Since the news of Sean Price's passing in 2015, I've come to accept that the loss of Sean P hit me harder than I'd anticipated. I'm on the record saying that I didn't always agree with his stance on various things, and that often times his music (especially as 1/2 of Heltah Skeltah was more of a "guilty pleasure" for me.) At the time, I missed a lot of the subtleties/nuance in his personality and his character, which were clear as day if I'd just paid closer attention. They scream out to me now from his music and in his comedic skits as I continue to look back. I was, however, fortunate to be introduced to Sean P at Southpaw via someone I'd known and respected since '96, and we had a chance to build about some things... I realized I'd had it all wrong. People humble me with their energy and it's a life lesson to see someone for who they are, and not just what you think. I won't say what'd irked me but he was quick to say something to the effect of "yeah, my old heads tell me not to be saying shit like that", with humility. Glad I had that convo before his passing. One of my favorite things about Sean Price has always been his signature delivery. He was well aware of his signature flow, as he described it in his own words in How To Rap 2 (2013), "I got my signature things that I do that you know is Sean P, like most of my rhymes end off with "P!" or "motherf#cker!" So you'll definitely have "P!" at the end of a rhyme or "motherf#cker," I guess [that's] my exclamation point -- "motherf#cker." I got a tendency to stop in the middle of my bar and just be like, "psssh," something like that, I got my own signature things. [And] the beat tells me which way to touch it, I listen to the beat, I just don't try to force no flow on it." I tell artists that rhyming a lot of words - quickly - doesn't make you an exceptional MC... Try to find the pocket; be clever with your wordplay and delivery, too. Last year, I posted a 60+ track playlist with many of my favorite verses/tracks... it's still relevant as ever. Sean Price would have turned 49 today... May he Rest In eternal Peace.
