The Story
Inspectah Deck is known worldwide as one of the sharpest MCs in the Wu-Tang Clan. On StarPower Collective, he talked about music the way most people never hear him talk about it: as therapy.
His earliest memories belong to his mother. She kept a stack of 45s with her initials written on every record so everyone knew whose they were, and she kept the house full of soul. Stephanie Mills was always in his head. As a kid in junior high he also played piano and violin, and he says he wants to get back to the keys.
Curtis Mayfield sits at the top of his list. Deck admires him as a Black man who wasn't afraid to be Black on record, and as an artist who let the beat ride for two minutes before the first lyric, putting you in a trance. He says he takes that same approach into his own rhymes.
He calls himself a child of the '70s, from Tarika Blue's "Dreamflower" to the soul records that later fed hip-hop's samples, and he still carries that era into his music.
In Inspectah Deck's Words
“I use music as therapy.”
Inspectah Deck
“He let the beat rock two minutes before he even brought the lyrics in. So you're already in a trance.”
Inspectah Deck
On the Playlist
- Curtis Mayfield – "Give Me Your Love"
- Stephanie Mills
- Tarika Blue – "Dreamflower"
Questions & Answers
What did Inspectah Deck say about Curtis Mayfield?
On StarPower Collective, Inspectah Deck said Curtis Mayfield was a Black man unafraid to be Black on record, and that Mayfield's long instrumental openings, which put the listener in a trance, influenced his own approach.
