Remembering Praverb, a Hip Hop Legend

#RIPPraverb 9.17.2014
Written by: Ben Z @WI608

“Thank you for everything that you taught me...gotta hit you up and talk life...your number still the same?”
“Remember this homie...if you come back I will come back haha”

Summer of 2014 was a rough one for me and I was just under a year into a much needed hiatus from hip-hop so I could focus on my family and living life when those messages from Praverb hit my Facebook wall. Of course I gave them the old thumbs up so he knew I saw them but nothing more at the moment. He was also taking some time off to re-center himself and focus on his wife and son, and I figured we'd link up at some point. About two weeks later he called while I was cooking dinner — so I let it go to voicemail. I was glad to see him reaching out but the kids were hungry and I just figured we'd connect later.

“Hey, babe. Praverb just called. Can you get the kids set at the table while I check this voicemail quick? Thanks.”

It was good to hear his voice and I made a mental note to call him up that week when I had some free time at night...

Instead, like so many others, I woke up a few days later in total disbelief as I read the tweets and posts about Praverb's passing. Stunned and dejected, I went down to my studio, kept the lights off and pulled up his SoundCloud profile. I sat and listened. I sat and cried for his wife and child. I sat and pondered. When I could sit no more I threw on some shorts, grabbed some ear buds and then went outside and ran. I ran to the lakes. I ran through the UW campus. I ran past the state capitol building. I ran all through the east side. I ran for two hours as his vocals washed over me. Through the next week I came across many others from all over the world that knew exactly how I felt. Like me these people had also never met him in person.

So how then is it that Praverb had such an impact? The resounding answer that fills the hip-hop sphere is his astounding selflessness and genuine spirit. He would reach out to anyone in need of a helping hand without hidden motives. Not only that, but he would quickly befriend people regardless of their perceived status or rank. It didn't matter if you were a professional, hobbyist, or a professional hobbyist. Everyone was a friend to Praverb.

“...so this night I'ma spit right, for Praverb who lived life/
right up to the dim light, and blessed us with insight.../” - Ben Z

Nearly a year later I find myself in conference calls, huge email threads, and countless private messages as friends and family work together to honor this man. There are many people with touching stories and fond memories of Praverb. Some of those people include rappers M-Dot, Idiomz da Prophesayer, Awkword, Andy Price of the Bristol production crew - loopholeUK, and Praverb's brother Mike Gaits McNease.

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"I've never, in my whole life, met anyone as selfless as Praverb." - M-Dot

M-Dot - @MDotBoston

Something I will never forget about Praverb and something that I constantly remind myself of anytime I encounter new artists trying to go farther in music, is how he always wanted to offer help. Not just an empty "Yo I got you." Not an opportunistic "peep my stuff” comment. NEVER a "Hey man, support me — I will support you." Rather he would immediately point out people you should connect with. People that he had met in that same fashion as meeting you and thought could further your growth as an MC/producer/blogger or whatever it may be. He wanted to give any guidance he had to offer. That's rarely seen amongst humans in any business sense. Mind you, we are talking about music circles where its just not seen much at all (if ever).

I can remember vividly back in 2004. My crew-mate Revalation had posted some of our music (still at a genesis stage of recording) on a forum where other artists navigated (blogs were not as prevalent as today). We weren't getting too much love on there to say the least and I was discouraged. Sure enough, who is at the bottom of the feed of comments? Yup it was Earl (Praverb).

"Stick with it, keep working on getting it in pocket."

We became friends, immediately exchanging phone numbers and talking often. He'd constantly be giving me advice.

When he called to tell me his wife and him were having a baby and wanted some advice (knowing I had kids), I paused. It's rare I am at a loss of words. To this day I've never been more proud to offer anything I might have picked up from parenthood to him. That's how grateful he made you feel. So good that you wished he'd ask for anything, as you would feel actual joy in giving anything back. He had the secret — it is giving back — and he embodied that. Selfless is a gross understatement of how he lived his life.

Fast forward to September 12th, 2014 (almost 10 years to the day after I first encountered P in a forum). I was now returning from my fifth tour of Europe and I saw a message on my wall: "I see you Shining." Of course it was my friend once again encouraging me. We texted a few times during the next days planning to catch up. Unfortunately we never had that chance. I have few regrets in my life, and one is however missing his call the night that he passed away. The next morning I got the news that he was gone. I cried for hours and locked myself in my basement.

I made the song "Praverbs" and released it that same day. I miss him more than words or any song could begin to even illustrate. I always feel connected with him . To this day I still see him helping myself and others.

In December of 2014 I finally made a SoundCloud page. (Finally! as Praverb had been telling me to do so for years). I started to upload a few songs and searched to see if any of my songs were already previously uploaded. I came across some of my tracks being uploaded and promoted on another artist's page. You can guess who that was. He had promoted me when I didn't even know it!

