Self Mastery Project
SELF MASTERY PROJECT: representing the finest in hip hop culture.
SELF MASTERY PROJECT is a collective of creators who come together to hone our vision and share it with the world. We represent positivity but also reality. We believe that music (and life) should be FUN. Our strengths are our consistently high quality, diversity, lyricism, and mutual respect.
Tell me about your history? How did you get where you are now?
Self Mastery Project started off when Akumitae and EnsiteNonStop met in high school in Sacramento, California. Since then, it has grown to encompass an ever-widening circle of artists, utilizing all forms of expression, united by mutual respect our love for hiphop. Basically, we're all friends, and "Self Mastery Project" describes the environment that we create our music in. SMP includes, but is not limited to: Akumitae, EnsiteNonStop, Justice, Bishop, DJ Ironic, D*Cipher, NASA-1, Jeff P, and Miss Maya.
Have you performed live in front of an audience? Any special memories?
So far, the Sacramento/Bay Area. But we'd be willing to travel.
Your musical influences
We just like good music, regardless of what it is. We dig. If you're digging and you're not open-minded, you're going to miss something dope. Our influences are the old-school jazz, blues, and soul music heads. Lyrically, it's on some Del-Big Punisher-Rakim-KRS shit.
What equipment do you use?
MPC-2000XL, ASR-10, Dr. Sample, PlayStation (no joke...the beat generator game), Elisys ADAT, Mac G3 w/Logic RPC, Mac G4 with Pro Tools, Roland digital mixing board, Technics 1200 turntables, Vestax 05Pro mixer, and whatever live instruments we can scare up.
Anything else?
You're probably searching for something, because the stuff you're used to hearing leaves you with an empty feeling. We believe that people are getting fed up with the same 5 wack songs being played over and over again on the radio. They want the return of real hiphop. If you're one of them, you've come to the right place.
Listen to the lyrics, and remember that the sound quality sucks because these are really small compressed sound files. If you buy our music at a show or at our website (www.selfmasteryproject.com), it'll sound 10x better.
