Photo by Zoe Fotografie
Most likely no Milwaukee rapper has logged more miles on tour than Stricklin. Since lending a pair of verses to New York rap legend Masta Ace’s 2001 comeback album Disposable Arts, Stricklin has accompanied Masta Ace around the world, with repeated runs across Europe, South Africa, Canada and Australia. On some of those tours, he’s served as Masta Ace’s sideman, on others, as his bandmate in the group eMC, along with New York rappers Punchline and Wordsworth, of MTV’s early-’00s “The Lyricist Lounge Show.”
After releasing an album in 2008, The Show, that group fell onto the backburner for a while, but last year eMC returned with a new EP called The Turning Point, their first release for Sony’s Penalty Entertainment label. “2008 to 2014 was a long time to go without putting out music, but we were staying busy,” Stricklin says. “I toured with Ace, and he put out a couple of solo albums, and Words and Punch put out solo albums, too. We weren’t expecting to get eMC back together, but the fans wanted it. After the shows they’d ask, ‘When’s eMC going to drop new music?’ So realizing there was a demand for new music really sparked a fire for us. Then in late 2013 Penalty Records stepped in and offered us a deal.”
Being on a major label has been “a gift and a curse,” Stricklin says, “because they’re much more demanding about deadlines. Before, we could make music and turn it in whenever we wanted to; now there’s a lot more pressure on us.” That puts a particular squeeze on Stricklin, who’s a full-time Milwaukee firefighter. He credits his firehouse coworkers for swapping days off with him to allow him to accommodate his music commitments.
Next month eMC will release its latest album, The Tonite Show. It’s the group’s first album without Punchline, who left last year because of “creative differences,” but like The Show it’s a rapper’s rap album, a showcase for the group’s traditional, New York-style lyricism. And, like most of Masta Ace’s recent projects, it’s a concept album tied together by skits.
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“The album is a fictitious day in the life of eMC as they get ready to perform on ‘The Tonight Show,’” explains Stricklin. “There are a lot of skits set in the green room behind the show, and we’ve got world-renowned comedian Russell Peters playing the host of ‘The Tonight Show’ on some skits, and Rosie Perez and Tony Rock, Chris Rock’s brother, playing the guests on the show. It’s pretty dope—12 solid songs, and I’m proud of every one of them. It’s probably the best project I’ve ever been involved in.”
As part of the marketing behind the album, eMC have launched a campaign to appear on the actual “Tonight Show.” They’ll document their quest to land a spot on Jimmy Fallon’s show through a series of videos on their website, and are encouraging fans to tweet their support using the hashtag #eMCDateWithJimmy.
“We loosely based the campaign on a movie balled My Date with Drew, where this regular guy tries to set up a high date with Drew Barrymore,” Stricklin says. “He sent emails and made phone calls using seven degrees of separation to set up the date, so we’re taking the same approach, playing whatever cards we have and filming episodes as we make the calls and send the emails.”
Does he think the campaign will really land them a “Tonight Show” gig?
“I think we’re gonna do it,” Stricklin says. “It was my idea, so if it doesn’t work everybody will be looking at me.”