Idiomz da Prophesayer - @Idiomz

It was around 2008 when I first heard any music by Praverb. He had Just dropped “Center of Attention” and I was instantly hooked. Around that same time, I was returning to being an emcee after an extended hiatus.

I’m not sure through which medium I reached out to Praverb, but I remember sending him a message and asking him if he would consider doing a collaboration with me. I had done some research and discovered that he was from the DMV, which is where I am from, and I knew immediately for that reason and his mic skills that we had to work together. He responded back almost immediately and asked me to send him my concept for the collab and the track that I wanted to use. I was pretty excited for a lot of different reasons, so I wasted no time sending him what he asked for. Again, he responded almost instantly. His response, however, was not what I expected: he declined. He said that he wasn’t feeling the beat. If I am being honest, my feelings were hurt. So at that point, I decided I would leave it alone and move on.

Maybe a month or so later, I received a message from him. It was nothing more than a “Hey, how you doing? I hope all is well.” I was shocked! I had been reaching out to many other artist at the same time, and very few, if any, would respond, let alone follow up to see how I was doing. I figured if someone like Praverb The Wyse took the time to ask me about how I was doing that I had better take advantage of the opportunity. So I responded. I was hoping initially to be able to tap into his resources and grow my own brand and career from it. The funny thing is that as he and I began to communicate more regularly, the less I was interested in his resources and the more I wanted to get to know the man behind Praverb.

Over the next few years, we continued to communicate on a regular basis, initially through email and social media, but, eventually through telephone conversations as well. We had developed what I consider to be a pretty solid friendship. Even though we had a love of [hip-hop] music in common, very little of our conversations were centered around music. Rather they were centered around family, jobs, school, relationships and whatever else we had going on at the time. I still followed his musical endeavors via social media and Praverb.net. Though I enjoyed his music and his writings, I enjoyed his approach and outlook on life in general just as much.

In 2012 during one of our rare music conversations, he suggested that we do a song together. At the time, I was working on an EP with Icelandic beatmaker King Verse (who Praverb had introduced me to) entitled “The Gemini Effect”. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to work with THE Praverb The Wyse. So again, he asked me to send him a concept and a beat. I had been here before with “P”, so I was a little nervous but my dude King Verse had made a track for me that sampled a piece from one of Praverb’s songs from his “Professional Hobbyist” album. I figured that if I was going to have any chance at all, this beat would be it. So I sent it to him. A couple of weeks had gone by but I didn’t hear anything. I was getting a little nervous because that wasn’t like Praverb to just not respond at all. Towards the end of the third week, I was building up the nerve to ask him what he thought when I finally received an email from him: “Sorry for the delay, bro. Check this out and tell me what you think.” He had recorded his verse to the track and sent me a reference for my approval. I remember feeling like a kid in a candy store with a brand new hundred dollar bill! The song would go on the EP as “Love Music II (The Fix)”, and his verse is still one of my favorite Praverb offerings to this day.

In 2013, I was honored to be able to meet Praverb face-to-face for the first time. He and his family were transitioning to the Tampa Bay area, and he made it a point for us to get together and have lunch. That one meeting turned into several face-to-face meetings, and again, they were less about music and more about being friends. Even though I had been in Tampa for several years by then, I pretty much stayed to myself so, it was refreshing to think that I would finally have a friend that was local that I could hang out with. P was a stay at home dad when they moved to Tampa, so hanging out was a little harder than expected. However we continued to have regular lunch meetings and almost daily telephone conversations.

It was during one of those lunch meetings that I confided in P that I was worn out from the music game. I told him that I was considering hanging up the mic because my level of passion that I was putting into it was not reciprocated in the response that I was getting. What he said to me I will never forget. He said to me (paraphrased) “I have watched you grow as an emcee and I think you would be doing the industry a disservice if you were to walk away now.” Wow. He left me speechless with that.

It was because of his words and encouragement that I decided to give the game one more shot. I launched a crowd funding campaign to raise the resources for my latest project “Renaissance Man”. Praverb offered to help with the entire endeavor from launching the campaign to promoting the album. He is a very important piece of Renaissance Man, and I owe its completion to his constant encouragement and the selfless contribution of his time and knowledge base.

The last time I spoke to P was early in the evening on September 16th. He was excited to tell me about some ideas he had to maximize Facebook interactions in promoting the project. He mentioned that he was a little under the weather and that he wanted to spend some time with Mattie before he went to bed. I had no idea that would be the last time we would speak.

