‘Hometown hero’ Pat Stay branches out from battle rap

Dartmouth’s Pat Stay wants you to know he’s more than just a battle rapper.

Stay, an internationally known actor and battle rapper, is branching out into different creative outlets this month, releasing a song and launching a podcast with other rappers from the Halifax area.

Battle rap is the area of music that propelled popular American rapper Eminem into fame. It’s the process of two rappers freestyling or performing a “diss” about each other. The winner is usually decided from the crowd’s response after three rounds.

Stay’s new song is a departure from the genre of music that kicked off his career. The track, a solo track called “Guilty by Association,” is garnering praise from around the Canadian hip hop scene.

“This song is something I’ve been thinking about for a while and I decided to just do it,” Stay said in an interview.

The song is about negative influences affecting someone’s life. He said it can be an “eye-opener” to look up to people who could end up being the “wrong role model” and guide people negatively.

“This song is about people who make other people think less of themselves,” said Stay.

Melissa MacMaster, the owner of artist management and licensing company 902Hiphop, described Stay as “the world champion of battle rap.”

“He gives back to our community so much, he also gives back to the music and battle-rap scene. He’s a legend and hometown hero,” said MacMaster.

In addition to the song, Stay has a new podcast launching this month called “Stay Tuned,” which he started with fellow Halifax rappers Quake Matthews and Miracle.

“We will just talk about everything,” said Stay.

For the last year, he has been producing a comedy show called Unreasonable Rob, which can be seen on YouTube and social media.

“I’m always staying busy one way or another. Anything I can do to get my creative juices flowing, I do it,” said Stay.

“Even when I was young, I would come home and type my feelings out on a keyboard for hours and the keyboard was unplugged … even though it wasn’t going anywhere I always needed to express how I felt. It’s very important to me.

Stay said he enjoys living in Halifax and giving back to the community.

“The farther I go from Halifax, it seems like the more I am known, but I love it here. I haven’t found a reason to go anywhere else,” he said.

Stay’s music has reached people around the world, including some with big names.

In 2015, acclaimed hip-hop artist Drake skipped the Grammys to watch a battle rap event Stay was participating in.

“That was a blessing and an honour. I won that title match and it was an honour to do it in front of Drake,” said Stay.

Even Shaquille O’Neal noticed him and gave him a shoutout on Twitter, trying to convince Stay to battle rap his cousin. Stay did it, and won.

On Ranker.com, Stay is listed as one of the top-rated battle rappers in the world, falling just under Eminem.

He has one piece of advice for up-and-coming artists. Work.

“If you’re making a beat, release it and then make 5,000 more. If you have like 10 songs out and you think they are good, well, make a lot more,” he said.

“The best people in this industry are working hard, every day. It’s a grind.”

Stay is grateful for his international presence. When asked who he has to thank, he responded without hesitation.

“I had mostly negative influences around me. You know, some people that wouldn’t be genuine,” Stay said.

“I had to do most of it on my own, I didn’t have a push. But I have my mom to thank.”