Stalley

News

* SXSW Thu: Wiz Khalifa, Thee Oh Sees
* Hear Lil Wayne's Green Bay Packers Anthem
* N.E.R.D., Wale to Open Jay-Z's Fall Tour

Out the Trunk

Out the Trunk #2
Out the Trunk #2
by Tom Breihan, posted March 9, 2011


For a few minutes back in January, Wiz Khalifa felt like the biggest rap star in the world. As the Pittsburgh Steelers steamrolled their way toward the Super Bowl, Wiz released "Black and Yellow", a Pittsburgh pride anthem catchy enough to make noise even in places where everyone hates the Steelers. The song's irritatingly perfect mantra chorus-- "blackandyellow blackandyellow blackandyellow blackandyellow"-- got twisted a million different ways by a million different rappers, since literally any four-syllable phrase fits into that hook just fine. And as the Super Bowl approached, Green Bay Packers fan Lil Wayne fired off "Green and Yellow", a "Black and Yellow" freestyle that paid tribute to the Steelers' Super Bowl opponents and tossed a few unsubtle digs Wiz's way. Once Lil Wayne is throwing subliminal darts at you, you've arrived. And so Wiz Khalifa went from being one kind of phenomenon to another.

"Black and Yellow" developed a life if its own, but the song got a big boost from all the touring and mixtape-circuit work Wiz had done in the previous years. Wiz is somebody who used mixtapes to find and define his persona and to build a rabid cult audience, one big enough to sell out clubs nationwide before his big song went big. Last year's mixtape Kush and Orange Juice displayed exactly who Wiz had become: A goofy, perma-stoned skate-rat kid who loved rapping and singing over soft, pillowy synth-beats. It was a great spring-morning mixtape, a pleasant breeze of music from a limited rapper who'd figured out exactly what his lane was. In the wake of "Black and Yellow", Wiz's newer music had started raising alarm bells. He'd made that song with the Norwegian pop production team StarGate, and he teamed up with them a few more times, crafting glimmering pop music to diminishing returns. And with his cash-in major-label album on the horizon, it seemed possible that Wiz would abandon the persona and audience he'd built from the ground up to become yet another pop-rap cheeseball. So in the context of all that, it's a relief to hear Wiz's new tape, Cabin Fever, a welcome indication that this guy still cares about making rap music.

Cabin Fever is short-- nine songs, 39 minutes-- and it doesn't quite return Wiz to his Kush and Orange Juice comfort zone. Instead, it finds Wiz rapping over harder, darker beats, slightly toned-down versions of the sort of things crunk-revival production kings like Lex Luger and Drumma Boy regularly crank out. Eerie keyboards churn and bass makes car windows shudder, but Wiz's delivery never really changes. Even when Southern goon-rap veterans like Trae and Juicy J show up, Wiz never really alters the dazed, giggly delivery he uses on all his tracks. The effect makes for an interesting contrast, with Wiz's high-pitched, careless cadences skipping over fuck-you-up stomps. Tough-talking protégé Chevy Woods gets a couple of nice moments, and Wiz throws a few slick lines back at Wayne. Wiz has never been a particularly quotable rapper; his boasts here are simple, easily understood things: "You show up to concerts looking like a fan/ I pull up in car service looking like the man." But he's a hell of a songwriter, and he knows how to come up with an insinuating chorus that'll work wonders even with punishing tracks like the ones here. The tape only really falters on the silly, clubby singsong track "Middle of You".

Even if Wiz's album does turn out to be a B.o.B.-style onslaught of cheese, Cabin Fever is still an unmistakable sign that Wiz can crank out hard shit when he's in the mood. It plays with Wiz's sound and persona in ways that make sense, and it arrives at a perfect time-- thrown onto the internet with no previous notice, just over a month before the album drops. When a rapper has a strong, firmly established character, the way Wiz does, he can push that character into some new places, as he does here. Contrast that with Wiz's frequent collaborator Curren$y-- they made the great 2009 collaborative mixtape How Fly together-- who dropped his own new tape Return to the Winner's Circle back in January. Curren$y is a much stronger rapper than Wiz in almost every way, but Return to the Winner's Circle is a boring mess, a slapdash and badly-mastered collection of freestyles over other people's records and blog-fodder collaborations.

Curren$y's been on a very hot streak lately with his Pilot Talk albums and his great random team-ups with guys like Texas rapper Killa Kyleon on the excellent blog-circulated track "4 Hours & 20 Minutes (Ride to H-Town)". But it's been a while since Curren$y's made a compelling mixtape, and right now he's not using the medium to establish or play with his persona, something that seems to come to Wiz naturally. In a lot of ways, Wiz's stardom is a direct result of his mixtape run. He was smart enough to use the medium to build something. And right now, plenty of other on-the-bubble rappers are using mixtapes in smart ways; they're letting us know exactly who they are.

Consider, for example, the impressively bearded Ohio rapper Stalley. Stalley's been kicking around the blog circuit for a while now, and he had a guest verse on Curren$y's first Pilot Talk album, but his new mixtape Lincoln Way Nights (Intelligent Bass Music) is definitely his most complete statement. On that mixtape, Stalley carves out a nice little space for himself-- midway between Rhymesayers-style oversharing backpack-rap honesty and classic Midwestern trunk-rattle thump. Tracks on the mixtape sample both A Tribe Called Quest's "Midnight" and Pimp C's verse from Three 6 Mafia's "Sippin' on Some Syrup", and he's the sort of rapper who holds Q-Tip and Pimp in equal elevated esteem.

Stalley's closest peer on the current rap landscape is probably J. Cole, another guy so thoughtful that he sometimes gets in his own way, tempering his boasts with tortured reflections on the very nature of boasting. Stalley, for instance, doesn't just write a song about how the bass in his car will explode your head. He writes "She Hates the Bass", a song about how his girlfriend gets embarrassed about all that bass, and how he has to explain to her that it's a cultural thing with its own intrinsic value. There's something vaguely silly about that level of sensitivity in a rap song, but it's also a unique position, a situation that I haven't heard any other rappers explore. There's not much wit or style to Stalley's explanation of that position, but there is a disarming earnestness that just makes you like the guy.

