Praverb the Wyse: A DIY Music Writer Passes
Earl Patrick McNease, better known as Praverb the Wyse, passed on September 17. I didn't start checking out his DIY industry blogging until this summer and I was late to the news of his passing as well. But the response on Facebook and in the hip hop press makes it clear how deeply he touched the lives of many different people. Here are a few of those responses followed by links to some of Praverb's writing for DIY musicians.
Note: A GoFundMe campaign to cover funeral costs is in progress and about halfway to goal.
Many turned to Praverb's Facebook page to share their memories and to connect with the family.
Hip Hop DX shared a note from Facebook written by his wife Vanessa McNease:
"I did not know the extent to which his music, mentoring, random chats, and blogging had on so many, many people. This online community was his world. I can't thank you all enough for everything, the messages, the comments, starting a funding page, the memories you shared, it has all been a blessing to us. It is an honor to see events being created to honor him and his music."
Praverb the Wyse – Stay Schemin (Freeverse) and Playlist
Potholes In My Blog described Praverb's support of DIY musicians:
"You see, therein lies what made Earl such an amazing person. He wasn’t doing any of this for himself, and that made it abundantly clear that this was a man who was so passionate, kind, giving, selfless. He wrote that post along with dozens more at his own website and elsewhere to provide assistance to underground artists. His articles were always about putting other people on, whether it was beat-makers needing tips for self-promotion or simply rounding up blogs he believed would post any artist’s music."
And from Kevin Nottingham:
"Patrick was not only an artist, but a true ambassador for Hip Hop. He was extremely dedicated to helping independent artists and willing to lend a hand to anyone who asked. He routinely shared incredible advice for anyone using the DIY approach."
Praverb the Wyse: DIY Music Industry Writer
I found out about Praverb's passing from a post at DIY Musician. They share a list of his guest posts including three that speak directly to surviving adversity:
How to live your dream without a support system
10 ways to support your favorite artists when you’re broke
How to remain upbeat despite low album sales
And from Praverb.net:
Series: 5 Tips for Getting Blog Coverage
Promoting Beats on YouTube: The Top YouTube Channels for Beatmakers
39 Amazing Ways to Market Your Album In a Week or Less
Top Hip-Hop Blogs for Artists Without an Online Presence
About Praverb the Wyse
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch) recently launched DanceLand. Send news about music tech startups and services, DIY music biz and music marketing to: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
I only recently connected with Earl on Twitter and I too only just learned of his passing, but he will be missed nonetheless.
Here’s just one of the remarkable things about Patrick/Praverb/PTheWyse/Earl (I asked him once how he preferred to be addressed). He wasn’t just beloved in the Hip Hop community. He was appreciated and respected in the community of online music marketing bloggers and consultants – most of whom, like me, aren’t black, urban, and male. Yeah, I’ll say it because no one else will: Patrick crossed the color and gender line with his advice and his no-BS writing – both long form (blog) and short (Twitter). That’s rare in the music world, where so much advice flies around, yet most of the time it stays strictly within the silos of music genre – hip hop in hip hop, country in country, rock in rock communities. But Patrick didn’t care what color or gender you were. Whether you were his colleague, peer, advisee, or friend, he was a professional who spoke the truth about what he saw in the music industry, and shared generously what he had learned. He was also a thoughtful and talented musician. He could be a little gruff sometimes, but he was a real person. I think that shone through in his online presence. That’s why so many people who never met him except through online interactions felt the sadness of his leaving us. He was a genuine human being, a good person, someone who told the truth in a world that is full of posers and pretenders, hustlers and hopefuls. My two most recent interactions with Patrick were to ask him to contribute to my 25 Music Experts Advice on Releasing and Indie CD, and then to personally ask him if he had composed any music about the Ferguson situation. He contributed to my blog post, and then replied about Ferguson that he had not written any music, because he didn’t feel he knew enough about the situation to write about it. I respect that.
Solveig, thanks for sharing.
Definitely thought inspiring though I don’t want to put things into words at the moment!
An unusually awesome human being; he will be missed and leaves a huge void in his wake.