MUSIC, CULTURE AND INFLUENCE

BY CORY RAYPOLE

The music created by Custom Made Smitty mixes Midwestern culture and flair of old school hip hop. The artist, Shane Smith, raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana shares his thoughts, frustrations and beliefs through his music while entertaining thousands in over 21 bars, clubs and venues. The artist is a regular guy in his late twenties with twin girls, working and paying bills like everybody else. These ordinary characteristics bring out inspiration in his music and create a common ground that anyone can relate to. The meaning of the message and relateability is what makes this music powerful to the city of Fort Wayne and soon others around the United States.

Shane Smith is a twenty eight year old man identifies his ethnicity as a "white mutt (Shane Smith, personal communication, 10-20-2008)" and his core values as family and God. Shane states "I believe in God and Jesus Christ, not a big fan of the politics in the church though (Shane Smith, personal communication, 10-20-2008)." God and family are prevalent topics in his music in addition to everyday rants and raves about living in Fort Wayne. Shane shares his thoughts and feelings about living paycheck to paycheck and trying to make a good life for his daughters. Shane positively affects his community by being respectful of all walks of life. When asked about women’s roles in hip hop music Shane replied "Nobody ever thinks of it this way but that is somebody’s mom you are talking about. Talk about my mom and that’s bad news" (Shane Smith , personal communication, 10-20-2008). The artist uses his music as a forum for his opinions like denouncing the typical bling of rap to deliver a positive message.

When analyzing the music, one must understand where the artist was raised and what values and beliefs are important. The City of Fort Wayne is the biggest little city in Indiana, second to Indianapolis. The city of Fort Wayne stereotypically is a wholesome city of obedient church goers and basketball fans. The city is known for having a conservative viewpoint that reinforces a negative outlook from the younger more liberal people of the community. Shane describes the city of Fort Wayne as many people from city would, a great place to raise a family, low cost of living, city of churches, numerous strip clubs, and peculiar weather. The main difference in Shane’s opinion of the city is that he sees the many positive aspects and the potential the city has. The artist highlights the city’s quickly growing diversity and new minor sports stadiums. Shane also mentions that jobs are getting harder and harder to find as in the rest of the country showing Fort Wayne is not exempt from the slowing economy regardless of the very positive aspects (Shane Smith, personal communication, 10-20-2008).

Shane identifies the main message and goals of his music as "being original creative and honest, while taking rap back to the good ol’ days." Shane stated "I am really tired of the egos and I am trying to have as much fun as possible." This is one aspect that you can defiantly hear while listening to the lyrics of the artist’s music. Shane usually performs in bars and clubs meaning his target population is 21 and over due to Indiana having a law against 18 and over bars. Shane stated "I perform mainly for the bar scene, but we’re working on promoting a lot of all-ages shows, so we’re cleaning up some of our songs especially for the moms and dads. We'll see what I sound like in 5 years(Shane Smith , personal communication, 10-20-2008)."

Shane contributes his sound and vibe to music from the seventies and eighties. He states "I’m a product of the 80'S and I grew up listening to music from the 70'S(Shane Smith , personal communication, 10-20-2008)." The first album, recently released album is entitled "Welcome 2 Fort Shane" and is, according to Shane "My album is a compilation of my views of Fort Wayne. That's why I named my album Welcome 2 Fort Shane. It's an introduction of who I am and what I believe in(Shane Smith , personal communication, 10-20-2008)." Shane’s motivation is for life is music and the motivation for the music is his life. The music and his life are intertwined. Shane shared "I’m documenting my life on the notepad, but the reason I’ve been doing music for this many years, is because it, music is motivating(Shane Smith , personal communication, 10-20-2008)." Shane is about making real, honest and positive music which shows what kind of a person he really is.

Shane continues to produce hip hop music because it is his passion as he states "They would recognize my passion after two minutes" (Shane Smith , personal communication, 10-20-2008). Shane is not purely selfish when it comes to the creation of his music. Not only does the listener get a positive experience but the creator also benefits. When asked what makes his music important he responded "Its therapy, Its spiritual, It motivates me, it makes shitty days okay, and it goes good with beer (Shane Smith , personal communication, 10-20-2008). The music created by Custom Made Smitty is vital to the community of Fort Wayne to inspire the residents and visitors to embrace the positive aspects of the city.

The music made by Custom Made Smitty mixes Midwestern family values while addressing real and current issues. Custom Made Smitty provides the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana with a new positive outlook where the local scene usually paints a negative portrayal to outsiders. Custom Made Smitty who is also known as Shane Smith takes details and influences from his own life and turns them into incredible lyrics.