Another thing Stalley has in common with J. Cole: His secret weapon is his slow, stately production. All the tracks on Lincoln Way Nights come from producer Rashad, and his lush, deep tracks make the mixtape one of the most compulsively listenable rap releases of the past few months; I'd easily take it over Cole's recent Friday Night Lights. There's a lot of empty space in Rashad's beats; he knows when to hold back and when to drop the hammer. Samples weave artfully and prettily throughout, tracks shift and evolve, and the bass always kicks hard. The whole thing sounds symphonically gorgeous when you hear it in a car, even on a piece-of-shit system, and that's obviously the intent. Stalley's whole persona is built around repping eloquently for Midwestern nightclub parking lots, and his solid, emotive delivery sounds just about perfect over these beats. On a between-tracks skit, Stalley even calls himself "the Bruce Springsteen of hip-hop"-- a guy who humbly personifies his blue-collar hometown. That analogy doesn't quite work, but it shows what he's going for here, and those beautiful beats make sure he gets there. On the strength of a tape like this, it's easy to see Stalley building his own cult, download by download. - Pitchfork

Born and bred in Massillon, a small town in the working class state of Ohio, a young Kyle Myricks learned the value of blue collar work ethic at a young age. Kyle earned his nickname, the Stallion, because of the grit and determination that characterized his youthful athleticism. This same grit typifies his hometown of Massillon, a small city known for its steel mills and classic American feel. Over the years, Stallion would be shortened to Stalley, and Stalley would physically leave Massillon to pursue music in Brooklyn, New York, but Massillon is never far behind him. He embodies Massillon by emphasizing hard work, classic style and vivid depictions of his life’s journey in his colorful, timeless music. - BET

A rapper's narrative is pretty much always the same: Enter the young, hungry wordsmith who has finally, gloriously, made it. Lately though, thanks to the Internet, which makes it easy to bypass labels and normal promotional routes, as well as a messy, confused industry that often protracts buzz, the next big thing remains on the come-up for far too long, eventually staring down their official debut with a well-defined, often self-satisfied persona.

On last year's Thank Me Later, Drake skipped the hungry, earnest rapper stage and proceeded directly to the "I'm famous, now what?" point in his career, and producer-rappers like J. Cole and Big K.R.I.T saddled their striving-for-classic mixtapes with a "small town on my shoulders" martyr complex that demanded fame they'd not yet earned and had them questioning whether that fame was even worth it in the first place. Recent releases from Huntsville, Alabama's G-Side (The One...Cohesive), Washington D.C.'s Tabi Bonney (Postcard From Abroad), and Massillon, Ohio's Stalley (Lincoln Way Nights) make those petulant meta-narratives look a little foolish.

G-Side, "Inner Circle"

Tabi Bonney, "Garfield Fish Bones"

Stalley, "Slapp"

Far from the oh-so-conflicted, I'm-famous-and-it-sucks shtick that's taken over rap as of late, each of these rappers -- in control of their careers, comfortable with the niche they occupy, kicking around long enough to be veterans by Internet rap standards -- exhibit a fresher more mature path through hip-hop's labyrinth. Being a "mature" rapper usually means being boring, but all of these guys remain charmingly self-aware of their relative notoriety and use it as a jumping-off point for a more interesting, knotty rap narrative: What does it mean to be a kinda-sorta famous rapper in 2011?

"See, nowadays, everybody's a critic or the competition," G-Side's ST 2 Lettaz somberly observes on "Y U Mad." He's addressing the Internet blog business model that's helped G-Side find an audience, while acknowledging just how unstable that model seems to be, even as he preaches its grassroots validity over sitting around and waiting for a clueless major to come along. ST isn't hung up on fame because he's not all that famous, but he's also painfully aware of the on-to-the-next-one, blog-rap echo chamber, and less than excited about his other options: Return to a day job or slip into a life of crime.

"Inner Circle," the centerpiece of The One... Cohesive, is a declaration of their homegrown label Slow Motion Soundz's staying power, but it's followed up by "Jones," a song with a hook that confesses, "I got a jones in my bones for the streets," making the allure of just saying "fuck it" palpable. A few songs later on "No Radio," ST's partner Clova, who spends most of the album preaching world-weary empathy, tells listeners, "I got an AK for a stormy day," as ST races through a laundry list of stressors that culminate in a decision to jack some average joe at an ATM: "Put the heat up on him / Told him that I will / But I don't really wanna / Play with your life tonight / Because it could all get bad, for a little $200." The One...Cohesive's dramatic tension comes from the self-destructive weighing of such street options, and the terrible ways those options can sneak up on you, and still look appealing even as this rap shit starts to pop off.

Far from G-Side's slow-but-sure success model is Tabi Bonney, who tells listeners "I thought I'd be a millionaire, like, five years ago," on "Happy Home." There's a great deal of privilege in that statement, but Bonney, a rapper with a masters degree in biology and the son of a musician, has carved out a post-hipster rap niche by modestly mining relative comfort in his rhymes. On Postcard From Abroad, his first truly excellent mixtape, Bonney teams up with producer Smiles Davis, who makes the odd but effective decision to sample MOR indie (the Knife, Phoenix, Lykke Li, Cults) and Girl Talks those songs into glossy, decidedly not-grimy, open-spaced beats.

The sound of Bonney's music is smoothed-out and up, up, up. He's disinterested in anything remotely ominous-sounding and raps about being almost-famous (the aptly-titled "Spooning With Success"), while remaining goofily grounded too: On "Sunset Blvd" he excitedly boasts, "We might just bump into El DeBarge!" And he's just as quick to touch on something less navel-gazing, like the plight of Sudanese refugees on "Sudan Groove," or do his own take on a bugged-out, Ghostface-style crack-slinging tale ("Flamingo Souffle"). Bonney's comfortable with his privilege and it gives him the unique ability to occupy different milieus. Bonney claims he doesn't "need" to be a famous rapper (also from "Happy Home": "I could still be a doctor if I really want"). But precisely because Bonney defies the image of the determined rapper willing to lose it all, he comes off as genuinely, singularly hungry.

