Rating:
  Release Date: January, 2007
  Website: Scholar Website
  Label: Else? Where Entertainment

ScholarMan “Candy Medicine” Album Review
This is a true story yo. People often ask me who my favorite underground MC is, and I always give the same answer: Scholar, or ScholarMan, as they call him these days. Now I’d be lying to you if I said ScholarMan was the most talented MC around. I’d be lying if I said that his albums were the highest quality albums I receive or review. I’d be lying if I said he were the best. Nonetheless, he is undoubtedly my favorite. 

His music touches me. I can relate to it. For some reason, it is just real to me, and one of the few examples of “real hip-hop” I’ve encountered in the last two years. And regardless of what those radio cats might think, that means something dogg.

I constantly hear rappers talking about real hip-hop, or how they’re representatives of real hip-hop. Unfortunately, most of those cats simply talk about how they’re real without incorporating anything real into their music. As if real hip-hop is somehow defined by a bunch of songs talking about what real hip-hop should be. ScholarMan is one of those MCs that doesn’t have to talk about being real. He just demonstrates real through his music. And I realized that in a major way this week …

“STAY REAL”
My grandfather passed away early Friday morning. And as much as it hurts that he’s gone, I know that it was just his time. He was less than a month from his 90th birthday. He had survived World War II, three heart attacks, triple-bypass heart surgery, a damn near head-on collision with a moving truck, and all kinds of other ailments to be given the opportunity to kick it with four great-grandchildren. He did everything he ever wanted, and accomplished everything he had ever set his mind to. He ate a good dinner, read a book in front of the TV, kissed my grandmother goodnight, flashed her a smile and went to bed. And that was it homie . the way a man is supposed to go. But once I realized that he was gone, I just couldn’t stop thinking about the last conversation we had.

It was shortly after Thanksgiving, and I was headed back to Denver after visiting the fam for the holidays. More than ever, I had noticed him slowing down, and I think we all knew he didn’t have much longer. His memory was slipping, he could barely hear anything, and it was hard to hold even a simple conversation with him. As I was leaving, I told him I would see him in January for his 90th birthday party. With more response and understanding than he had shown all week, he looked me right in the eye with what appeared to be a sense of concern before responding: “Boy, I don’t know how much longer I have,” he said with a smile on his face. “But no matter what happens,” he paused, ” . STAY REAL.” Stay real … the last two words my grandfather ever spoke to me.

I ain’t going to lie to you dogg … that’s been fucking with me because, looking back, I don’t know what he was trying to say to me. It’s like he knew that we’d never see each other again, and while reflecting on the ninety years he spent on this planet, he only had one piece of advice to give … just one thing to say that summed up everything I needed to know about life: STAY REAL. All of a sudden, I can’t stop thinking about that. Because regardless of how many times I’ve told cats to “stay real” or “be real,” or how many times I’ve claimed that I was “keepin’ it real,” I’m just now realizing that I might not even know what “real” means. I mean, what is it that I gotta do in this life in order to “stay real”?

I tossed and turned in bed that night for hours. In an attempt to calm myself down, I threw in classic hip-hop album after classic hip-hop album: Nas, Outkast, Black Star, KRS-One . the list goes on and on. But for some reason, I wasn’t feeling any of it. I just couldn’t get my mind off what gramps had said last time I saw him. I went upstairs around 3 a.m. and leafed through my huge stack of recently-received CDs, finally stumbling upon ScholarMan’s upcoming album “Candy Medicine.”

As I laid in bed listening to the music, a deep sense of peace came over me. The record’s overwhelmingly soulful yet hard-hitting production seemed somehow to appeal to every sense with which I was battling … from sadness and misunderstanding, to anger and hopelessness, to gratefulness and acceptance. The topics, though not easily categorical due to the wide range of points being discussed, showcased a subtle realism through underlying messages of revolution, inspiration and, ultimately, love. But most of all, the album managed to accomplish the difficult task of allowing me to bump my head while simultaneously helping me to gain, understand and, most importantly, to heal. That night, one verse in particular jumped out at me, and seemed to answer the question that had been keeping me awake:

I could take the easy route out, and rap about asses
But I’d rather rap about political classes
When it comes to fashion I’m thrifty but clean well
Money is the route to all this evil
I hold it down for my peoples with a dream of cream
Mr. Do it All, forget the man between
And lately it seems that the world is getting worse
From the illegal wars leaving the innocent hurt
Should we take it in stride, hide, or get prepared?
Real men stand up and show no fear
Do it for the women and children if nothing else
Stay true to what you feel, keep it real with yourself

Maybe when my grandfather told me to “STAY REAL,” he was trying to tell me that “real men stand up and show no fear.” Maybe he was trying to tell me to “stay true to what you feel.” Maybe he knew that, like many other hip-hoppers, I feel the overwhelming pressure to STAY REAL amongst a world of shallow-ass materialistic money-grubbing scoundrels. That perhaps eternal happiness comes from staying the course.

All I really know is that, in the midst of this tragedy, I haven’t been able to listen to anything but “Candy Medicine” all week, and it has helped me to reflect, learn from, and move past the loss my family has just experienced. And from my perspective, that’s what real is.

I don’t know, man … maybe the album just came along while I was at a vulnerable or impressionable time in my existence. Maybe whichever God I might believe in put it there to inspire me. Or maybe that’s what real hip-hop has always and will always do. Whichever one it is, I am grateful … grateful to hip-hop; grateful to my rapidly yet consistently improving homie ScholarMan; and grateful to the best album he has released to date, “Candy Medicine.” Like real hip-hop tends to do, it may have just saved me this week.

So big ups to ScholarMan. Big ups to hip-hop, perhaps the one true love of my life. Love and respect to my grandmother, who is battling it out with the courage and determination of a queen. And big ups to Evan Ronald Hammond, aka “Uncle Sam.” May he rest in eternal peace. I’ll see you again one day, homie . but not quite yet. And no matter what happens, I’ll do my best to STAY REAL … even if I never truly figure out what that means. Peace.