Sha Stimuli - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Sha Stimuli, born Sherod Khaalis (August 9, 1978), is an American rapper from Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. He is known for his mixtape

Mixtape

A Mix Tape or Mixed Tape is a compilation of songs recorded in a specific order, traditionally onto an audio Compact Cassette.A Mix Tape, which usually reflects the musical tastes of its compiler, can range from a casually selected list of favorite songs, to a conceptual mix of songs linked by a...

releases, beginning with Let Me Show You The Way in 2002, which earned him a spot in Source Magazine's Unsigned Hype section. Sha Stimuli is the younger brother of producer and rapper Lord Digga, through whom he was introduced to known Brooklyn rappers such as Notorious B.I.G and Masta Ace

Masta Ace

Duval Clear , known better by his stage name Masta Ace, is a rapper from Brownsville, Brooklyn. He appeared on the classic 1988 Juice Crew posse cut "The Symphony"...

Background

As a kid, Sha Stimuli often followed in the footsteps of his older brother, Lord Digga, learning various things about the music business. As a producer on the Notorious B.I.G's album Ready To Die

Ready to Die

Ready to Die is the debut album of American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released September 13, 1994 on Bad Boy Records. The first release on the label, it features production by record producer and Bad Boy founder Sean "Puffy" Combs, Easy Mo Bee, Chucky Thompson, DJ Premier, and Lord Finesse,...

, Digga often took his little brother to recording sessions at the studio, which later on influenced him to become a rapper. At only 14 years old, Stimuli, as Kid Dynamite, appeared on Masta Ace's album SlaughtaHouse

SlaughtaHouse

SlaughtaHouse is the first album from hip hop group Masta Ace Incorporated, consisting of Masta Ace, Lord Digga, Paula Perry, Eyceurokk and Leschea. Released three years after Ace's acclaimed debut Take a Look Around, the loose concept of the album is addressing the growing trend of violence in...

. Before continuing with music though, Stimuli focused on his other love, basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

playing at Brooklyn Technical High School

Brooklyn Technical High School

Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech or just Tech, and also administratively as High School 430, is a New York City public high school that specializes in engineering, math and science and is the largest specialized high school for science, technology, engineering, and...

http://www.bthsalumni.org/document.doc?id=29, heading to Iowa to play NCAA Division 1. In 1997, he studied at the Delaware State University

Delaware State University

Delaware State University , is an American historically black, public university located in Dover, Delaware, and there are two satellite campuses located in Wilmington, Delaware, and Georgetown, Delaware...

while interning at Roc-A-Fella Records

Roc-A-Fella Records

Roc-A-Fella Records is a record label founded by Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Damon "Dame" Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke. Today it operates as a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, and is distributed by Island Def Jam Motown Music Group.-Formation and Early Years:...

, bringing him closer to his true passion: music.

Musical career

In college, Stimuli gained recognition by being active in freestyle

Freestyle rap

Freestyle rap commonly refers to rap lyrics which are improvised through a acapella or with instrumental beats, i.e. performed with no previously composed lyrics, or "off the top of the head"...

ciphers. Beginning his mixtape career in 2002, Stimuli released his first tape entitlet Let Me Show You the Way, gaining him recognition in various print and online publications. Some years later, Stimuli was signed to Virgin Records

Virgin Records

Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...

and was set to release his debut album, Thee Emotion Picture, in the third quarter of 2007. Recording at Baseline Studios, Stimuli had producers Just Blaze

Just Blaze

Justin Smith, better known as Just Blaze, is an American hip hop music producer from Paterson, New Jersey. Blaze is also the CEO of Fort Knocks Entertainment. He is most well known for producing Jay-Z songs on the albums The Blueprint, The Blueprint 2, and The Black Album. He is also known for...

and Nottz

Nottz

Dominick Lamb better known by his stage name, Nottz is a music producer, writer and rapper from Norfolk, Virginia, U.S. He sometimes extends his executive name to Nottz Raw.-History:...

working on production for the album, but the process soon came to a halt due problems that arose at Virgin Records

Virgin Records

. In early 2008, legal issues between Virgin Records and Def Jam left Sha Stimuli without a management team and label.

In early 2008, together with childhood friend DJ Victorious Stimuli took on an endeavour to release one mixtape

Mixtape

per month for the next 12 months. Each mixtape had a theme and concept, ranging from politics ("March On Washington") to relationships ("Love Jones", "The Breakup"), and gained him a significant amount of attention. In October 2008 Sha was also featured on the track "Destined to Shine" from Statik Selektah's album Stick 2 the Script

Stick 2 the Script

Stick 2 the Script is the second official album released by East Coast hip hop producer Statik Selektah. It was released by Showoff Records and Brick Records on October 17, 2008. It is composed of 18 tracks--all containing production from Statik Selektah and rapping from featured artists...

Studio albums

2009: My Soul To Keep
My Soul To Keep (album)
My Soul To Keep is the début album from Brooklyn rapper Sha Stimuli. It was released on 27 October 2009.The first single is Move Back produced by Just Blaze and features Freeway and Young Chris.- Track listing :...
2011: Unsung Vol. 1: The Garden Of Eden

Debut Album

Sha Stimuli released his debut album, My Soul To Keep

My Soul To Keep (album)

My Soul To Keep is the début album from Brooklyn rapper Sha Stimuli. It was released on 27 October 2009.The first single is Move Back produced by Just Blaze and features Freeway and Young Chris.- Track listing :...

, on October 27, 2009 with Chambermusik Records / El Distribution. The first single, Move Back, features rappers Freeway and Young Chris

Young Chris

Young Chris is a Grammy nominated American rapper and songwriter. A member of Philadelphia rap trio Young Gunz, formerly signed to Roc-A-Fella records through Beanie Sigel’s State Property collective, early success included the hit single "Can't Stop, Won't Stop"...

and is produced by Just Blaze

Just Blaze

.
The album was released to critical success.

Mixtapes

2007: The Present & The Future
2007: The Best Of Me
2007: The Rehab
2008: The Wire
2008: Love Jones
2008: March On Washington
2008: The Secret
2008: While You Were Sleeping
2008: Hotter Than July
2008: Verses The World
2008: March On Washington Election Edition
2008: The Funeral
2008: Never Or Now EP
2008: Please Download My Demo
2008: The Break-up (Love Jones 2)
2011: The Break-Up Pt. 2: The Proposal

External links

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