Stalley's Lincoln Way Nights is subtitled "intelligent trunk music," which would sound pretty self-satisfied if it didn't happen to be the perfect description of Stalley's wordy, working-class rhymes and producer Rashad's glowing, low end-obsessed beats. Rashad's production resembles Bonney's D.I.Y sheen (the John Mayer sample on "Assassin," the instrumental backdrop of "Slapp," which could be an Ariel Pink instrumental), but it's hazier and busier, communicating bittersweet near-success, which is appropriate for a guy from a small town in Ohio, best known for his tangential connection to stoner-rap everydude Curren$y, who seems content to rap and rep his area code.

A sizable beard and car obsession might suggest an underground-ish Rick Ross, but Stalley's more like a painfully sincere Freeway. One part id, another part wizened wisdom-dropper, he often frames his come-up as a mix of focus and luck, while bolstering "whole city on my back" boasts with earthy aphorisms. From Lincoln Way Nights' opening track, "See The Milq In My Chevy": "A hustler told me you only hustle when you need to / And make sure you feed the streets, please don't let them feed you."

Even when Stalley adopts a smarmier tone and overtly critiques his surroundings, as he does on "The Night," it moves beyond whiny solipsism, thanks to stakes-raising imagery that compares the disintegrating street code to an end-of-days scenario: "That's when the day fell and the night came / The angels grew horns and we was running through the streets like some Vikings." The "we" in that line is crucial. Stalley's implicated in his hood apocalypse, but he's going to escape, one trunk-rattling, introspective song at a time. - Spin Magazine

Stalley is the self-professed 'Bruce Springsteen Of Rap', the bearded New York artist creating deep beats about the streets.



Honing his clean, effortless, classic style down to a fine art, Stalley's aesthetic mirrors his sound. Describing his "classy, sophisticated, and militant" manner as his purpose, the Massillon-born musician's deep-seeded love of music and personal aspirations to be a great American writer drove his ambition and ascent to the now acclaimed title under which he is celebrated. Stalley, aka Kyle Myricks, is shortening of the MC's street-name 'Stallion', an extension of his reputation branding him an individual of grit and determination; qualities which are prominent within the lyrics forming the backbone on his tracks. Feeling like a stream of consciousness played out retrospectively, Stalley’s spitting offers an insight into the moral mind of his everyday movements. Generating an exciting buzz at this year’s 2010 SXSW festival, the 25-year-old Williamsburg-based musician was also the official partner of the Nike Destroy To Create launch party, which took place earlier this month. Originally selecting Stalley to represent the sports brand because of his bold persona, Nike branded him an “influencer”, creating a symbiotic relationship that creatively unites both brand and man. i-D Online caught up with Stalley to find out what makes him tick.

What is your background within music? My grandmother, who was Sicilian, listened to Country music all the time. I stayed with her as a child, and WTIG, our radio station in Massillon, was always on. I listened to Garth Brooks and Reba, both great storytellers. That is how I fell in love with music.

What inspires you to write new material? Anything can, really. A good book - I've been reading Hunter S. Thompson. Things that happen in every day life. My 85 Chevy Monte Carlo SS. I'm a writer and find stories around every corner.

What are your tracks most typically about? Well, my new track Hercules is about being the best rapper in the world. But, generally my music is about Midwestern blue-collar hard work. Being classy, sophisticated and militant; being a regular every day man with purpose.

Tell us more about the beard? I started growing my beard at the same time as I began my rap career, three years ago. I wanted something physical I could see progress as I progressed as an artist.

How does your religion play a part in your music/sound? Religion plays a role by providing a solid ethical and moral grounding.

What do you see yourself in 5 years time? On an Ohio farm, making classic music. I also plan on expanding on my charity work - I've been working with Writopia, a literacy workshop for kids in New York that aspire to be authors and poets.

Where can we catch you playing next? After Columbus, finishing up a quick swing through North Carolina, then I'm headed to China at the end of week. Never imagined I'd ever perform in Beijing.


- i-d Magazine

After a bunch of near misses, The Wrap Up finally caught up with Stalley following a storming set at the recent Nike event in Shoreditch...

Stalley resonates with a warmth, humility and friendliness in person, that is very rare with someone who’s in the music game nowadays, let alone one tipped for great things. Stalley is part of a rap super-group which includes Mos Def and Jay Electronica and is close personal friends, and indeed business partners with Dame Dash. All of this and yet he’s only been in the industry for a few years and not officially signed to anyone, yet. His rapid rise through the ranks is obviously not getting to his head, as he comes across so humble...
The Wrap Up: You’re originally from Ohio, right? How did you find the move to New York?

Stalley: Initially, I moved to New York to go to school and play basketball, but then I broke my foot and then I turned to music. I’ve been doing music for 3 years now.

TWU: If you could take a magic pill tomorrow to fix your foot and go back to balling or remain a rapper, which would you choose?

Stalley: Hmmm! I would choose music. Music is something I feel like I’m here for, God has giving me this gift and honestly, I wish that I had kinda gotten into it a little bit earlier. Nothing I’ve done in the past, as far as basketball, I don’t regret none of it man, I’ve had a blast. I learnt so much playing basketball, a lot of hard work and getting along with people, all of that came from sports. It gave me an understanding of unity, a type of responsibility. It’s a dope thing!

TWU: Hip-hop being born and incubated in the States, how do you feel knowing that hip-hop has done so well internationally?

Stalley: It definitely surprises me how well it’s done, it’s global. In any corner of the world you can find hip-hop, you know? It’s amazing and I’m very excited about it. It keeps growing and it keeps meshing and blending with other genres. It’s a genre of music that people didn’t think would last, and yet its been around for 20 plus years, its just amazing to see the growth and seeing people still getting excited by it. It’s a great thing to see how different people relate to it in different corners of the world.

TWU: How important is breaking Europe/the UK to you?

Stalley: It’s very important. I wanna break the world, I think I make worldwide music and I am a global artist. I make music relatable across the world and it’s important to touch everyone.

TWU: Any plans to tour here?

Stalley: Absolutely! From my experience, I’ve had a better reception from the people here. The fans that I do have here; have really taken to the music and feel it emotionally. You know they really get into it and I think that’s due to the things that I speak about; they can relate to. Because a lot of stuff is going on over here, as far as politics and the government/being corrupt or just struggling in the hood and feeling like you cant get over some types of leaps and bounds or whatever, when I speak in my music about those things, I feel they relate to it better. So I definitely want to spend more time over here in the UK.

