I haven't seen his name mentioned here yet, but dude is dope. Here's his bio and if you want a few tracks off his recently released album, Fallen Awake, hit the links after the bio...
In 2008, hip-hop has Fallen Awake. As artists trade integrity for fabricated characters, Shaya has watched his wounds of a troubled youth heal into the wisdom of a grown man with plenty to offer any listener within an earshot of his words. His debut album Fallen Awakeis a dreamy dose of reality for those who miss personal rap.
Born in the Bay Area, Santa Rosa’s Shaya has called many places home, and seems to have carried pieces of those experiences with him. “Childhood wasn’t really all that good, but it wasn’t all that bad either,” says the man today. That may be an understatement. From birth, Shaya was physically abused - as were his mother and sisters. His childhood was one exposed to violence and addiction. As a result of family turmoil, Shaya spent much of his youth bouncing around between Northern California and Indiana, between foster homes and extended family. “Basically, ‘family’ to me was little memories of court-appointed visitation,” he says. These experiences find their way onto songs such as “Proud,” a provocative dedication to the MC’s mother, told with unwavering honesty.
From an arbitrary purchase at a swap meet, it was The Fat Boys’ Crushin’ and Run-DMC’s Raising Hell that would give a young Shaya the creative channel for all his pent up emotions. No matter his living situation, the adolescent embraced hip-hop music that he had heard in the Midwest such as Rakim and LL Cool J, as well as his fellow California natives MC Ren and Ice Cube. “I always tried to steer away from gangs. I felt indifferent to it because of what happened to me in my childhood,” reveals Shaya. Indeed, instead of the neighborhood gang-members influencing the impressionable mind, it was some of hip-hop’s most celebrated MCs doing the influencing.
Throughout the next years of his life, Shaya took to telling his own tales on tapes. With a name (Arabic for “worthy / deserving”) taken from a lyric in neighboring Blackalicious’ song “Beyonder,” Shaya has spent the last 10 years sharing stages with Living Legends and Hieroglyphics long before ever considering a studio album. Four-track demos, handmade CDs and backpacking his art on the sidewalks of Northern California has transitioned this MC’s passion into his vocation. Under the mentorship of Ian “I.D.” Davis, Shaya has learned from the same who helped Little Brother become the independent hip-hop sensation of the last five years. “He told me to come from the heart, and make people believe,” and the result of that conviction became Fallen Awake, on ID’s new label home, Interdependent Media.
“I write by interviewing the beat,” admits Shaya. With production from Jake One (50 Cent, Freeway) and The ARE (Lords of the Underground, K-Otix), he’s had some great subjects. Songs such as “Industry Life” provide insight on the uphill battle of the hip-hop game, while diary entries like “Speed of Life” and the aforementioned “Proud” are revelations that no other artist can provide. For Shaya, this is a lifelong passion in the balance. “This is stuff a lot of artists put on their second albums. But for the age I am and the time in my life I’m at, this is stuff I want people to know now.”
Under the manifesto of resurrecting “thinking man’s music,” Shaya considers Fallen Awake to be not only an open-palm to his listeners, but a chance to renew the pains of his own life. He summates, “The story of my life has been ‘nothing finished.’ I firmly believe with this music, I’m gonna get to that ending, and it’s going to be something I can be proud of.”
Shaya - "Proud" + "Fall Back"
Shaya - "Thinking Cap" + "Industry Life"
Shaya - "Take A Ride"
In 2008, hip-hop has Fallen Awake. As artists trade integrity for fabricated characters, Shaya has watched his wounds of a troubled youth heal into the wisdom of a grown man with plenty to offer any listener within an earshot of his words. His debut album Fallen Awakeis a dreamy dose of reality for those who miss personal rap.
Born in the Bay Area, Santa Rosa’s Shaya has called many places home, and seems to have carried pieces of those experiences with him. “Childhood wasn’t really all that good, but it wasn’t all that bad either,” says the man today. That may be an understatement. From birth, Shaya was physically abused - as were his mother and sisters. His childhood was one exposed to violence and addiction. As a result of family turmoil, Shaya spent much of his youth bouncing around between Northern California and Indiana, between foster homes and extended family. “Basically, ‘family’ to me was little memories of court-appointed visitation,” he says. These experiences find their way onto songs such as “Proud,” a provocative dedication to the MC’s mother, told with unwavering honesty.
From an arbitrary purchase at a swap meet, it was The Fat Boys’ Crushin’ and Run-DMC’s Raising Hell that would give a young Shaya the creative channel for all his pent up emotions. No matter his living situation, the adolescent embraced hip-hop music that he had heard in the Midwest such as Rakim and LL Cool J, as well as his fellow California natives MC Ren and Ice Cube. “I always tried to steer away from gangs. I felt indifferent to it because of what happened to me in my childhood,” reveals Shaya. Indeed, instead of the neighborhood gang-members influencing the impressionable mind, it was some of hip-hop’s most celebrated MCs doing the influencing.
Throughout the next years of his life, Shaya took to telling his own tales on tapes. With a name (Arabic for “worthy / deserving”) taken from a lyric in neighboring Blackalicious’ song “Beyonder,” Shaya has spent the last 10 years sharing stages with Living Legends and Hieroglyphics long before ever considering a studio album. Four-track demos, handmade CDs and backpacking his art on the sidewalks of Northern California has transitioned this MC’s passion into his vocation. Under the mentorship of Ian “I.D.” Davis, Shaya has learned from the same who helped Little Brother become the independent hip-hop sensation of the last five years. “He told me to come from the heart, and make people believe,” and the result of that conviction became Fallen Awake, on ID’s new label home, Interdependent Media.
“I write by interviewing the beat,” admits Shaya. With production from Jake One (50 Cent, Freeway) and The ARE (Lords of the Underground, K-Otix), he’s had some great subjects. Songs such as “Industry Life” provide insight on the uphill battle of the hip-hop game, while diary entries like “Speed of Life” and the aforementioned “Proud” are revelations that no other artist can provide. For Shaya, this is a lifelong passion in the balance. “This is stuff a lot of artists put on their second albums. But for the age I am and the time in my life I’m at, this is stuff I want people to know now.”
Under the manifesto of resurrecting “thinking man’s music,” Shaya considers Fallen Awake to be not only an open-palm to his listeners, but a chance to renew the pains of his own life. He summates, “The story of my life has been ‘nothing finished.’ I firmly believe with this music, I’m gonna get to that ending, and it’s going to be something I can be proud of.”
Shaya - "Proud" + "Fall Back"
Shaya - "Thinking Cap" + "Industry Life"
Shaya - "Take A Ride"
