My borther and I were listenin' to "My Soul To Keep" the other day and he pointed out that you never let the rhyme dictate what you want to say. You never let a rhyme force itself into any of your lines. You say exactly what you want to and get it to rhyme the way you want to. Is this just natural or is it a combination of hard work and talent?

SHA STIMULI: That's one of the most interesting questions I've ever gotten. I believe that with this album I wanted to make sure I was understood. I thought about the average person that maybe didn't want to hear verbal linguistic crazy flows and just decided to communicate topics with feeling. Sometimes I think I dumbed it down too much technically or that the lines weren't as shocking as some of my mixtape stuff, but I swear to you it just felt right. I didn't force one thing on this album. I remember Adam Levine from Maroon 5 saying that it's good to do what you feel in the studio and not to try to make records with the record business in mind. I was thinking about people and what was missing and the words and ideas just came out. Records like "Have You Seen Him?" and "What's Wrong..." really have a place in my heart outside of the artistic world as messages that I felt needed to be heard. 

MONEY MIZ: Well I hope you continue to make the quality music that you have been throughout your career. Thanks for answerin' my questions and I wish you much success this year. I'm definitely lookin' forward to "Unsung, Vol. 1." Please let all my readers know where they can find more of you and your music online...

SHA STIMULI: I thank you for listening and anything you need from me, I'm here. I don't want to just promote myself so I will say if you do like an artist, reach out to him, support his/her music, it could change a life, encourage a dream and make someone a better person. With that said... hit me up... "MY SOUL TO KEEP" album in stores now: PURCHASE ALBUM ON iTUNES HERE!!!

Follow Sha Stimuli on Twitter at: www.Twitter.com/ShaStimuli