TWU: Where do you stand on the hip-hop violence question? Does music insight violence?

Stalley: Any music can bring emotions, because I’ve listened to music and got energized or excited, or I was put in a thoughtful mood or whatever, but as far as going out and stabbing and shooting, no music can persuade you to do that, especially hip-hop.

TWU: I would say that hip-hop is the most violence-prone music; there aren’t many music genres that celebrate violence like it, I don’t think...

Stalley: We were just at the Nike event and the punk rock was kinda crazy. People throwing each other around and jumping on each other, people could die in that. Heavy metal is the same; people get a little crazy mosh pitting and stuff like that. I guess hip-hop can influence the weak-minded, but it shouldn’t influence the weak-minded and I don’t think that it does. I’ve never come across someone who said, ‘Yo! I smacked somebody because I listened to 50 Cent.’

TWU: Would you say there’s a political strain running through your music?

Stalley: There is, but there isn’t. I speak on what I know. I speak on the world, I speak on my neighbourhood and where I grew up and if that’s in the music, then that’s just what’s in the music. I am very aware and conscious of what’s going on; the day-to-day world and my day-to-day life. I can do that, I might make a song like ‘Save The World’ and then I might make a song like ‘F**k The World’; that’s just life.



TWU: For those who don't know, please explain your relationship with Dame Dash...

Stalley: Dame Dash is a good friend and a business partner. He saw one of my videos through www.creativecontrol.tv/www/ and took a liking to what I was doing. He liked my style and everything. We have the same outlook on music.

TWU: Is he as difficult a person to work with as he’s portrayed to be?

Stalley: Nah, he’s a great person. He’s a real good person; he’s just about his business. He just wants to be the best at what he does, just like me. I want to be the best at what I do. Sometimes that passion can come across as arrogance, or as snobbery or whatever (laughs), but it’s just the drive and passion to be great.

TWU: Who in hip-hop are you digging right now? We're getting Wiz Khalifa, Yelawolf and Mac Miller over here a lot right now, through the blogs and the underground etc...

Stalley: Myself. I‘m not a fan of a lot of dudes that are making music right now.

TWU: Haha! Okay. The UK fans haven’t really got a chance to get to know you yet, so what would you recommend they listen to, to get a taste of what you’re about?

Stalley: The best project right now is ‘Mad Stalley: The Autobiography’. You can check that out at www.stalley330.bandcamp.com and I have a bunch of videos that fans can also see on online. Keep an eye out in the next few weeks for the ITM (Intelligent Trunk Music) project, but for Now, Mad Stalley.

TWU: Your recent joint, ‘Mad Stalley: The Autobiography’, has got a really musical vibe to it, with real instruments and such. How important is that to you?

Stalley: What influenced that whole sound was just me being a fan of Blue Note recordings, jazz music and Madlib. I just felt that particular sound fitted the soundtrack of my life at that particular time.

TWU: What’s musically next in the pipeline?

Stalley: Every project I put out will probably have a different sound, because that’s just the particular mood I’m in. The new project, 'Lincoln Way Nights' (Intelligent Trunk Music), the sound is real bassy and has got a lot of bottom. A lot of 808’s, ‘cos where I’m from in America, they ride the old school cars with the big systems in the trunk, that’s the trunk part. And the intelligent part is just me continuing to be myself, have dope lyrics, have deep concepts, but just to have a bigger sound with it. It is coming out in the next couple of months. I created my own sound with a producer from Ohio, like myself, we sat down and we really worked on it and I’m just really excited for the world to hear it, because honestly, there’s nothing sounding like it.

TWU: Jay Electronica, one of your bandmates, just got signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation. What’s your label situation like at the moment?

Stalley: Yeah, that’s a dope thing. Right now I’m an independent artist, I wouldn’t mind getting signed to a label; it just has to be the right situation. I mean, it doesn’t have to me a major label, but as long as they can help me be the best artist I can be and help me properly brand and promote myself, because I’ve been doing everything myself, so if they can jump aboard and help me take off further than I have helped myself, or just help increase awareness, the brand and marketing, then I’m with that. But again, it just has to be the right situation.

TWU: It sounds like you’re determined to keep a tight grasp creatively…

Stalley: I don’t wanna be packaged with any artist, you know? I’m my own artist, I have my own brand and I work hard to be who I am and I do what I want to do. That’s why I can say I’m not a fan of people, or I can say I am a fan of people, because I do it myself and I can live up to what I speak (laughs).

TWU: Who are your three favorite non-hip-hop artists?

Stalley: Kings of Leon, Little Dragon and The Smiths.

TWU: Do you have any other creative outlets apart from music?

Stalley: As a rapper, I’d also like to be known as a great writer. So I write and read lot.

TWU: Anything you want the future fans to know about you?

Stalley: Keep an eye out for Intelligent Trunk Music in the next few weeks. I think the UK will really be able to relate to it as a project.

Stay up to date with Stalley on Twitter - www.twitter.com/Stalley - MTV UK

"Either you slang crack rock or you’ve got a wicked jump shot," said the late, eternally great Notorious B.I.G. Many Hip Hop Generation youngsters have maintained hoop dreams, and "seen them deflate, like a true fiend's weight." So then what? Stalley traded the trunks for Funk. Born and raised in Massillon, a small town in the blue-collar state of Ohio, a young Stalley had a very promising basketball career on deck, but after an injury he decided to push even harder towards the limelight on a Hip Hop path.

Two years later, Stalley now is holding down Brooklyn and recently released the project Mad Stalley: The Autobiography to blog acclaim. As one Damon Dash's renaissance artists, Stalley was recently invited to join supergroup Center Edge Territory along with Mos Def, Jay Electronica & Curren$y. Working with Camp Lo and Jay-Z hitmaker Ski Beatz, Ohio looks on proudly as Stalley is shooting in the bonus, having scored points for a mere two years.