I met Praverb as an emcee. We quickly became friends and that friendship developed into a mentorship. I learned a lot from Praverb: how to improve my artistry, how to develop relationships, how to be patient, and, most of all how to be authentic. The best part about knowing Praverb is that everyone that has ever interacted with him probably has a story similar to my own. For one man to make that much of an impact on people’s lives all across the globe, that is truly amazing. You are truly missed, brother!

[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=2089036525 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small]

This compilation features Awkword, Kev Turner, DJ Grazzhoppa, LX Beats, Don Streat, Sensei Walingh, Vivid, M-Dot, GodzG, Travis Harmon, Tuelv and Jeremiah Bonds. When I initially threw out the idea of the project, there were many more who wanted to participate. Unfortunately, we just could not get everyone coordinated. Praverb meant a lot to so many people.

This project has truly been a labor of love. At the end of the day, I just want to see Praverb's legacy live on. This project is just a small way that we can help that to happen.

Awkword - @AWKWORDrap

I've lost a number of friends in this Hip Hop game over the past couple years. Way too many, but nothing's hit me like the passing of Praverb. I cried for days. No joke. Praverb was the most selfless, genuine person I've met in this industry, and he picked me up on numerous occasions. No matter what I offered, he never wanted anything back — the man just wanted to see me shine. And I have heard this from so many other artists too. The outpouring of love we witnessed when he died is a testament to the kind of artist and person he was. It was an honor to learn from him, to confide in him, and to make music with him while he was still here. As an artist and as a contributor to Praverb.net, I continue to pay tribute to him today, a year after he suddenly left us. And I will continue to do so until I get taken too. Earl Patrick McNease, rest in peace.

Andy Price of loopholeUK - @Looph0leUK

About a month before he passed I had an email exchange with Praverb. I asked him if he minded us doing a remix EP with some of the pellas he had made available from his Professional Hobbyist album. He was up for it and we did start working on the EP, but then sadly he passed. Basically mate, I didn't want to complete the EP if he wasn't going to be around to hear it. So I shelved the whole thing for a while, but over the last couple of months I have completed a remix of one of the tracks. The mix I'm posting to my SoundCloud on the 17th is one of those tracks I wanted to release as a mark of respect for his passing.

Mike Gaits McNease - @MikeGaits

(Quotes taken from www.praverb.net/2015/09/interview-with-praverbs-brother-mike-gaits-mcnease.html)

“Patrick, my oldest sister, and I were raised in foster homes. Living in San Diego, California in the early '90s really opened my eyes to the West Coast vibe. I used to listen to Snoop Dogg a lot. Patrick loved the Fugees and had a thing for Lauryn Hill.” (laughing)

“P and I had a great relationship. We were always close growing up. He was always there no matter what the circumstance. I miss his presence. I miss him calling me at the most random times, just to see how I'm doing or what's new in my life.”

“Praverb was beyond amazing, musically. And he had a major impact in Hip Hop, and in the Social Media community.”

“Blogging is just something he loved to do, and along the way he found that he was actually really good at doing it. Because of that success, he built a huge fan base socially worldwide.”

“I believe it was November, two months after he passed, when Vanessa (his wife) basically handed me the site and told me to carry the torch. I knew from that point on that I had to do something to keep his music and his legacy alive. Especially for the people who were inspired by his presence, and all he helped along the way.”

“The future of Praverb.net will be nothing short of amazing. I am backed by a strong team, and I feel that P is living through us. I want the site to inspire others, and to give starving artists who put their heart and soul into their music, like P did, a chance to gain exposure — because that's what P would have wanted. I want to provide great content, and keep it simple at the same time, as P constructed it."

Teddy Roxpin Beats - @Teddy_Roxpin

Tribute mix I made for my homie Praverb who passed away 9/17/14. One of the first rappers I EVER worked with. He helped me out so much in my career as well as so many others in the hip hop community.

All tracks in this mix are produced by me (some co-production from Chris B.) This is a great showcase of Praverb's work over my early production. Chris introduced me to Praverb when I was working with Chris in Cold Legistics, a production group started by him and I, which was later solely maintained by Chris.

Praverb is survived by his young son Matthew and widow Vanessa. Many people are working to turn Praverb's legacy into financial support for them. A new team including Praverb's borther Mike are planning to use all proceeds from Praverb.net as well as the tribute page on Bandcamp to do this. The already mentioned compilation #PtheWyseVol1 is available for purchase on this page as well as many other projects.

PraverbTribute.bandcamp.com

It is apparent that Praverb lived a life full of love and selflessness. The outpouring from all over the world shows how powerful humility can be. His life was a gift to us all and we will continue to honor his legacy. Thanks to all who contributed to this post in any way. There are too many to name. #RIPPraverb

“If hip-hop has the power to corrupt young minds, it also has the ability to uplift them.” -KRS-One

https://www.facebook.com/Praverb.net

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