Sha Stimuli (born Sherod Khaalis on August 9, 1978) is an American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

from

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York City. He is known for his

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

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 cousin of Dre Knight and is the younger brother of producer and rapper Lord Digga, through whom he was introduced to Brooklyn rappers such as

Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in the New York rap scene and gangsta rap tradi ...

and

Masta Ace Duval Clear (born December 4, 1966), better known by his stage name Masta Ace, is an American rapper and record producer from New York City. A lead member of Mr. Magic's hip hop collective Juice Crew, he is best known for his guest appearance alo ...

Background

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

Ready to Die ''Ready to Die'' is the debut studio album by American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released on September 13, 1994, by Bad Boy Records and distributed by Arista Records. The album features productions by Bad Boy founder Sean Combs, Sean "Puffy ...

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

Brooklyn Technical High School Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech and administratively designated High School 430, is a public specialized high school in New York City that specializes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It is on ...

and heading to Iowa to play

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division 1. In 1997, he studied at

Delaware State University Delaware State University (DSU or Del State) is a Statutory college#Outside New York State, privately governed, state-assisted Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Land-grant university, land-grant research universi ...

while interning at

Roc-A-Fella Records Roc-A-Fella Records was an American record label and music management company founded in 1994 by record executives and entrepreneurs Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Damon Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke. Carter issued his debut album, '' Reasonable Doubt ...

, bringing him closer to his passion of music.

Musical career

In college, Stimuli gained recognition by being active in freestyle ciphers. Beginning his mixtape career in 2002, Stimuli released his first tape, ''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 is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

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 Justin Gregory Smith (born January 8, 1978), known professionally as Just Blaze, is an American record producer and DJ. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Smith attended Rutgers University for three years before dropping out to pursue a career in mus ...

and

Nottz Dominick J. Lamb, (born February 21, 1977) better known by his stage name Nottz (or Nottz Raw), is an American hip hop producer and rapper from Norfolk, Virginia. Life and career Some of Nottz's earliest production work was on the Rawkus ...

working on production for the album, but the process soon came to a halt due to problems that arose at Virgin Records. In early 2008, legal issues between Virgin Records and

Def Jam Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

left Sha Stimuli without a management team or label. In early 2008, together with childhood friend DJ Victorious, Stimuli took on an endeavour to release one

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''.

Debut album

Sha Stimuli released his debut album, '' My Soul to Keep'', on October 27, 2009, with Chambermusik Records / El Distribution. The first single, "Move Back," features rappers

Freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

and

Young Chris Christopher Francis Ries (born March 9, 1983), known professionally as Young Chris, is an American rapper. He rose to fame as one-half of the Philadelphia-based hip hop duo Young Gunz, which he formed with rapper Neef Buck in 2001. That same yea ...

and was produced by

. The album was released to critical success.

2012

On January 23, 2012, Sha Stimuli released ''The Calling'', the first EP from his 2012 "The Rent Tape" series of twelve EPs. This series is similar to his 2008 series, in which he released 12 mixtapes in 12 months.

2016

On September 27, 2016, Sha Stimuli returned from a four-year hiatus from the music industry to release a new song titled "Sticks and Stones". Stimuli also announced his signing to 10 Minutes Late Records who will release his new album, "Lazarus", in 2017. On December 11, 2016, Sha Stimuli continued his return to music and released a new song titled "New Jordans/A Poem for Mike" produced by Just Blaze and Needlz respectively. This song was met with positive reception.

Discography

Studio albums

* 2009: '' My Soul To Keep'' * 2011: '' Unsung Vol. 1: The Garden of Eden'' * 2017: ''Lazarus''

Mixtapes

* 2003: ''Switch Sides'' * 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 (A Tribute to Stevie Wonder)'' * 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'' * 2010: ''Overtime: My Soul to Keep'' * 2011: ''The Break-Up Pt. 2: The Proposal''

Guest appearances

EPs

* 2012: ''The Calling'' * 2012: ''The Chills'' * 2012: ''The March'' * 2012: ''The TrueMan Show'' * 2012: ''The Emcee'' * 2012: ''The Old Me: How I Met Your Baby Mother'' * 2012: ''The New Me: Sherod Khaalis'' * 2012: ''The Savior'' * 2012: ''The 9.2.5'' * 2012: ''The Upper Room'' * 2012: ''The Motion Soundtrack'' * 2012: ''The Present''

References

External links

HHLO.net Interview "Sha Stimuli: The Present"

"Sha Stimuli and DJ Victorious: Monthly " – HipHopDX

"REVIEW: Sha Stimuli, My Soul to Keep" – XXL

"Sha Stimuli – Microphone Fiend" – Six Shot

"Sha Stimuli Presents: "Say Something" Mixtape Series" – HipHopDX

"Sha Stimuli & DJ Victorious' 12 Mixtapes x 12 Months (Complete Collection)" – 2DopeBoyz

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stimuli, Sha 1978 births African-American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers Delaware State University alumni Living people Rappers from Brooklyn 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians