STL (Stress Tha Lyricist), D-Vine and I (DeFakto) are three independent solo entities within music. Stress is an emcee/songwriter/beat composer who is a part of Sound Council with one solo album under his belt (and his second one to be released any minute now, if not before this write-up surfaces). D-Vine, who is Stress’s brother, is a singer, songwriter, producer and engineer and almost finished a solo project of his own. I’m DeFakto, an emcee, songwriter, and beat composer and the founder of Sound Council. We’ve all worked together a ton between the brothers featuring one another on songs and me having them on songs of mine. Stress and I even worked on and nearly completed a group project called Revenge of the Nerds? that we scrapped and never released due to difficulties with getting features recorded and not releasing the album in a timeframe that we were comfortable with. After consistently vibing in the studio where we all knockout our main material, we agreed to work on an album together. This was intentionally going to differ from the solo work we’ve each done in terms of an entire project. The idea was to make something smooth and chill that was clean, "ignorance-free" and easy for most to enjoy. Thanks to the fine vocals of D-Vine (and guests), the album would have an obviously heavy singing influence to the point of us officially dubbing it just a music album that happens to blend elements of hip-hop, R&B, soul, and pop.
STL and I go by "DeFakto & Stress" when we do tandem work musically. To add another separate name to that would just be too long and wouldn’t sound right. Without forcing it and over-thinking, we came up with Allmanact. Phonetically, it is a play on "Almanac," which is a reference for what was and can serve as an indicator of what will be. Musically, we hope to at least scratch the surface in terms of that on some minor level if nothing else. Further though, the name reads "All man act" when broken up. With that, we encourage (and hope to inspire and motivate) all people to make moves and do something rather than doing nothing. Finally, we are a group of just three guys, or an all man act. So it seemed fitting to simplify things and make the album self-titled. As far the ins and outs of each song, here it goes (in the order that they were recorded)…
"Gone" (prod. by S.T.L.)
This was the first number that we recorded for the album. Stress sent me the beat to check out via email. As much as we hate to categorize music, he is definitely the most in tune with "mainstream" and "commercial" stuff between the three of us and he made the beat. Stress also likes to rhyme fast more so than I do, which is the natural calling for this one. Upon first listen, I felt like it was a track that I’d never pick for any solo work of mine. It had a commercial RnB boy band feel to it. I played it a few times and actually liked the idea of the challenge in terms of how I could attack the track and get busy on it. It was also different in that I had no idea what the end product was supposed to sound like because Stress came up with the hook and all, but just told me what the concept was. Normally, I can hear the final product in my head beforehand, but I had no idea what to expect here outside of knowing the subject matter. Thankfully, we have a chemistry and trust level that allows us to develop ideas and record with varying approaches. So those things made this song fun and we like the way it came out.
"Smile" (prod. by S.T.L.)
Stress did this track. He had the hook to go with it. I liked the combination of the subject matter, mood and tempo of this one when it was just an instrumental and idea, so I was really comfortable with the lyrics I came up with. D-Vine warmed it up, putting just the right touch on the song with the hook.
"The Little Things" (prod. by Will)
I had been sitting on this beat for a long time. I got it on a beat CD from a friend via his friend. The CD had many gems on it, and this beat was one that I was considering using for a solo joint. Once we began this project, I decided to propose the beat as a possibility to make the cut because the mood was a lovely fit. My train of thought was that the instrumentation made it unique and would give the album production variety and, yet and still, it would be cohesive and make sense sonically. The beat called for substance in terms of subject matter. Stress and I came up with the hook together. I actually had a melody in my head but only had "…the little things" in terms of the lyrics. I hummed and mumbled the melody to Stress and he delivered as usual, coming up with the hook’s lead piece and we each added a few lines therein. D-vine brought the track home with his vocals. As if his voice isn’t remarkable in itself, seeing him work is something else. First off, he mixes and engineers our sessions, so he mans the controls. When he’s up to record, he turns the monitors toward the booth, controls the programs wirelessly with uncanny comfort and records his own takes. He sings effortlessly, knocking out track after track and layer after layer like it’s nothing. Before you know it, he’s out of the booth, back in the "evil-doers chair" [inside joke] and mixing down what is a lovely melodic blend of singing. Dude’s talent and skill is top notch.
