Spryte the whole story:
Shuffling between family members in rural Pulaski, a small town in Wisconsin laying claim to nearly two thousand people, Mary Kay was swayed by the beat at a young age. As an impressionable child she was captivated by pop stars on music television and rap music soon took hold." What really turned me around was RUN DMC talking over beats. I was hooked," she remembers. At the formative age of nine a family friend drove her to bustling Milwaukee to see Run DMC perform at summer fest. "After that, all I could think about was rhyming, Id rap at home, I'd rap at school I remember in sixth grade, my friend Nicole and I did an oral report on the Egyptians. I got the instrumental for the Beastie Boys Paul Revere and rapped about King Tut," Mary smiles as she remembers. Mary Kay spent most of her Middle School years buying cassette tapes and practicing her timing and delivery over the instrumental b-sides. A barn was her stage, her brother and sister her adoring audience, and a pilfered screw driver her utilitarian microphone. She memorized verses and would recite them for anyone willing to listen. Ice Cube, Too $hort, Tone Loc, the Pharcyde, Beastie Boys, Slick Rick, DJ Jazzy Jeff,The Fresh Prince, and EPMD blared through her headphones. She had fallen in love with words; the way they fall off of your tongue, the way you can add to the music and the quicker she could rhyme the better. She trusted her Adidas shell tops, baggy jeans, and gray hoodies to eliminate her femininity in the hip hop game. She was going to be a rapper, and MC Spryte was born.
After her parents divorced, she spun uncontrolled and unchecked. She began to doubt the existence of a higher power in her life, after the death of five friends at the young age of 12, and insisted on testing her own limits. "I started running away from home, smoking cigs, hanging out at night clubs, smoking grass and doing whatever I could to get away from the situation at home," she recalls. By her sixteenth trip around the sun, she had been arrested a number of times. She was running drugs, getting in fights and quickly learned the cold ways of the streets. She earned her place within the family structure offered by a group of Gangster Disciples, from Milwaukee and Chicago; their home became her safe place. She was comfortable as the only white face in a crowd because her brothers had her back and her front. "They taught me how to keep myself respect while hustling and being a female. I earned my place in the crew," she continues, "I look back now and realize how lucky I am to be alive. I'd had my Jordan's taken from my feet, and guns thrust in my face to intimidate me or test my loyalty. Dirt is dirt, and sometimes the streets get pretty dirty." It was around this time that she won her first freestyle battle in Milwaukee. It was possibly Hip Hop that kept her newfound family together.
Being a runaway put strain on her blood ties. The cops would return her to Pulaski whenever she found herself in their custody, and her mother responded with anger and tears. At nightfall, Mary Kay would find herself on the run once again. Her brother and sister began to resent her for the pain she was inflicting upon their mother, and her father didn't seem to mind as long as he wasn't bothered by a phone call from the precinct. " My grandmother, Audrey bailed me out of jail more than once. She always saw the good in me, no matter how much bad I did," Mary reminisces. I kept my nose clean, my ears open, and put in foot work like I was told.
By the time Spryte turned twenty, she had turned over a new leaf. The boys she had been running with had all dispersed; had babies, moved away, or found themselves in prison. She began supporting herself through various serving positions, and trusted her mic skills to move her along a new path. If a battle was available in a club, I jumped on the mic to represent women and my hometown of Green Bay. She honed her freestyle technique because in her world, credibility on the streets is worth more than a multimillion dollar deal. Outside of her comfort zone, Spryte was introduced to techno, breaks, and jungle beats. She began collaborating with friends that spun records and created Daydreams, her own promotional company to promote Midwest DJs. She has made her presence known and shared stages with the likes of Dj Scribble, Jazzy Jeff, Frankie Bones, Paul Anthony and countless other underground talents. She has rocked the mic throughout the Midwest, hosting and free styling in front of thousands and doesn't back down from an opportunity to battle and be heard. The crowd loves her; she has energy and a genuine essence and presence that shine like a light from a light house. Founder and CEO of Raw Riddle Records Spryte promoted local emcees and Dee jays for years throughout the Midwest and made her mark as a promoter and business woman.
However, in 2009 Spryte got a reality check when arrested for her 2nd owi, alone that night at her apartment she realized she had to stop drinking and using drugs or she was going to kill herself or worse someone else. Spryte cried and prayed alone in her room that night and had no idea the plans God had in store for her. The next morning Mary Kay made the phone call that changed her life, to Volunteer coordinator at Harmony Café, Jesse Heffernan, and asked about Recovery Meetings. Spryte had been the Hip Hop Coordinator at Harmony Café for 2 years and knew Jesse had been clean and off drugs for 8 years. Mary Kay started attending meetings with a newfound outlook on life. Obtaining her high school diploma and enrolling at University of Wisconsin Fox Valley she is graduating in 2012 with an Associate's Degree with an emphasis in Psychology. On a cold Sunday morning in December 2010 Mary found herself at Pathways Church in Appleton Wisconsin and under the leadership of Pastor Brad Liebe she has recommitted her life to Jesus Christ and has dedicated her talents to praising God and spreading the good news of Recovery. Spryte made the commitment to Christ on February 20, 2011 in the act of water baptism. Currently enrolled full time in school she is working towards her Bachelor's Degree in Ministry and Addictive Counseling. July 28th 2012 is the date of her first full length Christian Album entitled "The Walk" being released by Raw Riddle Records and Entourage A People Company. Mary Kay is also the founder of R and R ministries, (It's a relationship, NOT a religion) and plans on spreading the Spirit of Spryte to the masses thru books, ministry, music and the magnificence of the Word. With newfound spiritual guidance and the ability to create her own safe place, Mary Kay aka Spryte has found a way to overcome the indiscretions of her misspent youth.
