Interview: Stalley

Photo: Evan Brockett

If you scroll through our blog you have realized that we are huge fans of Stalley`s music. So when we had the chance to ask a couple of questions we immediatly said: let`s do it. Upmost respect to Stalley and Dan for making it happen.

# Please introduce yourself to everybody who doesn`t know about you yet?
Peace Germany, this is Stalley from Massillon, Ohio, 330. I’ve been rhyming for about 3 years now and live in New York City. I’m currently independent.

# We know that you originally come from a small place in Ohio, but then moved to New York. Did you feel like you had to move in order to push your career as a rapper or what was the reason for that?
Yea, basically. I originally came to NYC for school, but when I moved back home and saw how it was out there I knew I would have to move back to NYC to really get anywhere in the music industry.

# When was the first time that you thought that rap would be something you could live from?
The first time I thought I could live from music was probably on July 14, 2009 when I dropped The Autobiography and performed at SOB’s in front of a sold-out crowd. That whole experience made me think I could really possibly do something with music.

# We also know that you are a big Madlib fan. What are your favorite three Madlib beats of all times?
The first three that come to mind are Fancy Clown from the MadVillain project, Distant Land from Shades of Blue and The Healer from Badu’s New Amerykah joint.

# How/when did you get in contact with Ski Beatz?
Well I linked up with Creative Control for the video for “Autobiography” and once I was around DD172 it just happened naturally since Ski is always at the dojo workin’.


# We really like "Pressure" (produced by Micheal Sterling Eaton). Maybe you can tell us something about the way how you approach these songs? It seems like you are extremly serious about everything you say and stand for. Where does this seriousness originate from?
I grew up in a city where everything is hard and you have to work to get where you wanna be, so I take that and apply it to my music, especially when I’m drawing on those experiences. The beat also took me to a place where I was reminiscing about the hard times and the trials and tribulations that I’ve been through. I just wanted people to know that amidst all the pressure, you can overcome and find peace. In this case it was about me being from a small city and going somewhere with bright lights and just trying to get over that.



# Now tell us something about the "Address" video with Curren$y and Ski Beatz and the whole journey. It seems like you wrote the verse during the video shoot, because it fits just perfectly. How was the creative process for this project?
I wrote and recorded the song in Jamaica and basically the verse just reflected everything I saw there. I just put myself in a Jamaica state of mind and focused on the sun, the trees and everything around me. I really wrote that at an exact moment and the lyrics just show how I felt right then. It just so happened that we shot the video there and it came out how exactly Jamaica felt to me.

# What will be next?
Right now, I’m working on finishing a project with a very dope producer named Rashad from the 3rd in Columbus, Ohio. We’re really gonna be taking my sound somewhere new and different. I’m also working on an entire project with Ski Beatz that should be incredible.

# Any links you want to get across?
Myspace
Bandcamp
“The Milq” at Creative Control
High Snobiety Blog
Slam Blog “MilqandRookies”