"The Other Guy" f/ Del Travar (prod. by S.T.L.)
Del, or "The Other Del" as D-Vine calls him, was a grade schoolmate of mine. I’m not sure how deep he was into music back then, but I knew he could sing. A few years back, I ran into him for the first time since way back in school and found out that he was just as immersed in music as I was. After listening to each other’s work, we talked about a collab. At that time, it was in regards to the tandem album that Stress and I eventually scrapped. I invited Del to a session to bring a different male singing voice to this project. The thought was to have D-Vine and Del Travar come together with their ideas for the hook, its melodies and harmonies. It was funny because Del was really questioning this guest spot to make sure it was worthwhile after I asked him. I appreciated that though because I knew he was serious about his music after his inquisitive line of questioning. Haha. He wasn’t trying to be a part of any nonsense (and I can relate). This track was already written by Stress and recorded by D-Vine in slightly different form. We decided to rework it, add some rhyming to it and Del handled the hook himself. It was crazy when D-Vine and Del were brainstorming vocally. For a guy who can’t sing like me, it was as if they were communicating to each other in another language. It was something to see. Another ill moment was when Del started adlibbing Stress’s verse on the playback and we were all like "Yo, you have to record that!" even though we didn’t think of that beforehand. Then we thought it’d be dope to have Del adlib Stress’s verse and D-Vine to adlib mine to make for two different emcees with two different vocalists on each verse. So the vocal variety was definitely there (and that was even fitting given the song title). The chemistry in this session was incredible though, especially given that Del and his fellow songwriter who sat in on the session were meeting D-Vine and Stress for the first time. Just in discussing music and talking about everything besides the song we were working on, everyone connected so well. That kind of positive energy in our sessions is typical, but it never gets old. The few guests I brought in at different times have all spoken to feeling really comfortable and this was no exception.
"Peace of Mind" f/ L.R. (prod. by Prince G.)
I got a hold of this beat from Prince G. after a listening session at his place. The track’s melody pretty much fed me the hook, as it came to me immediately upon hearing the beat. It’s always nice when the music makes it simple for you. L.R. is a childhood friend of mine who has been into music for quite some time. Though we were exploring music separately coming up, I always heard of his freestyle ability. Coupled with his smoother style and voice (which is definitely different than Stress’s and mine), I figured he’d be a nice change-up for the song. The funny thing is we didn’t really know what to expect lyrically. I just felt like the concept of the song was something that he’d feel comfortable being a part of. We all attacked the track differently, which is typical of Stress and me and something we take pride in. D-Vine did the hook just the way it played in my head when the song was just an idea. It definitely all made for a successful session.
"Assent" (prod. by Boston George)
We all are really proud of this one. It’s crazy because we stumbled across this beat, which we’ll say was on blast and widely accessible for anyone to possibly get a hold of. The person who created this feel good groove was an S.T.L. acquaintance of sorts who shared a few tracks with Stress once before. I’m not sure that any songs came from them linking up then, but I made a call to Stress immediately after hearing this particular beat per his direction. Since he had prior communication with Boston George, I told him to get the green light to use this one. I don’t even think that we realized how dynamic the track would be before we created it, but it definitely set the bar in terms of the albums direction and quality. It was naturally a feel good number that we could have fun with, and I think that translates on the playback. We wanted to give the track movement by splitting verses and going back-and-forth rather than just going three straight verses. There is a comfort level there as we have done the back-and-forth thing on plenty of verses before, and we like to do that as a diversion from the norm (granted, many hip-hop tandems have mastered that style long before we have, but still). Stress and I came up with the hook prior to the recording session and D-Vine really went in on it. I love the chorus! One of my favorite things about this song is that it makes you want to nod your head, clap, snap, dance, rap and sing (and it can be hard to capture all of those feelings in one song)! This is definitely one of the most enjoyable songs I’ve been a part of to date.
"9215" (prod. by Prince G.)
