Dead Prez' Stic.Man Helps MCs Find Their Flow
By: Alyssa Rashbaum
September 15, 2005
Some rappers are born with a mic in their hand. Great for them, but for the rest of us, honing MC skills takes a bit more work. Enter Dead Prez's Stic.Man who has helpfully penned a how-to guide on the art of emcee-ing.
The aptly-named how-to guide, The Art of Emcee-ing, which will be available on October 1, addresses issues like treating writer's block, effective lyric writing, recording techniques, herbal voice remedies, live performance tips, and comes with a ten-track CD of beats.
"I want to reach as many people as possible and share our nineteen plus years of insight on the creative, song-making process, as well as offer the business experience we have so far as Dead Prez," Stic.Man told VIBE.com. "Not to tell artists to be like us, but to share techniques that are used by many powerful artists in the game, from 'gangsta' to 'conscious' and everywhere in between."
Putting together a book of advice is nothing new to Stic.Man who has also released a book called Warrior Names from Afrika, a collection of Afrikan names the rapper collected during his search for his own son's name during a tour in Africa.
This time around, Stic.Man shifted his focus from aiding expecting parents to inspiring rap hopefuls because he wanted to help serious MCs find success by teaching them about the structure of a song and techniques on how to get your music heard by the right people.
"I have noticed in my own development as well as many, many other rappers in all genres," he said, "that they might be cool at writing and performing raps, but may have no real understanding of making 'songs.' And there is a big difference. The book breaks this down as well as the techniques of building the right flows for the right beats... No one can tell you 'how' you should emcee, you gotta be you. But The Art of Emcce-ing puts you up on the sciences of emcee-ing and songwriting so you can sharpen what you already have and make a long-term living at doing your music."
For Stic.Man, the best piece of advice he was ever given came from Noble of The Outlawz.
"He gave me a jewel he got from [Tupac]," Stic.Man recalled. "He said artists get intimidated when they get in the studio with other great artists they admire a lot. They start being insecure with they own talents. But Noble said Pac told him 'u ain't competing with the other artists on that track. You competing against that track. It don't matter who it is, Biggie, Jay-Z, Nas, even Pac, who ever. When you get in front of that mic, it's you and that track. It's like Tiger Woods don't play against the other golf players when he on the green, he play against that course!'"
Great advice, if your flow is good enough to get you into the studio with other successful artists, but can even an aspiring rapper with little to no talent benefit from Stic.Man's comprehensive how-to tome?
"For sure," he said, "because flow is rhythm. It's like learning a dance. Once you learn the steps and you want it bad enough, you work hard and you get better and better. The key is having the right techniques to practice.... Everybody ain't Alvin Ailey but everybody can learn to move to their own groove in the best way they can. Hip hop is a natural and universal language. Like they said in the movie Hustle & Flow - everybody deserves a verse!"
To prove he's serious about giving new MCs a chance to shine, Stic.Man will also be holding a contest in which the grand prize winner will get to record a song with Dead Prez. Entrants should pick one track from the CD of Stic.Man-produced beats included with the book, and record an original song on the topic of reparations. Interested entrants should pick up The Art of Emceei-ing when it becomes available on October 1 at www.bossupbu.com, and check that same site for contest details.
Stic.Man will also be donating copies of his book to the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Performing Arts, where he will also be volunteering "because those little homies is so talented."
Keep an eye on Dead Prez in 2006 - they'll be releasing a collaboration album with The Outlawz.
Source: www.Vibe.com | www.2Pacmania.de
By: Alyssa Rashbaum
September 15, 2005
Some rappers are born with a mic in their hand. Great for them, but for the rest of us, honing MC skills takes a bit more work. Enter Dead Prez's Stic.Man who has helpfully penned a how-to guide on the art of emcee-ing.
The aptly-named how-to guide, The Art of Emcee-ing, which will be available on October 1, addresses issues like treating writer's block, effective lyric writing, recording techniques, herbal voice remedies, live performance tips, and comes with a ten-track CD of beats.
"I want to reach as many people as possible and share our nineteen plus years of insight on the creative, song-making process, as well as offer the business experience we have so far as Dead Prez," Stic.Man told VIBE.com. "Not to tell artists to be like us, but to share techniques that are used by many powerful artists in the game, from 'gangsta' to 'conscious' and everywhere in between."
Putting together a book of advice is nothing new to Stic.Man who has also released a book called Warrior Names from Afrika, a collection of Afrikan names the rapper collected during his search for his own son's name during a tour in Africa.
This time around, Stic.Man shifted his focus from aiding expecting parents to inspiring rap hopefuls because he wanted to help serious MCs find success by teaching them about the structure of a song and techniques on how to get your music heard by the right people.
"I have noticed in my own development as well as many, many other rappers in all genres," he said, "that they might be cool at writing and performing raps, but may have no real understanding of making 'songs.' And there is a big difference. The book breaks this down as well as the techniques of building the right flows for the right beats... No one can tell you 'how' you should emcee, you gotta be you. But The Art of Emcce-ing puts you up on the sciences of emcee-ing and songwriting so you can sharpen what you already have and make a long-term living at doing your music."
For Stic.Man, the best piece of advice he was ever given came from Noble of The Outlawz.
"He gave me a jewel he got from [Tupac]," Stic.Man recalled. "He said artists get intimidated when they get in the studio with other great artists they admire a lot. They start being insecure with they own talents. But Noble said Pac told him 'u ain't competing with the other artists on that track. You competing against that track. It don't matter who it is, Biggie, Jay-Z, Nas, even Pac, who ever. When you get in front of that mic, it's you and that track. It's like Tiger Woods don't play against the other golf players when he on the green, he play against that course!'"
Great advice, if your flow is good enough to get you into the studio with other successful artists, but can even an aspiring rapper with little to no talent benefit from Stic.Man's comprehensive how-to tome?
"For sure," he said, "because flow is rhythm. It's like learning a dance. Once you learn the steps and you want it bad enough, you work hard and you get better and better. The key is having the right techniques to practice.... Everybody ain't Alvin Ailey but everybody can learn to move to their own groove in the best way they can. Hip hop is a natural and universal language. Like they said in the movie Hustle & Flow - everybody deserves a verse!"
To prove he's serious about giving new MCs a chance to shine, Stic.Man will also be holding a contest in which the grand prize winner will get to record a song with Dead Prez. Entrants should pick one track from the CD of Stic.Man-produced beats included with the book, and record an original song on the topic of reparations. Interested entrants should pick up The Art of Emceei-ing when it becomes available on October 1 at www.bossupbu.com, and check that same site for contest details.
Stic.Man will also be donating copies of his book to the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Performing Arts, where he will also be volunteering "because those little homies is so talented."
Keep an eye on Dead Prez in 2006 - they'll be releasing a collaboration album with The Outlawz.
Source: www.Vibe.com | www.2Pacmania.de
