Which brings me to “Style Like Mind” by Steddy P A Kansas City(MO)
native, Steddy P brings a unique energy to the table. The album opens
with super dope intro called, “Ready With The One Two” a bangin’ track
accompanied by some ill cuts. The next joint is a song called, “Won’t
Lay Down”, a head nodder of a track laced with a catchy chorus and
semi-sarcastic lyrics. The album really kicks off for me though with the
song, “No Matter How”, a song about reflection and overcoming obstacles.
Lines like “Everybody’s tattlin’, actin’ like they hot to def/I’m trying
to change the city that booted out DJ Jazzy Jeff/it’s that new Midwest
style like none other/whether its school or jail you need a six digit
number.” I really liked the production and chorus on this song.

Then on “Format”, Steddy P enlists the help of Approach and Reach, where
all three MC’s equally brings something fire to the table. Approach
brings the cockiness and swagger, Steddy P brings braggadocio and
sarcasm while Reach breaks down the ills that shady A&R’s bring to the
music that we love so much. This is definitely one of the standouts on
album, and then I heard “Style Like Mind”.

Hands down my favorite song on the album (I listened to it 4 times),
backed by a spacey, double time up-tempo track, this where Steddy P was
at his best. Lines like: “Looking for a style like mine you can’t find
it/dirty promoter with my money, he better find it,” and, “Independent
ladder ’bout to change the game and climb it/got a lot to say so I guess
I better rhyme it/but never measure my flow by how many people buy it.”

The consistency of Steddy P’s lyrics, delivery, flow and the album’s
production really hold this project together. I’ll confess, I haven’t
heard of Steddy P until last week. But, I’m glad there’s more to KCMO
then Mac Lethal and Tech N9ne (not that those two are weak, I love Tech
N9ne). There were a couple tracks I wasn’t feeling but, this album was
packed full of highlights. You (the reader and listener) need to check
this cat out; you won’t be disappointed, I promise. Thanks to Steddy P
for being a dope MC from the Midwest, we need more of you.

Steddy P

Style Like Mind

IndyGround Entertainment

 

Kansas City has been a hotbed for great hip hop lately. Local MC Ray Pierce, aka Steddy P, gives KC another record to be proud of with Style Like Mind.

The production by Ben Bounce, overseen by DJ Mahf and engineered by Matt Sawicki, is exceptional. The tracks shine with a sound that’s crisp but warm and arrangements that are busy but not overindulgent. The title track is brilliant, with throbbing bass and atmospheric synths that are more evocative of Air than 50 Cent.

All the brilliant production in the world wouldn’t mean a thing if Steddy P didn’t have the skills to match. There’s not a lot to find fault with here, lyrically. Sure, quite a bit of breath is devoted to his skills as an MC. But Steddy is deft, and rapping about how crafty a rapper you are isn’t unheard of in the genre.

There’s plenty of other subject matter, including standing apart from the crowd on “Format,” managing the difficulty in balancing a relationship and a music career in “Miss You” and turning life around after making mistakes on “Maverick.” One of the best tracks is “Kenneth Arnold,” a smart, fun song that imaginatively equates hip hop with close encounters of an extraterrestrial sort.

Overall, Style Like Mind is individualistic, positive and refreshing. While Steddy P has a unique style, one thing he has in common with other area MCs — D/Will and Stik Figa come to mind — is that he avoids the macho and materialistic tendencies common in hip hop. Aside from alien and “Donnie Darko” references, Steddy raps about real life, his life, representing himself as a smart, maybe even nerdy guy who loves hip hop with an obsessive devotion.

Much of Style Like Mind is about staying true to oneself and putting the work into what you do and love in order to make it happen. It’s a common theme in local hip hop lately, but displaying a love for one’s art and the work ethic to make it happen — on your own terms without selling out or fronting as something you aren’t — is a theme that bears repeating.

Steddy P (a.k.a. Ray Price) may hail from Kansas City and therefore stretch the normal boundaries of this local-release column, but the rapper and hip-hop impresario has enough connections to the Lou to make him an honorary citizen. His latest disc, Style Like Mind, was created with beats and scratches from man-about-town DJ Mahf, and he also founded the IndyGround Entertainment label, which will release the Earthworms' upcoming album. As a rapper, Steddy P is quick, clever and, like most underground MCs, obsessed with establishing himself as an outsider. On "Format," Steddy proudly proclaims to the unnamed masses that he "don't fit in a box, working in their format." Luckily Steddy P has the goods to back up his claims. His rhymes are lightning-quick without seeming forced, giving the album a vibe that's both laid-back and tough to ignore. His Missouri drawl isn't so countrified as, say, Nelly's is on Country Grammar, but his well-rounded R sounds give him a distinct diction only matched by REO Speedwagon's Kevin Cronin.

"Won't Lay Down" serves as the album's mission statement and a call to arms for DIY musicians: The song singles out "simple-minded critics trying to water my sound." With Mahf's horn-heavy soul samples and basic, blocky beats, the grooves are always upfront and addictive. Mahf brings the same formula with the next track, "No Matter How," and he adds some tasteful scratching to give a little more edge to Steddy P's fervid flow. He's a strong, confident rapper, but it's hard not to let the background instrumental bed take over. As the album progresses, the beats get a little harder, and the hooks become more bizarre and deliciously disorienting: The harpsichord-and-choir loop on "Release" (which features Earthworms MC Mathias) is the result of adventurous crate-digging, and the mellow horn charts on "Kenneth Arnold" drop a little bit of Bacharach amid clanging cymbals and chopped-and-screwed vocals. Taken together — Steddy's indie-proud boasts and Mahf's tireless mixes — Style Like Mind is one of the strongest collaborations between rapper and beat-maker to bubble out of the local hip-hop underground in years.