Training For Hoops Vs. Training For Hip Hop: "The training extends on a musical level because you always have to be aware of what’s going around you. You have to be in tune with the news, reading different publications and novels in your everyday life. That’s very important when you have to try and stay sharp and come up for a message in your music. Just like you have to practice lay ups or foul shots, in music when you’re dealing with words you have to continuously read them, listen and study them to try and soak in as much as possible."

Moving From Ohio To New York: "I moved to New York to play basketball. I had went away to college and was playing until I injured myself. Once I injured myself I just decided to stay in New York instead of going back home to Ohio and really pursue the music. I’ve been doing the music for about two years now."

Working With Dame Dash: "It’s cool to be around someone that you might have grown up looking at on TV then you get around them and think you know how they’re going to be only to find that they’re nothing like what you expected. A lot of people think that he’s always running around yelling at people or a jerk, but he’s not. Dame [Dash] is a very intelligent dude. There’s been a lot of qualities about him that I didn’t think that he would have, but he does. He gives a lot of good advice and it’s all fun working with someone like that from where I’m standing."

The Center Edge Territory Super-Group: "I’m a solo artist first and foremost, but the way that Center Edge Territory was through Mos Def. I had met Mos previously because the first six song EP I had made. I was in a store one day playing it and he just happened to walk in and that was how we first got down. He was just like it would be cool if we could just start up a group where we could make good music to hit people with as a collective and every once and a while drop a single, album or project. He felt like Me, Jay Electronica, and Curren$y were all sort of similar musically, but that we all came from different backgrounds, stories, and experiences, and we all flow differently. So he [suggested] we all could form a little group for the listeners and fans. That’s how the group kind of came about. It’s funny because before I was actually in the group him, Jay and Curren$y had already did a few songs then Mos reached out to me like, “Yo, you need to be in this group” but I thought he was playing. But once I found out he was serious I [agreed]. So I just threw my verse on those songs and that’s how it all came about."

The Webisodes: "I’m doing it with Creative Control. I have a show that’s actually being worked on right now called The Milq. That’s a play off of the little city where I’m from in Ohio. The show is basically a short documentary of everything going on in my life. Every time something happens than more will be added to the show so it’s pretty cool. Like if I do shows, or I’m in the studio you will be able to see that. Recently, I went back home and we were able to get a lot of footage of me being around my family and friends. We had went to the [Cleveland Cavaliers] game and was hanging out with LeBron [James] and everybody over there. The show will basically showcase the man behind the music. Eventually we might have enough footage for a two-hour movie.

The Female's Response To The Beard: "It’s funny, 'cause I actually grew the beard so women wouldn’t love it, but the opposite happened. It’s funny that you ask that because I started growing my beard like two years ago with the music. I was like, 'Okay, I’m going to really let go and focus on the music.' I was hoping that the beard would keep the women away 'cause sometimes they can be a distraction when you’re trying to concentrate and work towards something and I had decided that I wanted to take the whole Rap thing serious. It’s so funny because now women like me more than ever."



The Next Movement: "Look out for [Ski Beatz'] 24 Hour Karate School mixtape.” I have like four songs on there. I’m also working on my own solo album wit Ski Beatz. We’re already half way along with that and it’s already sounding really classic and amazing. And people should stay on the look out for all of the new video I have coming out on The Milq. Check me out at MySpace.com/madstalley and Stalley330.Bandcamp.com. - www.hiphopdx.com

Last night (June 21) Curren$y and friends literally left the Brooklyn Bowl smokin’, after a series of explosive performances at Dame Dash’s BluRoc Festival. Lead by the 2009 XXL Freshman, a team of affiliates from Stalley to Big K.R.I.T. to Ski Beatz all took the stage in front of a packed house.

The multi-talented producer—know for his early work with Jay-Z—warmed the restless crowd with live drum patterns and allowed the sounds of the BlacRoc band, The Senseis, to stimulate the audience’s attention. Fans lit their first joint as the show finally took off when West African native, Tabi Bonney hit the stage with, “Jetsetting”.
During a 10-minute intermission spectators began to get anxious, and more smoke filled the venue. Immediately, the house lights came on as if the fire alarm was pulled. Hundreds of fans and bowlers began to scan the lounge quickly, seconds later hearing the voice of the sound man saying,” There will be no smoking, of any kind, in the Brooklyn Bowl, it makes the smoke alarms go off and the show will be over.” The agitated crowd booed and was quickly surprised when Ski Beatz digressed to queing up his Camp Lo classic, “Luchini,” and bringing out Sonny Cheeba and Geechi Suede to recite their verses.

While smoking died down a bit, Mississippi based, Big K.R.I.T., Harlem MC Smoke Dza, and Ohio’s own, Stalley rocked the crowd, as every head under the roof nodded rapidly to Stalley’s, “S.t.a.l.l.e.y.” Dza’s, “Sour Hour” and K.R.I.T’s, “Hometown Hero”.
“We can’t be too cool in this muhfucka man,” whispered Curren$y as he danced out on stage receiving a rolled joint from a fan in the crowd. “I can’t smoke this in here,” he went on to say. Spitta went on to rip through songs like “Pilot Talk”, “Breakfast”, and “Life Under the Scope”.

As the eclectic show came to a end, once again the room filled with smoke when Dame Dash strolled onstage with lit joint in hand, thanking everyone for coming out and having a good time. —Vaughn Roland - www.xxlmag.com

The most remarkable fact about Stalley might not be his affiliation with hip-hop mogul Damon Dash, his partnership with legendary producer Ski Beatz or his membership in rap supergroup Center Edge Territory with Mos Def, Curren$y and Jay Electronica.
What’s most extraordinary is that he accomplished those feats as a native of Massillon, Ohio. Now based in Brooklyn, he’ll perform in Ohio for the first time Friday at Skully’s.
Stalley never dreamed of rap stardom growing up as Kyle Myricks in blue-collar Massillon, where high school sports are king.

“When I was there I was more focused on school and basketball,” Stalley said in a recent phone interview.

A hoops star, Stalley was set to play ball at Michigan when a foot injury derailed his career. He attempted to revive his basketball fortunes at Long Island University, but his passion for the game depleted in the wake of his injury.

