While his peers are struggling to come out with something different and fresh, Stalley quietly works on refining his craft. And if his most recent mixtape MadStalley: the Autobiography is any indication, his voice is one that hip-hop fans will be sure to listen to and grow with for years to come.

MadStalley: the Autobiography was recorded over reworkings of beats by the legendary Madlib. The smooth jazzy style complements Stalley's laid back, cerebral flow flawlessly, letting his words shine. The subject material on the tape jumps from a dirty love letter on "Stay" to the stream of consciousness flows on "Tinlizzyfordtoarollsroyceboy." But the one thing that remains constant throughout is that each track feels personal, like the listener is having a one-on-one conversation with Stalley himself. With such critical acclaim already behind him, the young MC from Ohio is poised to follow the route that legends like Nas have paved, while marching to his own beat the whole time. It looks like Stalley is well on his way.

Never one to rest on his laurels, Stalley is still hard at work with a variety of projects. He recently took the time to speak with Brash about his musical influences, the state of hip-hop, and the high hopes he has for fellow hometown boy LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers. ~Zack Barangan



What kind of music did you grow up listening to?
Growing up I started listening to country. That's what my grandma used to play in the house in the morning getting everyone ready for school. After that, I grew up and started listening to Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, and Curtis Mayfield. My mom listened to a lot of jazz like [John] Coltrane and Miles Davis. When I first started listening to hip hop I listened to Nas, AZ, and those all guys.

What's your favorite hip-hop album?
Illmatic. It was the first album I heard that made me wanna take it to the next level. It made me really want to put pen to paper and write songs.

What was it like working with industry vets like Jay Electronica and Mos Def?
Brilliant dudes, just amazing. They've been doing it for a while just to be around those guys and do music with them is just amazing. Sometimes I'm speechless just to hear the stuff they come up with. And just to feel like they look at me as someone who's next up, it's a privilege.

Who would you like to work with?
As far as hip hop goes is Blu, he's from Cali I feel like we could make something dope together. As far as other music, I like the Kings of Leon and Lykke Li. I would just like to do a lot of stuff that people don't expect me to do.

Tell us about your creative process.  Where do you come up with the ideas for songs?
Most of the time with me things come to my head I'm always thinking about putting things into a rhyme. Everytime i read something, watch a movie i try to put those ideas into a song. Freestyling helps too, I'll just put on a beat and start rambling. then I'll just writing. my song "Babblin" was inspired from that process. Sometimes i'll just hear a beat and just start rambling. I've never really come to a track with a conscious idea. Wherever the beat goes, I'll take it. Lets go.

What are your thoughts on the state of the game?
As far as record sales, that's sad. To me as long as you put out a good product people are going to get it. Hip-hop is going where artists have to pay attention to everything around them and not just the music. It's about branding yourself.

Where is everything going with the digital trend?
The problem with the blogs and Twitter is that things can get over saturated. The way to weed that out is you have to brand yourself and you have to come out with good music and everything you build around it has to be good. Your music has to make fans feel like ok if it comes out I'm gonna download it, but I'm also going to buy it. You have to make them want to feel like they want to buy a piece of history. Like they want to be a part of your movement.

What do you like to do in your spare time when you're not recording?
I browse a lot online. I like to read. I'm a very big Cavs fan, Browns fan, Ohio State fan. I'm a sports fanatic. If theres nothing else on I could even watch a girls college basketball game. I grew up playing sports, especially basketball. I'm just a fanatic.

So where is Lebron James going after he becomes a free agent this summer?
He's definitely staying. He will get money regardless. People are saying he's coming to New York, but I think that's a step back for him. There's nothing for him but money in New York, and he will get money regardless.

What's your favorite city outside of NY?
Outside of Ohio or NY the only place i can see myself living is London. The food was ok. The portions were a little bit small. But they had some good pizza, some good Thai restaurants. My thing is surviving, just being able to have things around me. I like to shop. I like fashion. I wanna be somewhere where they have nice clothes and they're up to date.

What are you listening to these days?
I've been listening to Little Dragon a lot, Shafiq Husayn's solo project, M83. I'm always tuning back into older hip hop like Illmatic, Stillmatic. I've been listening to Drake's mixtape. I go back and forth a lot.

What can we expect from you in the next few months?
Right now the next project is the 24 hour Karate School with Ski Beatz. I'm all over that. I'm also going to work on new music. I'm putting out MadStalley: The Autobiography as a remix project with Shafiq Husayn, Suzi Analogue, Avant B, Tanya Morgan and some others. I'm working on a project with Sa-Ra. I'm a little bit everywhere right now, but in a few weeks i'm gonna be zoning in on my own project that's  probably coming out in early spring. I'm getting a lot of beats and I'm just picking out the best ones so i can build a unique sound.

Where is Stalley going to be in 5 years?
I'm gonna be at the Grammys getting a whole bunch of awards (laughs)

Hopefully I'm going to be solidified in the rap game or music period. Making good music touring the world, spreading my story my gospel however you want to say it.

Check out Stalley's music at http://stalley330.bandcamp.com/ and http://www.myspace.com/madstalley