This is a pretty personal track where we bring the listener into our recording studio, which is both a pleasant family home and a very nice de facto home for our music. The song title is the respective street number and the song idea came to life in thinking about how comfortable, relaxed and fun our sessions are. From the equipment to the layout to the procedures, it’s all so familiar to us to record there and bring our song ideas to life. We figured that was worthy of its own track. We wanted to describe the environment and literally welcome all to join us so that each listener could have their own visual to go along with the music.
"Peace of Mind [remix]" f/ L.R., Prince G. and Akilah (prod. by Prince G.)
First off, understand that Prince G. is one rhyming-@ss producer. Haha. Now that I got that out of the way…He provided me this beat on CD. When I played it in my car, I thought to myself "This sounds like a happier version of the ‘Peace of Mind’ joint he did for us." Instantly, we had the makings of a remix. To make sure the remix was right, we figured we’d switch it up with a female vocalist on the hook. Again, that would just make the project more dynamic and still sustain its cohesiveness. Prince brought Akilah to the equation. She sang for me to ensure she was a good fit for the track, granted D-Vine made the execution exceed all expectation when he worked with her on the harmonies to shape the chorus. We all were giving the "Word!" look when we heard her on the playback. As far as the emceeing, Prince called me one day saying that he wanted to rhyme on the project wherever it made sense. So, we added him and brought L.R. back. We wanted to break up the format, so we split up each of the verses. When you have four emcees, there can be a friendly show-off competition factor too. We were definitely listening in attentively when each of us jumped in the booth, especially for the 4-bar back-to-back action. Again though, each of us attacking the track differently seems to make for a good listen. We certainly hope others feel that way.
"Mama’s Boy" (prod. by D-Vine)
Women are a trip! Haha. This song is equally serious and comical given the different elements of it. The idea came to me because without any reason other than curiosity, females sometimes ask guys whether or not they are "mama’s boys" when they are getting to know them. It’s ill though because it’s a leading question, and the label is a good thing in the eyes of some women and bad to others. So I guess it’s a loaded question too. This bit of confusion makes for a good song idea, but why not also have the concept reveal itself to save us from having to talk during the intro? I pulled the sound bytes together, and they are 100% authentic from real conversations in which the women were being genuine with no knowledge of the song idea at first. It was key for the drops to be real. We definitely got some gems too. Apparently, women harbor some type of feelings about this subject. Who knew? Haha. Our job was easy. We just were to speak on the issue itself (not necessarily the preceding sound byte). It was nice for D-Vine to lead off. We all wrote separately. The brothers took a "Love & Happiness" approach and my verse was more along the lines of "Woman, please!" (Love yall!) Again though, the song is real, it’s comforting and it has a bit of humor. The thing is though…D-Vine actually postponed the initial session because he wasn’t happy with the beat that he made for it. So we did another song that night, but he played the beat he made and planned to scrap. We were like "Man, that’s dope! That’s it right there!" He was like "Word?" He really wasn’t sure it was up to par, so we had to point out that it was just the smooth groove that we needed with just the right tempo. We like the end product.
"Playing Games" (prod. by D-Vine)
This was just a fun song conceptually and during the recording phase. The crazy thing is that I came up with the song idea even though I lost interest in and stopped playing video games years ago, as I mentioned in my verse. I have my own fitting memories though, the Harris brothers still game, and I’ve heard many other guys talk steadfastly about video games and lots of females rift about them. So we, as a group, agreed it’d be a real topic for plenty to relate to or at least get a kick out of. Peace to Nicole for being a part of this session. She knocked out the long "fussing" bit in one run and it was right on. She really got into character and had us laughing. We all had a good time and kept it real loose throughout though. I purposely wrote my verse with extreme simplicity just to have fun and be a bit silly. Stress came with a super short story with a comical twist and D-Vine came with his usual smooth. The little argument end piece was the last and chosen of a few different versions because we kept saying something crazy and cracking up laughing in the ones prior. Good times, good times.
"I’m So Sorry [remix]" (prod. by S.T.L.)
