Sinical, born in Weymouth, MA. in the late 80’s was raised by a single mother and his grandparents. He struggled to maintain a relationship with his father from an early age. “The memories are vivid”, says Sinical. “My childhood was parallel. I had this one life at home and another when my mother brought me to visit my father”. In ’93 Sin and his parents moved in together. Shortly thereafter, they married. “In a lot of ways it felt like a broken-home, but I’d rather not go into detail as it’s not my story to tell. What I will say is, that environment made me who I am, for better or worse”. “My love for music is because of my mother. She always had a song playing, whether she was cleaning the house or driving in the car. Wherever she went, I went, I was her little side kick”.
His mom listened to Meat Loaf, UB40, Ace of Base, Ella Eyre, Pat Benatar, Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Def Leppard and all of the other big hair bands. Sinical’s uncle also had an influence on him. Being that they grew up in the same home and are only eleven years a part in age, his uncle was his “idol”. “This one time when I was about four years old, him and I were in his room and I asked, why can’t we be brothers? Just like anyone else with an older sibling, I liked everything he liked”. Sin’s uncle introduced him to Hip Hop. “I may be showing my age a little bit here, but we would listen to tapes,LL COOL J, Slick Rick and Ice-T.” As Sinical grew into a young teenager he began writing lyrics as a way to escape reality. “On the outside I was cool as a cucumber, but on the inside I was dying”.
I was told early on in life not to air out your dirty laundry”. However, being a teenage boy already comes with it’s difficulties. It’s that stage in evolution when we’re like little adults who feel awkward and shy. His behavior quickly spiraled. The once smiling boy, was now seen as a delinquent. The summer leading into High School he moved back to his childhood home with his grandparents. This is where he became Sinical.”I knew nothing about recording music. I found Windows Recorder on my grandmother’s computer and hit the round red button. When I played it backed, I could hear white noise and my voice”.
From there he learned that the computer screen had a built in microphone. The only problem was, he didn’t have beats. “I found this website, Atomic Vocals. It was a forum where people would post their lyrics, beats, songs and discuss Hip Hop”. As Sinical began to scratch the surface early on in his music journey, he asked his grandmother if she would buy him a real microphone. A deal was made between the two of them and off they drove to Radio Shack. “I was in awe. I had never seen a microphone, keyboard or a turn-table. At least not in person. I walked out with the Dynamic Unidirectional Microphone 33-3001”. That summer Sinical pulled many all-nighters. “I remember this one time I went into the kitchen around 4:30 in the morning. My grandfather would wake up at 5 a.m. like clockwork and turn on the coffee pot. I thought it would be a nice surprise if he came down to an already made cup of coffee. A few minutes later my grandparent’s walked in, were obviously shocked that I was awake, sat down, took a sip and instantly spit it back into their cups. We all had a good laugh that day”.
Afterward he locked himself in what was once his childhood bedroom and read anything and everything he could find about creating music. He met people through various websites from around the world, one notably being from Sweden. Rapper and Music Engineer, JOONAZZ took Sinical under his wing. He introduced him to Cool Edit 1.2a and taught him the basics of recording. “That summer meant everything to to me”.High school and the years to follow were some of the most difficult in Sinical’s life. His home environment seemingly continued to worsen and he was ostracized by his classmates. It seemed he didn’t fit in anywhere. He became angry and volatile. He began to talk and dress different and associate himself with those who were labeled as trouble-makers. In his Freshman year he was given the option of summer school or to be held back.
The following year he was repeatedly suspended and eventually given the ultimatum of being expelled or to drop-out. After failing night school Sinical was allowed to return, but a grade behind. During the final months of his short-lived academia, he was placed on the “CHINS” list and The Department of Social Services threatened to step in and remove him from his home. Sinical was permanently expelled shortly after. “Even though my life was falling a part, I was making the best music I ever had during this time frame. I released an album and weeks later I linked with a local record label”. “I spent many nights couch hopping for one reason or another. While the kids I grew up with were out hitting on girls at the mall, going to parties, you know just living that teen-age life; I was struggling to survive. I gradually became the person my parents told me to stay away from. When I was young I played sports year round. I won Little League Championships, Superbowl’s, National Titles and got good grades in school. Now look at me, my friends are drug dealers and I barely made it out of the 9th grade”.
This pattern would continue into Sin’s early 20’s, until he met a girl. On paper it read like a story book; Girl meets troubled boy, he moves in with her, she convinces him to get his G.E.D. and go to College. All of which happened. The darker side of this novel is the run-down apartment, no heat, no refrigerator, no stove and not enough money to eat more than a few times per week. “It was hell. You begin to realize that your harsh home-life can’t be a crutch for your poor decisions. Myself and my surroundings were the direct result of those poor decisions. I spent too many years pointing the finger at everyone else. This became the reasoning behind why I acted the way I did. The truth is, God gave all of us free-will and it’s up to us on how we choose to exercise that gift”. Throughout Sinical’s career there have been many high and low points.
When asked what motivates him to keep going, he said, “Life is all or nothing. I’m constantly analyzing outcomes and planning for each scenario. My level of consciousness elevates daily and I’m well aware of the probability of success in this industry. The tattoo on my neck reminds me who I was, who I am and who never to be again. I love creating music and all the background noise that goes into releasing a record. Without this feeling, I’m empty, I’m not me”.