Soon his focus shifted to rap. He had freestyled since childhood but never considered recording until he was encouraged by his New York friends. He was still on the fence about it until the day he played his first EP for some friends in a Soho record shop.
One of the owners of the shop happened to be Mos Def, who randomly dropped by that day. He showered Stalley with praise.

“That was the kick in the butt,” Stalley said, comparing Mos Def’s endorsement to the attention he received from college basketball scouts.

“That’s when you’re like, OK, maybe I need to go shoot 500 jumpers every day. Maybe I need to go run four miles a day. Maybe I need to go to the weight room.”

The hip-hop equivalent of that regimen was simple: “I instantly went home and just started rapping.”

He built up a huge stockpile of tracks, leading to the 2008 mixtape “Goin’ Ape,” a collaboration with Cleveland ex-pat Terry Urban.

The following year he released “MadStalley: The Autobiography” over re-worked jazz-hop beats by Madlib. Stalley always aims to avoid rap’s “money, guns and hoes” cliches, but the content of “The Autobiography” was particularly meaningful for him.
“That was more of a strategic mixtape. I picked the production specifically to fit what I was trying to do. Since I had more eyes and ears on me, I was trying to relay that story and show that transition from a small town of Massillon to New York,” Stalley said.
“Anybody can rap. Anybody can put words together. But my thing was to help people know who I was.”

That’s becoming less of a problem every day as Stalley accumulates famous friends and turns the heads of hip-hop listeners worldwide. He’s got more mixtapes in the works and a slew of labels lining up for the right to release his debut LP.
“For the next year,” he said, “I’m going to be taking over the world.” - Columbus Alive

There is a new breed of emcee coming out of America. For those of us who came up listening to Black Moon, Black Sheep and Black Star, Mad Stalley represents the return of dope lyricism with a fresh twist. Not instantly comparable to other artists, he has the intelligence and flow of a Jay Electronica or a J-Live and a Freeway style beard.

I caught up with the man to discuss his life, career and hip-hop generally and found him to be a very well spoken and intelligent individual with a great outlook on the global scene...

Who is Stalley?

Stalley: Greetings, I am Stalley. I come from Massillon, Ohio which is a small city in Ohio outside of Cleveland, 45 minutes to an hour outside of Cleveland. Its a pretty blue collar, hardworking, steel factory town built on high school sports, high school football is really big, and that's just me, that's what really reflects in my music too. I'm really a hardworking, everyday type of guy, who just comes from an everyday type of city. Like pretty much the heart of it all that keeps the whole country moving you know.

Any other emcees in Massillon?

Stalley: There's no other rappers in Massillon.... unfortunately. We trying to get some of these guys out I mean, hopefully I'll be able to inspire and encourage some other younger guys that's tryna rap or some of the guys my age that are trying to rap that really do it. It's hard to really feel like you can do anything where I'm from also. That's just the way they train you, they make you feel like either you're playing basketball or sports, football, or you go to work in the factories. So there's no a lot of hope for us. Out of Ohio you have Kid Cudi, Bone Thugs, Ray Cash...

How did you make your links being in a separate city from the scene?

Stalley: You know, I basically moved out. I used to play basketball. I injured myself and then I transferred schools which was to here in Brooklyn, New York. I injured myself again and after that I stopped focusing on basketball and school as much and started going into music. Music has always been a passion and love of mine. I never really wrote songs or structured music until two years ago when I put out Goin Ape which was the first mixtape I did with Terry Urban and Mick Boogie and since then I've just really been doing music. The links that I got was just me being here hustling and interacting with different folks and just trying to get my name and my music out there. I've been blessed with catching the attention of big people like Ski Beatz, Dame Dash, Mos Def. Those are some of the names of the bigger artists that have taken a liking to me and my music.

Mad Stalley - Photo © Ernest Estime

Why do you think they can relate to you as an emcee?

Stalley: I think it's because its something fresh, something new. A lot of people tell me I don't really sound like anyone. I pride myself on not really sounding like anyone and not really creating any type of music that people have heard before. I think they just appreciate the realness in the music. I really focus on just being me and representing where I come from, things that I've seen and been through and most people can relate to that. They always say the cliches - real recognise real, but it's true, when you're just being you and not have any type of facade...

You put a bit more depth into it, some education.

Stalley: Definitely. I pride myself on education and listening. When I was growing up, I was that kid who was 10, 12 years old hanging around 24 year olds. And I wouldn't really talk much, I'd just listen and soak up game and learn from their experiences.

What era was it when you were getting into hip-hop?

Stalley: It was probably the mid 90s, around 94-95 when Illmatic came out, Ready to Die, Stakes is High by De La Soul. I remember listening to the Equinox by Organized Konfusion, stuff like that. That's when I really dove into it. 2Pac, Me Against the World came out around that same time.

What were you doing with The Roots?

Stalley: That was one of the best experiences I had, I actually got invited to one of their jam sessions at the Highline ballroom in New York. They had a residency where either once or twice a month they were holding these jam sessions at the Highline and they would actually invite different artists to come up. One of the shows I got invited up and I got to do a couple songs. That's how that happened so...

You got some tracks coming with them?

Stalley: Not now, but hopefully in the future. Basically it was that one jam session. You know, I do know them vaguely, not as well as I would like to, but yeah, hopefully some time in the near future I will.

Mad Stalley - Photo © Evan Brockett

What projects have you got coming that we can look forward to?

Stalley: Right now I'm working on the EP and it should be coming late May, then I'm also working on a full length LP with Ski Beatz so hopefully you can get that sometime in the late summer. I'm dropping the EP for people who are fans and wanna hear something new, and I just wanna make new music period so...

That's coming on vinyl?

Stalley: Yeah.

Tell me something about your political views and how that relates to the music? For example Obama...

Stalley: My opinion on him isn't really that strong. I was definitely excited and happy being a black male and seeing our first black President, but it's still the same politics, still the same shit you know... government. Nothing has changed and some people thought the world was gonna take a whole different approach on the way we handle our affairs, but we just still handle them the same way. We're not worse than we were, we the same.

IBMCs is all about unity and non-violent global resolutions. Do you see your music as having that kind of effect?