Another version of this song was already recorded by the brothers for D-Vine’s solo project. They both felt good about the song, as it meshed well with D-Vine’s other records. Stress wrote that version and he later proposed to us that we use the song as a bonus track or hidden track for our Allmanact album. I wasn’t all that familiar with the song, but trusted Stress and D-Vine gauging the songs cohesiveness in conjunction with the other joints we had done. D-Vine didn’t want to take away from his project by using the same exact version on each, so he pitched the idea of a remake or remix. Being that I wasn’t on the original, we decided that I’d add a verse, Stress would do a different verse and we’d freak the beat differently. I actually linked up with Stress to sit in while he tweaked the beat. The first remix track that he came up with was a bit too similar to the original. The two of us were not completely satisfied with it. S.T.L. then got in his zone a day later and really came up with something fresh. As soon as I heard it, I knew it was a go. D-Vine was feeling the beat as well. That trust factor is a nice element to have within a group and it definitely came into play with this one.
"What Have I Done" f/ Helena (prod. by Boston George)
This was another track from Boston George that we really liked. We felt that it would fit but only make sense sonically towards the end of the album. The sounds sort of take you away when you hear the beat and it still calls for something reflective content-wise despite the tempo. Before even penning the song, we thought to bring Helena in for this one. She’s been a part of several Sound Council recordings over the years as a guest vocalist and we always have fun in our sessions. Again though, it’s never about doing collaborations just to do them. We thought her voice would be a great fit to enhance this particular song. Stress and I worked together on the songwriting after a key piece of the hook came to me while listening to the track. That was the skeleton and the track took on a life of its own from there with D-Vine and Helena working out the intricacies of the vocal arrangements and harmonies in the studio on the spot. As usual, we kept things loose with plenty of jokes and laughs while working (certainly without comprising from the quality of the song). We’re appreciative of it all as it was our pleasure.
"Not Me" (prod. by D-Vine)
This was a simple one. It was all about telling folks who we are by way of who we are not. We wanted it to be consecutive verses personally written by each of us with no hooks to divide them and no prominent adlibbing that would be a distraction from the lyrics. When attempting to connect with others or even when trying to improve one’s self, people tend to focus on what’s not, what’s lacking and what’s missing rather than building upon and accenting what is and what strengths are already there. This is an indirect, round-about way of saying embrace people for who they are. After recording the song, we planned to have a cut-and-scratch sequence done to add that real hip-hop touch to a rather smooth groove.
"Fly School Musical" f/ Julee Harris (prod. by Prince G.)
I was sitting on this track for my solo project and, one day, decided to pitch it to the group. Prince G. did a great job with the composition, for it already had a life of its own. I thought the fun circus feel it had would make our album more dynamic and still be very fitting towards the end of the project. As if the brothers’ musical talents and skills were not enough, the sister of the Harris boys sings too. They wanted to bring her, Julee, in for this song and I thought it was a great idea. The concept, for lack of a better word, was based upon having no real concept at all and just celebrating being free and fly at the same time. We just wanted to have fun. We were going for that flying high vibe so as to embrace confidence and rejoice in it. It was an extensive writing process between Stress and I because we wanted this one to indeed be a musical for all to sing and play along. We tossed out the standard song format to tie in a variety of rhyme patterns, vocal arrangements, catch phrases, adlibs and etc. D-Vine and Julie met at the minds to develop the harmonies throughout. There was nothing linear about the song layout or arrangement whatsoever. All of the intricacies made it take longer to record than it would some traditionally formatted cookie-cutter material, but we enjoyed putting it all together. A funny note about this song is that the part where I follow Stress’s "…try this right here, my latitude…" is an actual "blooper." You can hear me laugh a little bit after I botch the beginning of that line and the guys thought it was funny and natural, so we decided to leave it in the song rather than correcting it. And so it was.
This is the same cast of emcees from the "Peace of Mind (Remix)" on the Allmanact album, which is where this group idea began. Before checking out the group live together for the first time at Jammin Java in Vienna, VA on Sept 26th, give these songs a listen (and certainly right-click to save them for your Ipod pleasure)!
