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Grammy nominee Mystic breaks the mold for women in rap. Listen Up Mystic Looms Large By Dove ~Sheepish Lordess of Chaos~ Let your pain go. Mystic has entered your mind and heart to lift the fog of confusion. Possessing an infinite wisdom and sharp wit, Mystic is the new shero for headz who have tired of the Cristal slurping missed-chicks. For ladies, listening to this Bay Area beauty's lilting voice and melodic rhymes is an experience into your Self. Delving into the mind of an intelligent champion of the humanitarian aspect of hip hop is truly divine. As a female mem-ber of the Digital Underground family, Mystic is in good keeping with the eclectic edge of musical authenticity. Her new album, Cuts For Luck And Scars For Freedom, is a blend of soothing strings, truth-seeking lyricism, and soulful vocals that will keep the incense burning and your fist in the air. Born into a culturally diverse family, Mystic found beauty in humanity even as a child. Her love for poetry started early, as did her confrontation with worldly affairs. Mystic's father died of a heroin overdose in 1999. The relationship she had with him as a child was not perfect, but she did find a profound wisdom in the situation. She speaks softly of their bond, "I think the fact just not growing up with him affected my whole life. I got to spend two years with him so I found some peace; some of that three-sixty." While recording the track "Fatherless Child" for her album she brought down her father's ashes and set up altar in recording booth. Writing and recording the song helped to ease some of her grieving and heightened her awareness of how his life and death affected her character. Mystic describes her mother as a "free spirit" and sparkles as she speaks of her, "My mom is so fly I could talk about her all day." A love of music and dancing entranced a pre-pubescent Mystic into the world of hip hop with a tomboyish allure. "I ran quite a bit in the streets. That's where the people I loved were and where I felt comfortable," she explains. She was the ulti-mate homegirl and didn't take kindly to people telling her she should dress "more feminine" in order to be successful in her budding rap career. "There was a time I was in my baggy jeans and baggy shirts and people kept telling me 'If you would just do this' and I was like 'You got the wrong chick.'" She laughs. "I'm a grown­ass woman," she says of her versatility now. She realized that she could rock a tight skirt and still get the same respect, because it is ultimately her character and her talent that matter the most in the game. Her affiliation with Digital Underground took Mystic into a new realm of professionalism in her career. She took up with the band in 1996 and found a new sense of family and friend-ship with them. "I love being on tour. Shock blessed me and let me go out on the road for about a year," she tells of her 1998-99 stint. Her friendship with the magical Shock G has been meaningful to Mystic in many ways. "He's one of the most amazing people I've ever worked with in my entire life. He's a true producer. As a friend he's so knowledge-able," she says with a smile in her voice. Branching out to work with different producers and artists has been a welcome learning experience for Mystic. Cuts For Luck And Scars For Freedom is blessed with the production talents of Shock G, The Angel, A-Plus (Hieroglyphics), The Elements, Chops, Manifest, The Dotrix, Spontaneous, 427 (Cali Agents, Planet Asia), and Amp Live (Zion I). The only guest vocal appearance on the LP is Planet Asia, who rips verses on the Cali anthem "W" with his indelible style. Mystic had a plan going into this project and purposely took things into her own hands. "I started out wanting O.C. and Devin [the Dude] but I decided I wanted to do this on my own. I had a story to tell." Recording her first album was a tremendous release of emotion and thought process. Seeing her work go from basement production to studio wizardry was truly inspiring. She recalls her reaction after hearing some of her studio recordings as being one of the most memorable times in the project, "I had recorded 'The Life' a couple years before in [427's] closet ... being [in the studio] and building it and putting the layers in was very different. I was like, 'Who's that!?'" Even in her modesty, Mystic's breezy confidence is apparent and admirable. The truly amazing thing about Mystic is her ability to put into words the emotions of men and women alike. Her outlook is about "humanity as a whole and not humanity divided" and the beauty of the message shines through in her art. She says to young men, "When you're out in the world, we're right there on the block with you. We've got the same feelings and emotions you do. I really tried to bring that out on my album." Mystic is not afraid of growth or change in her perspective. "Your music is supposed to grow. There's other things I like to talk about than how dope I am," she explains. "Peace of mind is the most important thing to me. I try to keep a positive outlook on the world -- if I didn't, I don't know who I'd be." She spent time teaching poetry and dance to children and feels an innate responsibility toward youth in the world. With A&R assistance from Bahamadia and The Angel, Mystic is working to re-fortify the stigma of women in hip hop. "Hip hop is different than the real world. In the real world, it's very hard to hit the glass ceiling," she says. "When you get on the stage and rock a 20-minute show, they can do nothing but respect you." Mystic recognizes some of the setbacks of being in the public eye, but isn't afraid of stepping up. "Being a public person affects the way people respond to you and affects the type of conversations they want to have with you. There are a lot of things I've sacrificed for [emceeing]." Mystic is a woman of many intrinsic talents, however the mysticism does not materialize merely in her music. She is her own natural muse, an intro-spective cipher of God-given wisdom and exploratory aware-ness. Her voice is enchanting and her words carry weight that most cats only talk about pushing. Mystic brings refreshing enlightenment back to hip hop, and her flare is sure to keep the path lit for the future of other creative emcees. This article appears courtesy of Seaspot Magazine. www.seaspot.com. Dove is the Editor for Seaspot Magazine based in Seattle, as well as a correspondent for Elemental Magazine, Daveyd.com, Rapstation.com, and Rapsheet.com. [ East Bay | Metroactive | Archives ]