Stalley: Yeah, I would definitely like to look at it that way because that's the type of music that I try to bring and that's the vibe and message I want to come across in my music. It's very important for me that I'm able to educate those who not only know where I'm from and who I am, but also like you said, on the world, the government, the day to day troubles, it's just a lot that's going on. Not only in America, not only in my city, but across the world. That's one important fact.

When I grew up listening to hip-hop, I was drawn to people who really educated me or I felt I could relate to as far as seeing the same things. I was such a fan of Illmatic and Nas because I felt like we grew up in the same projects but... we didn't.

Mad Stalley - Photo © Ernest Estime

Tell us your view on worldwide hip-hop?

Stalley: Worldwide hip-hop? My opinion on that is, it's beautiful. Honestly, because there are so many people that are getting into hip-hop - from Australia to Germany to London to France to Canada. It's just everywhere and I'm so happy to see it expand the way it has and for it to get the type of recognition that it has. It's beautiful that everyone can have a voice from so many different places and I feel that when we get to hear these artists from these different places, we're all the same. We all come from the same place, we have struggles, wants and needs and its beautiful to be able to hear it and relate.

We worldwide with it now. Even in America we think hip-hop is just in New York or LA or down South and I'm from middle America. I'm from a small city which only has about 30,000 people but there's a lot of talent there and people need to realise that.

It's a bit younger in Europe still so there's a hunger...

Stalley: Right and I can relate to that too because where I'm from, the Mid West isn't really looked at as being somewhere where hip-hop is coming from. So I feel like you have to be more hungry or you have to go harder for that respect so I can definitely relate to how it is overseas.

You got plans to come to Europe?

Stalley: I would love to and I think Europe would appreciate the music that I make a little bit more that it's appreciated here in the United States. One of my goals is to travel Europe and 'preach the gospel' so to speak. To be able to share my views and network and work with some artists over there too, because I think we have a lot in common. People wanna hear positive and good vibes and real music.

Mad Stalley - Photo © Ernest Estime

Is the process of sampling and production important for you?

Stalley: It's important. It's a lost art. A lot of people put things together, the production, the lyrics, they're just throwing stuff out to find that catchy tune that people can bounce around to. What I did with the Autobiography is I dig deep in the Bluenote vinyls and in a lot of jazz files and I really created my own sound as far as pacing and looping, adding and taking out different things, because the instrumentation is very important when you're trying to tell a story or relate a message. Artists back in the day, Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, the instrumentation and to know that they sat and played every instrument is just amazing to me.

And people don't take the time to do those things no more. There's just so much four bar looping and it just gets boring. People are just so lazy and being online makes it that way too because people feel like they have to give the blogs new material every month or every week or every day so we're taking away from the quality of music.

Should we try and (re)unite the elements?

Stalley: Definitely. That's a missing art too. That's the fun of it. People aren't having fun no more its either someone who's super serious or someone who's super... ignorant. There's no in between and when you had hard rappers like Big Daddy Kane and Rakim, they had people dancing, or they were dancing in the videos and just having fun. That was part of it, whether breaking, b-boying, graffiti, it was all a part of hip-hop and I think that's what we need to get back to. I see some people starting to involve art into the music and I think that's a cool thing too because it all imitates itself, whether you're a painter or an emcee or a vocalist, you play the trumpet or the bass you're an artist and you're creating and I think we need to get back to that. - www.britishhiphop.co.uk

One of the most promising rappers to emerge from the Midwest in recent years, talks to Shook about Dame Dash, jazz in Jamaica and wanting to tour the UK.
[stalley]

Stalley what’s good, what you been up to?
I’m good man I just came from a photoshoot, right now I’m just chilling.

I see you’ve been running round a lot lately with the ever-impressive Creative Control. Is there some kind of deal or is that just a friendship thing?
Nah that’s family. There is nothing as far as a deal. They just blessed with talent. We pretty much shoot everything together. That’s the home team, we just basically do what we can do to help each other. That’s basically the two guys from Creative Control and Dame Dash.

STALLEY AT HIGHLINE BALLROOM from Creative Control on Vimeo.

How is it to have someone of Damon Dash’s stature fighting your corner?
It’s great to have someone like Dame giving me advice in terms of the next step. I actually met Dame through Creative Control and like Dame bought into my talent, like he was fan of everything I was doing, so that was an honour. Obviously someone like Dame can bring me into places where I can be seen and heard, because of his name, like you know my videos have appeared on MTV. Having Dame around is great you know, it’s a good thing.

I see recently you and Curren$y, went to Jamaica but apparently it wasn’t for a holiday, you went for a jazz festival. You weren’t just out there smoking?
Nah (laughs), like we was working real hard out there. We shot five, no four videos and recorded like four and a half songs for the week we was out there. Like we was really putting in work. It was also nice to catch another vibe, like another change of scenery. In Jamaica there were palm trees and sand, meanwhile back home it was snowing.

How is DD172, Dame Dash’s Tribeca studio space? Because that place seems like something else.
It’s hard work every day, we always recording and shooting videos. DD172 is real family -oriented, it’s like work, boom, boom, boom.

You recently went back home to Ohio after a long time away. What was that like?
Ah man, it was beautiful. It was such a joy to be back home. Went to my old high school, saw all my old friends, haven’t really been able to go back as much as like. Hopefully one day, I will be fortunate get to a level, where I can go back whenever I please and go and get some of that real food again.

Apparently you left Ohio long ago for dreams other than music?
That’s correct, like I left in pursuit to become a basketball player. Unfortunately I injured myself, and had to take a detour route. Basketball is not like no.2 for me, rap and ball go hand in hand, I love them both the same.

If you make money like Jay, you can then maybe build another team for Ohio (other than the Cleveland Cavaliers)
Right, right (laughs) that is the only reason why I am doing this.

You and Curren$y seemed to have a built strong following. Have both of you spoken about maybe coming to the UK and performing?
Yeah, we trying to get sort something out you know. Like the UK is a great place in terms of the music they like, like for my music personally, the UK would really appreciate the lyricism of my stuff, and would relate to like the day-to-day struggle and day-to-day happiness. Yeah we would love to come to the UK.

