Ohio born artist pursues street hip-hop in Brooklyn

Every small town has a story, and every story has its storyteller. Kyle Myricks, also known as Stalley, from Massillon, Ohio, shares his tales and experiences of growing up in a small city with music as a vehicle to place his home city and Ohio on the map.

As a promising young basketball star in high school, Stalley got his nickname from the word "stallion" for his skills, hustling on the basketball floor. He had hopes of signing with a Division I basketball squad and one day going pro, but a career-ending injury put his hoop dreams to rest.

Stalley then moved to Brooklyn, New York, to pursue his second passion: music. After deciding to hang up his basketball shoes and grab a microphone, Stalley began working with DJs, such as Terry Urban and Mick Boogie. The two DJs have worked with artists such as Lupe Fiasco and Kanye West and provided Stalley with the opportunity to have his music hosted by talented DJs. He released his first mix-tape titled "Goin' Ape."

"The first project was sort of like practice for me," said Stalley. "I have always been writing music, but for the first time, I really worked on the structure of a song and how to put together a tape." In the last two years, Stalley has released two projects. After his solo debut, he came out with "MadStalley: The Autobiography."

His latest release has undeniable hints and tones of jazz and soul. Tracks like "Distant Land" and "All for You" include horns and electric keyboards in the background, providing Stalley's sound with a street-slick and sly tone reminiscent of the early days of Miles Davis or Charlie Parker but put to spoken verse.

"I really do get excited about all genres of music," said Stalley. "It's not just hip-hop for me. I like country, jazz, soul, rock and indie. The structure and instrumentation we used for the last project just worked best to express my story."

For Stalley, hip-hop is how he tells about his life. "Lyrics can say so much about your culture, where you're from and what you stand for," Stalley said. "You can get into my life and really see who I am."

The Massillon native also discussed the current state of music and called it exciting as things are slowly changing.

"The older artists are venturing into different avenues and leaving room for younger faces," Stalley said. "It's allowing for our generation's experiences to be represented."

In just a few short years, Stalley has also made a name for himself on the stage. "I'm always playing shows," Stalley said. From New York to L.A., Stalley has had the opportunity to open for acts such as Mos Def, Method Man and Redman.

Stalley said he is sometimes called the Bruce Springsteen of hip-hop as a joke because he tries to write about the everyday working person.

"A lot of my influence comes from growing up in Massillon," Stalley said. A small blue-collar town, Massillon has a population of just over 30,000. "I try to write about the transition from a small city to moving to Brooklyn, a city with a couple million people."

"Brooklyn is just where I need to be," said Stalley. "There's just a lot of opportunity out here to make connections in the business." Stalley said. "But the point is that every city has talent."

For Stalley, a person's living condition plays a huge part in the music they make.

"Music is medicine," said Stalley. You can relate to it during a difficult time or you can dance to it while cleaning your house. Everyone has a story and music is like therapy, whether you're writing lyrics or just listening to it in your car."

–To hear Stalley's streaming songs, visit www.MySpace.com/MadStalley.