Ohio Doesn't Necessarily Evince a Hip-Hop Scene, but Rapper And

Ohio doesn’t necessarily evince a hip-hop scene, but rapper and former basketball player Stalley (Kyle Myricks) from Massillon wants to change all of that. He’s released a few mixtapes including last year’s album Lincoln Way Nights (Intelligent Trunk Music), which propelled his signing to hip-hop mentor Rick Ross’s label Maybach Music Group. What separates Stalley from the Drakes and Kanyes is he raps about his small town upbringing and his love of muscle cars as opposed to opulent Rolls Royces, drug binges and lasciviousness. His humble everyman approach has garnered him comparisons to one of his favorite performers and another working-class musician, Bruce Springsteen. Even though Stalley had to abandon his roots in Ohio for the opportunity-filled New York, he strives to someday return to the Buckeye State and purchase a house here because he misses the “open space, that quietness and all that.” The self-possessed rapper is working hard to finish up his new project, Savage Journey to the American Dream, which will be released sometime this month or next. In the interim, he’s tying fans over with a couple of new songs available for free downloads to let them know he’s thinking about them. Stalley the all-star spoke to Metromix about traversing his own savage journey. What do you think of the music scene in Ohio? It’s growing. We have a lot of talent in Ohio. We have a lot of talented artists. You have people like myself and Kid Cudi and the Black Keys and people like that. It’s a lot of great talent, but it’s definitely been good for artists such as myself and the other artists that I mentioned to give that light to Ohio so that more people take notice of the talent that’s there. Where did you get your MC name from? Stalley comes from the days of playing basketball. People used to call me a black stallion. They said I was a workhorse and someone who moved gracefully and things like that. It basically derived from the word stallion and went to Stalley. When you have a nickname for so long, after so many years, people switch to it and you stick with whatever works. Do you miss playing basketball? All the time. I mean, I’m great with my profession and my career and what I’m doing now, but I do miss playing basketball. I do miss that workout. I just the miss the camaraderie of it and having a group of guys that you’re around and kind of like a family. It’s just fun. Basketball and sports in general helped me become the man I am today, so I love it. Did you always want to be a musician? I’d just loved music and I was always around music and I always surrounded myself with music. I’m one of those people who takes on certain goals and stick to them, so when I was focusing on sports and basketball, that’s all I focused on. Music has always been my love. But it wasn’t like oh, I want to be a basketball player and a rapper, or I want to be a rapper and basketball player. I wanted to be a basketball player. But once I got injured and couldn’t play no more, friends of mine who knew that I did music and felt I was basically good enough to take it to a next level. They convinced me into getting into the studio and that’s where I have myself now. What do you think about the state of hip-hop music? I think it’s good, I think it’s growing. I think that there’s a lot of fusion going on. Both cultures and both music genres is being accepted into each other’s genre. I think that’s a beautiful thing. You see a lot of people working with each other outside of their particular genre of music. I like the growth of it. It’s expanding. It’s getting bigger worldwide, especially hip-hop. You hear it in commercials and movies and you kind of see it and hear it everywhere. It’s great. Some of the things I’ve read about you mention that you’re a mature rapper and are bringing back old school rap. Is that what you’re trying to do? I’m just trying to be me and create my own path and kind of etch my own name and foundation in that rock of hip-hop, if you want to say that. I just do what’s natural to me. I just do what’s realistic to me. I’m just honest in life period, so all I know how to do is be me and live and make music the way I feel fit that represents me and my lifestyle. I try not to pay attention to what’s going on outside of what I’m doing. Do you agree with the Springsteen comparisons? I don’t think that. People have called me that. It’s a great compliment to even be mentioned in the same breadth of him, whether it was just like I wear my jeans like Bruce Springsteen. He’s a great musician and he’s built his legacy and I hope to be where he is in rock music to hip-hop. I think that we have a lot of same realities and introspects of life: the way we’ve grown up and small towns and blue collar cities. We just kind of speak to the working class individuals. What is your new mixtape going to be like? Epic. It’s going to be a journey to the American dream – a savage one. It’s a lot of up and downs. It’s just good music all around. It’s just me and what I go through and seen up until this day of my life and just me and my American dream. I’m a signed artist to Warner Bros. Records and to Maybach Music, which is probably the biggest hip-hop label in the game, and in some ways I have reached my American dream but I’m still not sure if that’s my American dream. I’m still on the hunt for it. That’s what the music represents throughout the whole project. What’s it like working with Rick Ross? It’s great. He’s like a big brother. I love being around him. He has great energy. He’s the hardest working person I’ve been around and witnessed in person. It rubs off on us. His work ethic is amazing. You can’t help but want to put in that same type of work. Because if you’re looking at somebody who has millions of dollars and works like they’re starving, it’s like wow, I gotta catch up. Are you surprised at your success so far? I’m not surprised. I’m excited about it. I’m excited to see where it will go. I’m one person who’s never really satisfied. I always want more. I always feel like I can do more, be better and things like that. I’m just on this savage journey. I hope it’s not too savage. Nah, it’s not going to get me in trouble. What would you like to see happen in your career? I just want to be known as someone who was positive and put out great music and I just want to be one day back home in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. http://cincinnati.metromix.com/music/article/q-and-a-stalley/3009718/content .

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