XXL just released their list of 10 Freshmen for 2010. You were not on the list, did you feel anyway or you don’t really pay attention to that sort of stuff?
Nar man I don’t really feed into all of that. Like a lot of publications are always the last to know what is good. They are usually the ones to miss the boat. All I can worry about is myself. People also tell me the type of artist I am, I can’t worry, because Apple doesn’t worry about what Pepsi is doing, they have different consumers, so I’m not upset or anything.
[stalley-autob]

Your mixtape ‘MadStalley’ was impressive, but to me the mixtape was like really musical in terms of instrumentation. You also have a spoken word track, can you explain the title of that track and what made you do a spoken word song?
TinLizyFordToARollsRoyceBoy. Yeah basically, it’s about like coming from the bottom to the top, like from me being a country boy to now being a city slicker, it represents the growth. The reason why it was spoken word, it felt with the vibe of the mixtape – like you said the mixtape was musical – I personally did not use the mixtape as a chance to prove my skills or to exhibit them, it was more like a story so people could know more about me, like an introduction to myself. You see a lot of rappers do not make themselves vulnerable, like they have all of the women, whips and chains…

But the end of the day, they are still human beings.
Right exactly. After all is said and done, it’s easy to make punch lines but it’s hard to make a song people feel.

What time of music do you like listening to, in terms of rap?
I’m not really listening to anyone right now, like nothing is moving me now. Like I listen to a lot Mos Def, Common, Nas like those artists constantly stay in my rotation. I really love OutKast too, ATLiens is one of my favourite albums. But anyone out right now, not really, only Blu.

Yeah he’s nice.
I think Blu is dope yeah.

His ‘Below The Heavens’ album with Exile, was a lot of stuff.
I felt that shit had the same formula as me, personal, he was telling you about his life and stuff. Then on the Johnson and Johnson stuff, he went super lyrical to show everyone he can go hard. When I listen to Illmatic, I felt like I grew up in that project. The same with Southernplayalisticcadillacmuzik, I feel like I am hanging out the Cutlass with Andre and both are elbows are just poking out. Like I believe good music takes you on a journey, like I mention a place back home called ‘Lincoln Road’, whenever I spit that the homies back home get a little hype.

At the moment you don’t have a label situation do you?
No at the moment there is no label situation. There are some labels talking to me at the moment though. For now, I am not really interested in signing anything. Just enjoying music, and working on my next project, an EP. I am also working on a separate project with Ski Beatz, halfway into that and that is sounding real classic.

Speaking of Ski Beatz, the 24hr Karate School when is that dropping?
Stalley March 30th

24 HOUR KARATE SCHOOL TEASER from Creative Control on Vimeo.

Are you sure?
Oh definitely. You can get it from iTunes, some other different places. On that I am straight killing everybody on like it’s nothing.

Lastly do you have a Twitter account yet? I heard you speaking before, how you don’t feel it’s for you at this moment in time. Care to speak on that?
Yeah basically I am not really a fan of the whole social networking thing. The reason why is because it gives everyone a voice that shouldn’t necessarily have a voice. But the thing is people talk about me all day on Twitter, like asking, ‘Where is Stalley?’ and ‘Who is Stalley?’ Like I prefer people talking about me, rather than me talking about me. When they make me a trending topic, I might think about joining Twitter. - www.shookmag.com

Who’s Stalley you ask? The Ohio MC is hip-hop’s breath of fresh air. Sure some folks hated on the mixtape’s name, but MadStalley is simply a Madlib-inspired, lyrically infused head-nodder. Stalley’s passionate delivery and the tape’s sonic fluidly alone, are worth the price of admission.
Standout Songs: “Worldwide” “Stay” “Masterpiece” - www.xxlmag.com

Everybody loves an underdog and nobody was more counted out than Damon Dash when the Roc crumbled back in 2004. First, there was the short-lived, Universal-distributed Dame Dash Music Group, then, he kept it pushing in the fashion world for a bit with his ex-wife Rachel Roy (are they divorced yet? I’m actually not sure).

Sure, we’ve seen Dame with Jim Jones, helping to promote Capo’s Pray IV Reign; still, most folks didn’t expect the cocky executive to be back on top. But now, with a host of projects—including his new Blak Roc, Creative Control, 24 Hour Karate School, DD172 production compound—one has to wonder: is Dame on to something?

With old business models crumbling and most moguls already trying to look for the next Drake, Dash takes a different approach. Building a facility that creatively houses artists like Mos Def, Ski Beats, Jim Jones, The Black Keys, Curren$y, Jay Electronica and Stalley (don’t sleep on Stalley) doesn’t exactly sound like Jimmy Iovine’s, Lyor Cohen’s or L.A. Reid’s recipe for success; but it feels right doesn’t it?

Part of the reason hip-hop is suffering is that the shit has been feeling too manufactured for a minute. The same artists, rockin’ with the same producers, churning out same-sounding singles, recycling the same concepts; I mean, the shit has gotten real predictable. It seems to me that in order to make this thing exciting again that we have to take hip-hop back to its grassroots. Who knew bottle-poppin’, dice rollin’, Dame would be the one?

Most expected the former Roc-A-Fella Co-CEO to try to make another Hov, but truthfully that would’ve been a long road to nowhere. Instead, why not take dope artists that have been kind of ignored (for one reason or another) by the major machine and create something new and anti?

We already know that Mos marches to the beat of his own drum and Curren$y has been signed to big name labels No Limit and Cash Money, with neither working for him. Plus, Jay Electronica may be the most elusive artist EVER. But damn if they aren’t talented (I really hope this Center Edge Territory group project with the three of ’em comes out).

Back in September, when NYC was celebrating Fashion Week, I bumped into Dame in Macy’s and he was going on about this Blak Roc project, it sounding interesting as hell (XXLMag.com eventually broke the story—shouts to J. Gissen), but I had no idea everything would snowball into this.

The fact of the matter is that it’s still too early to crown Dame’s latest endeavors successful. Still, there is strength in a union of like minds. I mean, the old business model and major label record system is broken down already, and it seems in order to win and sustain and uphold artistry, folks have to try something totally different. I can’t say that I know exactly what Dame has up his sleeve next (seems like some of this is just being made up as he goes along), but in 2010 I won’t bet against him. What do y’all think? - www.xxlmag.com