By EMMA KISSANE – Managing Editor
Clarke Central High School senior Emanual Hunter has had music on his mind since middle school and has recently released his first mixtape titled “Sell My Dreams.”
“This is ‘Sell My Dreams.’ You know what I’m saying, you know who it is.”
Since his middle school days of rap battles and lyrics scribbled on notebook paper, Clarke Central High School senior Emanual Hunter has been musically-minded.
In the summer of 2011, when a music contract in New York fell through, Emanual was motivated to take his musical career into his own hands. On October 21, he released his first mixtape, complete with 12 tracks, entitled “Sell My Dreams.”
“On this CD, it was just me. There were numerous time when I would try to do something with other people, but it’s not good working on other people’s time. I feel like if I would have waited on someone else, it wouldn’t have happened,” Emanual said. “I just had to do it myself.”
As Emanual has matured, he has refined his musical taste, style and habits. Past the days of “kid stuff ” in middle school, he now drafts his lyrics in a device, such as a cell phone or computer, to keep them safe. Emanual is inspired by artists such as J. Cole and Drake, but his priority is to keep his work original. He describes “Sell My Dreams” as a hybrid of rap and hip-hop.
“Before this summer happened, I had the idea to sing and rap at the same time. And then when Drake came out around the same time, I felt that if I was to pursue that, people would think (he) was the person I wanted to be. I felt like I had the dream but he was the first one to explore it,” Emanual said.
Emanual admires professional artists, but he avoids rapping about the generically popular topics their songs discuss. Instead, Emanual’s focus is rapping about himself and his own experiences. “Myself: that’s the only message and that’s the only place I can rap from. I can’t really rap about selling drugs because that’s not something I have done,” Emanual said. “I just try to keep it something about my life. I feel like I put out something real. I don’t try to be something I’m not.”
Emanual began seriously planning his mixtape in the summer of 2011 by writing lyrics, saving money and building connections with local producers and studios.
The production of Sell My Dreams was managed by Chris Jones. The CD was recorded and produced at former CCHS student Devon Morrison’s home-recording studio. Photographer and 2011 CCHS graduate Nigel Jackson with Beyond DIGITAL Imaging, a local photography service founded in May 2011, created the cover art. Jackson also served as a mentor to Emanual throughout the process, having known him previously.
“I was the person to help out and make sure everything came out smoothly and how he wanted it to,” Jackson said. “I (encouraged) him to keep trying to push it and I made sure he kept going.”
Emanual originally considered collaboration with other student-artists, but quickly found this method unproductive.
“Certain people my age (make music) and they don’t do it for the right reasons. The things that they say in the songs (have) the wrong purpose,” Emanual said.
In addition to his responsibilities as a high school senior, Emanual had to budget his time between planning production and sales of “Sell My Dreams,” including saving the money to pay his manager, producer and photographer.
“I have two jobs, so it all worked out,” Emanual said. “I often (worried) about if I was going to have enough money but it all worked out.”
Emanual has big plans for his future in the music business, during the remainder of his high school career and beyond. He plans to record his next CD at Pigpen Studios, located in Athens, Ga. and managed by producer Daniel Collins. Pigpen has recorded such up-and-coming local artists as “crossover” band Crane and hip-hop group Maximus. Eventually, Emanual would like to adopt music as a career.
“I want to do music after I graduate high school, but I’m going to balance it out (and) try to do school so if the music doesn’t work out I have something to fall back on,” Emanual said. “But I
feel like I’m going to do whatever it takes to be successful (in the music business).”
But for now, Emanual is working his way to the top by truthfully telling his own stories.
“I really get (my music) from life experiences. I really wanted to do it because of the people,” Emanual said. “When I was younger, I used to always look up at people (and think), ‘What they’re doing, that’s something I want to do.’ I never used to strive (for success), so I just had to get rid of my pride and do it.”
