Seneca Esai is a young rapper and producer in search of knowledge and fresh ways of expressing his views through music.  Born in Rochester, New York, near Lake Ontario, Seneca represents his hometown with pride.  With roots from across the globe, he tries to honor his multi-cultural heritage through music.  Seneca continually seeks ways to better himself while attempting to bridge gaps and bring people closer together.

    Seneca started playing the piano when he was 6 and has continued his practice of classical and jazz piano.  At the age of 8, Seneca heard his first rap song, “Lose Yourself” by Eminem.  After that he was drawn to the sound of hip hop and started memorizing lyrics and rapping along with his favorite songs.  After hearing “No Role Modelz” by J. Cole years later (in January 2017), Seneca decided to produce his first beat.  Using Gargeband iOS on his iPad and his knowledge of piano, Seneca created his first instrumental track, which consisted of an off beat piano lead and an acoustic drum kit.

    While it wasn’t anything spectacular, he soon fell in love with the art and created a second, more interesting track.  Seeing his passion for hip hop music, Seneca’s father encouraged him to write his first song.  This song was a free verse to the instrumental “Dead Presidents” by Jay-Z.  Writing his first song kindled his passion to create music and pushed him to write 3 more songs in the span of 2 weeks.  For the next couple of months he continued to write and produce various beats and hooks, while at the same time becoming more familiar with his pen, pad, and the Garageband app.  

    After his 14th birthday—in March 2017—he set a goal for himself.  His goal was to release a full length album consisting of 10 tracks of self-produced beats and lyrics before his 15th birthday.  Although this was a tall order, he faced the challenge head-on and got right to work.  

    The first song he produced and wrote was a faster paced, bar heavy track entitled “Rookie of the Year,” which he finished on April 2, 2017.  After that first milestone, Seneca’s creativity hit a roadblock.  

    He attempted to write a slower paced, emotional song, but was unable to finish it.  It wasn’t until exactly 1 month later on May 2nd that he ventured to compose his next song, “Janus.”  He was able to write 3 verses and a hook in the course of 2 days.  This sudden surge of inspiration rekindled his fire and pushed him right back on track.  

    His next idea was to talk about the dangers of obsessing over money and how the love for it can drive anyone to do horrible things.  Taking inspiration from 90’s East Coast hip hop, he created an instrumental with gritty drums and a dark piano sound.  Seneca wrote just 1 verse to that song (“Money Talks”), and then lost momentum.  

    Not wanting to get off track again he went back to what he knew best:  bars.  Creating an experimental sounding instrumental he put his pen to the pad and was able to bang out 2 verses in 1 night.  With no real story to the song he named it “S.O.C.” (for stream of consciousness).  This song brought back his confidence in writing, which helped him complete “Money Talks.”

    He then created another song just 12 days later with the name “This Is It,” which later became “Feed the Beast.”  During the summer he recorded all 5 songs with an Apogee mic hooked up to his iPad.  Unfortunately, due to a busy schedule, he took a 3-month hiatus from rapping and producing.  During this period of time he listened to very little music and strayed further from his goal.  Then, in September of 2017, reality struck.  He realized he only had a half year to write, record, mix, master, and release his album before his birthday in March 2018.  The next 2 months consisted of grinding out song after song while trying to balance school and other activities.     

    Although he had produced everything on his iPad using Garageband, he knew that the iOS device would not be sufficient for recording and mixing.  Then, on December 28, 2017, he picked up a MacBook Pro and installed the digital audio workstation Logic Pro X.  That day marked one of the most pivotal moments of the project.  Even though he had become quite good at using Gargeband iOS, the transition to Logic was not without turbulence.  He spent the entire day trying to familiarize himself with the program, only to become frustrated and resigned to the fact that he would not master it in 1 day.

    With the deadline coming closer and uncertainty sinking in he began to contemplate whether or not he would actually be able to put out his record on time.  With just under 4 months before his projected release date, Seneca had written 9 songs, but had not completed any recordings, and had no mixing experience.  He felt lost.  This uncertainty struck up a conversation with his father.  This talk was emotional and reflective, with Seneca pouring out his feelings of being so close to a goal and so far at the same time.  Then, Seneca’s dad made a proposition.  He said to just release an EP, that way there would be less stress and more time, plus Seneca would still be able to meet his target goal of releasing his original music before his 15th birthday.  

    So that’s what Seneca did, he picked 4 of his favorite songs to be featured on the EP, including:  “Money Talks,” “Rookie of the Year,” “Janus,” and “Feed the Beast.”  He began to rewrite and polish the lyrics, and then started the recording process.  Seneca decided to name the EP Eq Esq, a concept he had developed over the course of writing.  Then Seneca’s father issued another challenge:  write a song about Eq Esq and put the “S.O.C.” song on the project.  Although it was tough at first, Seneca picked up the paper and pencil and banged out the song “Eq Esq” in a weekend.  

    Recording the songs was a different animal in itself.  In spite of the fact that he had recorded rough drafts of the songs on his iPad, he struggled with the delivery and timing.  He finally recorded the songs to his liking and attempted to mix them.  And while he is still trying to improve his mixing skills, they proved inadequate for this project.  So he sought assistance for the mixing and mastering of his songs before sending them off for distribution.

    In the end, the goal was met and he released his first EP on March 16, 2018, before his 15th birthday and a week ahead of schedule.