I admit it, I slept on Sha Stimuli pretty hard. Every now and then, dude's name would show up on some obscure mixtape crowded with Wu affiliates and Cormega knockoffs, but I never paid any attention. I should've. In fact, I'm beginning to imagine how satisfying the last couple years of my life would've been if I wasn't totally blacked out on Wu-Tang fringe material. Why? Because from January 08 to January 09, Sha Stimuli dropped 12 mixtapes. That's right-- 12 months, 12 full-length tapes. Don't believe me? And these aren't your typical filler-riddled joints either-- many of them are concept albums, including the stand-out Hotter Than July, a Stevie Wonder-inspired tape that exclusively samples the R+B legend.
Ok ok. Who the fuck has time to listen to 12 mixtapes by a relatively unknown Brooklyn MC? And what would that even prove? That your boy is prolific? That don't mean shit. Agreed. But scope any of Sha's freestyles or verses, and you'll hear creative rhyme schemes, a personalized flow, a knack for punch-lines, and an honest passion for hip hop that DOES mean shit.
Sha has all the makings of a technially great rapper, but what really makes him stand out from other MCs is his intellect, sincerity, and self-awareness. It's this self-awareness which makes him so unique among peers. Very rarely do underground rappers acknowledge a desire for commercial success, and it is equally rare for mainstream artists to speak of themselves as anything but the GOAT. Yet Stimuli positions himself in that grey area between the two, boasting a huge ego while simultaneously acknowledging his struggle to be successful within a context of "underground authenticity." In other words, peep the first verse on "Win the Fight," off Hotter Than July:
Oh you thought that I was playin?/ I do albums in my sleep so while you dream of gettin paper I cause nightmares like you seein' Satan
I showed up at Summer Jam feelin like Son of Sam/ Lookin at the stage in a rage/This is stupid yo/ I'm standin here mad at myself so I hit the studio/ And wrote this/
No hit record, no underground...
I'm up to somethin/ To intertwine fluff and substance/ The hip-hoppers gone feel it and the thugs will love it
As much as this hurts me inside I have come to grips with the fact that I do not look scary at all to strangers. I can have my earphones in bopping to my music with the meanest of faces on a dark New York street and some elderly Caucasian lady will tap me on the shoulder and ask me for directions without hesitation. I want to say “Don’t I look frightening? Why aren’t you concerned that I’ll rob you Miss?”
The MC's reflections always seem to invert traditional ways of thinking about what is good (from a liberal perspective) for hip hop music and artists. Yet all this looking in the mirror seems to be good for Sha. As long as he knows where he is within the game, then he can keep banging out fresh material that challenges an audience stuck crabbily arguing about Underground vs. Mainstream. Which is why I'm so excited by this:
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