“So put your lighters in the air for the only lonely writer, Shy B….”
Complex yet simple; ferocious yet conservative; mainstream yet underground; African-American and Jewish, Hip Hop artist Shy B is a study in contradictions.
Born in Oakland, California, to inter-racial parents who married in the 1960’s, when inter-racial marriages were still illegal in California, Shy B identified with being a rebel at an early age. He also developed a passion for words, rhyming, poetry, stories and song. It is this passion which manifested itself with rhyming on street corners in ciphers and ultimately led to his decision to pursue music as a career.
To introduce Shy’s music and unique background to the world can be complicated, nevertheless crucial. So he decided to create a video trilogy of his songs “Desire”, “Take It Faster” and “Fuck The Truth”, released one at a time, to tell the story. “The videos are semi-autobiographical” says Shy. “I wanted to come out in a way that was authentic to myself, was doing the music justice and was doing my life justice. I didn’t want to come in and portray some character that had nothing to do with me because my music is pretty vulnerable and pretty truthful. I wanted the videos to reflect a lot of my life.”
Shy’s music is just as diverse as his life. His influences span from Billy Stewart and Hall & Oats to Tupac, KRS-One and Jimmy Cliff. A typical Shy B composition will contain synthesized electro sounds, heavy hip hop drums, stadium rock guitars, melodic hooks and are always accompanied by a confident delivery. Shy is completely involved with production of his music by writing, co-producing and sometimes even assisting in the engineering process. “I usually get inspired by a feeling, thought or revelation and put pen to paper and the song writes itself” says Shy. Accompanied by producing partner ChuckHeat, whose credits include Andre 3000, Snoop, Devin The Dude and Ray J among others, Shy’s music is in good hands while constantly growing and expanding.
The release of three songs and three videos also gives Shy the ability to address and build the different areas of his fan base. The first release “Desire” is directed more towards the “heads” who are passionate about rhyming and hip hop whereas the third release “Fuck The Truth” is much more universal with thought provoking, underlying meaning. The second release “Take It Faster” which will also be the commercial single is a hybrid of the two. Conceptually, it is “an ode to the rebels, the James Deans, the Tupacs” says Shy. “I grew up in the Tupac generation and had the fantasy to be like Tupac. “Take It Faster” was inspired by that feeling, the things I used to do and the way I lived, burning really bright, but extinguishing at an early age.”
In the end, the complexity of Shy, his life and his music, is really not that difficult to understand at all. He is a byproduct of his background, upbringing and varied experiences. It is this background which allows him to relate and touch a variety of people with his music. “I want to do a show where 25,000 people know the words to my songs. I want to sing and rap the world up! ...So put your lighters in the air for the only lonely writer, Shy B.”
