Sha Stimuli – The New Me: Sherod Khaalis

Early this morning I was all about that “Masturbation“!!!! “I, I, I, I’m feeling myself…”, I sang as I walked to the train. Sha Stimuli has done it again…..and what a title for a song. The track is one of 8 on The New Me: Sherod Khaalis, #7 in a series of E.P’s featured in The Rent Tape Series and as cliche as this sounds; it goes hard.

Tracks like Masturbation and The Stars added a little pep in my step this morning. Feel good songs with great instrumentals produced by Agor and G14 productions with lyrics that are everything a girl wants to hear as she’s about to take on the world, first thing in the morning.

“I see where you can go….I see where you are…but the limit ain’t the sky when you aim to be a star….keep your head high”

“just because you pick a women up…it’s not the same as uplifting….Before you step outside and look for love… girl, love yourself thats the mission”

“you can go hard on a treadmill….you could show him how good your bed feels….but that ain’t gonna land you a man…what’s inside of your heart and soul and head will”

I may have a little bit of a personal attachment to this project, since I was in the studio shooting video of Sha in the recording booth for a Bad-Perm.com feature. Standing a few feet away from Stimuli (Errr…I mean, Mr. Khaalis) while he recited the lyrics to Daily Word and The New Me was an experience I will remember forever. You can see the passion in his face while he’s recording. His voice comes from deep in his gut and he does not hold back, as his rhymes spill out so freely and almost conversational. I have been in the studio with many rappers and NEVER not ONCE have I seen anyone record so effortlessly like Sha. He breezed through 5 songs in about the same amount of time I’ve seen most rappers go in and record one or two. Literally in a couple hours. Bad-Perm’s photographer, Melissa Moffat was with me during the session and confessed that she had never seen anyone’s recording process quite like Sha’s. Then came the waterworks….

A sped up version of R.Kelly’s “Diary of me” started playing and then I saw Sha Stimuli turn into Sherod Khaalis. All the rapper talk and ego was out the window and there in front of us stood a man opening up and exposing himself, such as the pages of a diary would. Great instrumental choice for this verse that matched the mood of the song perfectly. This song is my favorite on the project because of how real it is and how much emotion lies in the verses. Truly soulful and the perfect ending to a great project. As much as I like Sha Stimuli, it was great to be introduced to Sherod Khaalis. Looking forward to hearing more from this “new” Sha Stimuli. Please take a minute and check out the project below, it’s definitely worth a listen.
Also don’t forget to vote for “The Emcee” #5 in the Rent Tape Series for Best Indie Album of the year for the 2012 Underground Music Awards Click here to vote