By shelz.

Unless you are  generally evil, you probably don’t wish bad things on people for no reason.  However, if you are a lover of art you also know that sometimes you reap the benefits of an artist’s trials and tribulations as it is life’s lows more than its highs that drive some of the best artistic endeavors. 

Sha Stimuli’s story is not unique in the annals of Hip Hop’s perpetual spitters-in-waiting.  Label woes and promises that were never kept managed to slowly erode a career that seemed to be on its way to the stratosphere and Sha was locked out of his own buzz only to watch less thoughtful and much less talented emcees fill the space he once held. It would be at this point that plenty of folks would give up and as Sha said himself, go get a job at BJ’s. 

Well thankfully he chose to float on even without Hov or JD providing the wind for his sails and the product of that persistence and pain is his much anticipated, splendidly formulated and emotionally powerful debut studio LP, My Soul to Keep.

The first thing you will notice on My Soul to Keep is the divergent production.  He roams from traditional jazz to rock to oldies but goodies R&B to an almost classical piano feel and still manages to keep the album cohesive. (Well until he goes in on chicks with putrid puddy, but we will talk about that later.) The second thing is how well placed the production is.  The samples, which include Christmas standard “Oh Holy Night” and the Chi-Lites’ “Have You Seen Her,” could be laughable or seen as lame gimmicks if not used wisely (think Hammer).  However, they are perfectly employed for the subjects Sha drops over them and fit wonderfully into the albums scheme.

The album, minus the intro, starts with a feature.  That’s a bad look right? No, not for Sha. “Hang On,” with its mellow sax introduces the lyrics via Astronomical Kid, a youngin’ with a great flow who plays young Sha until Stimuli grows up and takes over. The thoughts spill over as he gives a lyrical statement of all that can occur, both good and bad in the life of a real emcee in a world of rappers who just play one on the radio.

The album moves on a fully grown Stimuli who bemoans the state of Hip-Hop with it’s form subject matter and over zealous hubris that’s more contrived than earned in “My Soul.” He draws the line of demarcation between Hip-Hop’s test tube emcees and himself and explains the difference between the two; his music is from his soul.

Then there is “Blasphemy.”  The conversation with God tackles a myriad of head scratchers in a world that is supposedly being watched over by a benevolent higher power.  He goes in on everything from terminal disease to war to RICO statutes and even ponders why we all aren’t blue like the Smurfs to eliminate racism.  You have had all of these thoughts before, even the finger pointing at the heavens as you blame the Lord for the world’s ills.  Sha just articulates what you may not have had the balls to say out loud around your extra religious grandmas.

Further on we get the only posse cut on the album, “Move Back.”  Sha, Freeway and Young Chris address the homies and show love to the crib and themselves. Just Blaze drops in to give a street underpinning to the threesome’s ode to their hoods and a 2^nd half shout to the haters. It’s the least serious of the tracks and a little head nod to break up the seriousness of the LP.  It’s well placed, well-performed and Free may just get a fist pump out of some of y’all.  He’s flat out nasty.

“I Wish I was You” is a story of love unreciprocated. “Have You Seen Him” tackles Sha’s absentee father and “Bucket List” is exactly that, Sha’s list of things he wants to do before he dies.  He needs to get started too, because it’s long as hell. “What’s Wrong with That” will probably elicit plenty of Amen’s from folks who get chastised for doing the right thing as he ponders why walking the straight and narrow is sometimes viewed as a bad thing. 

Anything wrong? Well, Sha’s voice is aggressive and his delivery is powerful which every once in a while drowns out the production.  However that may be more of a mastering issue than a Sha issue, but it’s his album so he has to take responsibility for it. The repetitiveness of some of his hooks is a bit monotonous at times and then there is “The Smelly Cat Song.” The narrative about attempts at casual sex with chicks who smell bad in their most personal of areas is amusing, but random and out of place. And well, it’s gross too. 

The bottom line is, minus a few missteps, this album is masterful in its conception. Sha Stimuli manages to bridge the Hip-Hop generational gap as he peels off layer after layer of himself to adhere to the tracks.  The production and his outlook on the industry are fresh enough to implore the youngsters to take a listen.  Yet his mature themes are something the old heads can relate to. It’s grand in its thought and enjoyable in its musical essence and is definitely one of the better releases of 2009.

4.25 Out of 5

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