Without a bullet:
Unlikely Deltonans team up for shot at rap artist stardom
CHRISTINE GIRARDIN
The Daytona Beach News-Journal
STAFF WRITER
 News-Journal/CHAD PILSTER
The song by Lillian Stabile and Adrian Sutton will be part of a CD that will go to area schools. |
DELTONA — By no means is Lillian Stabile a huge fan of rap music.
The white, 54-year-old grandmother fancies something with a little country twang. She’s even penned a couple of songs for a local country radio station.
Always writing, Stabile recently tried to break away from her usual fare of slide guitars and heartbreak. Boy did she ever, and with the help of an unlikely partner.
A rap song contest with the theme of preventing gun violence sparked Stabile’s interest. What quickly emerged were most of the lyrics to “Put a Face on Gun Crime,” a tune that when paired with the vocal styling of Adrian Sutton, 22, became one of 10 winning entries in the Rap Against Violence contest. It was launched by the State Attorney’s Office of Brevard and Seminole counties.
Friends and family had an immediate reaction to their win.
“They all thought it was strange that a white grandma could win a rap songwriting contest,” said Stabile.
The Deltona residents are something of an odd couple. Sutton is a young, black college student. But Stabile and Sutton met through contacts at the Deltona Arts Center, where they recorded the demo tape this summer.
The two will be re-recording their tune next week under the guidance of a professional producer and engineer at Trans-Continental Records, owned by Lou Pearlman, the man who launched the Backstreet Boys. Stabile and Sutton will arrive at the Orlando studios in style, via limousine, and have six hours to get the recording finished, said Ryan Bukowski, studio manager.
All 10 winners are getting the same treatment, and the final product will be a CD that can be distributed to area schools and through educational programs, said Norm Wolfinger, Seminole and Brevard State Attorney. Everyone involved in the project, from the studio to the singers, has donated their time and effort, Wolfinger added.
It’s yet another musical break for Sutton, who in 2000 was featured in a pilot Disney television show. He comes from a musical family and hopes to turn this latest opportunity into a musical career.
“I think that this recording is really going to boost my reputation, not necessarily as a rapper, but as an entertainer,” said Sutton, who also writes and performs his own brand of rhythm and blues, and hip-hop music.
None of the winners in the Rap Against Violence contest will be paid for their participation, but Stabile said the recognition and chance to help prevent violent crime are enough reward for her.
“If you shoot one person it affects a whole family,” said Stabile.
That’s one of the themes Wolfinger is hoping to spread through the Rap Against Violence CD, which is expected to get airplay throughout Central Florida on radio station 102 JAMZ. Contest winners represent six counties.
“Music is meant to communicate a message. This is just turning hip hop around to what it was in the beginning, about neighborhoods,” said Wolfinger. “You can have a good message, but you gotta reach the people.”
Did You Know? *Rob Thomas and the members of Matchbox 20 actually started as a popular Orlando band during the 1990s under the name Tabitha’s Secret. *Limp Bizkit’s front man, Fred Durst, started the band in Jacksonville in the 1990s. *Alternative rock band Creed was formed in Tallahassee in 1995. SOURCES: News-Journal archives, www.creed.com |
'Put a Face on Gun Crime' “10, 20, life is what they say. Get caught with a gun you’re gonna pay. You rob, you murder, you’re going to jail. Once convicted, you ain’t getting no bail. There’s many faces you can put on gun crime. But the face of this criminal has to do hard time.” — Lyrics by Lillian Stabile and Adrian Sutton and reprinted with their permission. |