New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The cross-cultural songwriter and rapper known as Sha Dra ELAV8 has released his latest hip-hop single, "Moccasins." The track is the most significant official release from Sha Dra ELAV8 since his 2012
September video release, "Be Like Water." Sha Dra's new single, "Moccasins," has an approximate listening time of three minutes and has been released on the ELAV8 music record label.
Sha Dra (pronounced Shah-Drah) is the abbreviated name of Shaman Dragon, written 玄武 in Kanji. Sha Dra composes hip-hop back beats for urban poetry he writes and raps, himself. A skilled artist in many different mediums, he is also the producer of his own, popular music videos which garner hundreds of views on the
Internet each month. An official music video for "Moccasins" has been promised to appear on his official YouTube channel (see link below).
Sha Dra ELAV8's style of music eschews unnecessary ornamentation in favor of straightforward delivery, no-frills production value, and a heavy emphasis on wordplay. His lyrics, suitably, are extremely well orchestrated for maximum effect in terms of both rhythm and meaning. They are often explicit and always intelligent. Being a person of mixed heritage dividing his time between Taiwan and Houston, TX, his themes tend toward the socially conscientious, revolving around the concepts of identity, self-awareness and self-actualization.
The title and chorus refrains for his new single, "Moccasins," comes from a proverb often attributed to Native American tradition: "You don't know a man 'til you've walked two moons in his moccasins."
Sha Dra writes of his impetus for writing "Moccasins" with the modest good nature that is part of his characteristic tone.
"Basically, don't judge people by their appearance, because appearances can be deceiving. People should feel free to be as weird or different as they walk, because there's really no such thing as normal."
This seemingly innate grasp of human nature, mixed with a stoic sort of compassion, runs through all of Sha's material and suggests an uncommon understanding of himself.
"I'm about as weird as it gets," he writes.
Sha Dra ELAV8 cites as main artistic influences the Beatles, the Doors, Outkast, and UGK.
"Moccasins" by Sha Dra ELAV8 is available online worldwide beginning 5 December 2013. Get in early.
The single "Moccasins" is distributed globally by MondoTunes (www.MondoTunes.com) and is available at iTunes r www.top40-charts.com for convenient purchase and download.
