Socalled
Canadian rapper (born 1976)

Joshua Dolgin (born December 28, 1976), better known by his stage name Socalled, is a Canadian rapper and record producer known for his eclectic mix of hip-hop, klezmer, and other styles such as drum & bass and folk music. A pianist and accordion player, he has taught the latter at Klezfest London, where he has also run workshops in "hiphopkele". He has played with clarinetist David Krakauer's Klezmer Madness!, Michael Winograd and has also worked with artists such as rappers C-Rayz Walz, Chilly Gonzales, funk trombonist Fred Wesley, and Sophie Solomon. Dolgin has Ukrainian, Romanian and Russian roots.
01Life and career
In 2000 he composed music for the documentary film Man of Grease.
Dolgin's Socalled collective and guests celebrated the Jewish Festival of Lights with the seasonal concert "Hip Hop Hanukkah" in 2007. He is the subject of The "Socalled" Movie, a documentary released in 2010 by Garry Beitel for the National Film Board of Canada, which also features Krakauer and Wesley. The documentary includes footage of the first "Klezmer Cruise", in which a boatload of klezmer fans sailed down the Dnieper River in Ukraine.
In 2013, his remix of Moe Koffman's "Curried Soul" became the new theme music for CBC Radio One's As It Happens.
His 2011 recording "Work With What You Got" was co-written by and features vocals by calypso musician The Mighty Sparrow.
Recipient of the Adrienne Cooper Dreaming in Yiddish Award.
02Discography
Albums
- HiphopKhasene (with Solomon) (2003)
- Consensus: Live in Concert (with Beyond the Pale) (2005)
- The So Called Seder: A Hip Hop Haggadah (2005)
- Ghettoblaster (2007)
- SleepOver (2011)
- The Season (A musical presented during the Pop Montreal festival with Yves Lambert, Katie Moore, Rich Ly, Josh Goldman, Yassin "The Narcicyst" and Josh Dolgin) (2013)
- Peoplewatching (2015)
- Isaac Babel's Tales From Odessa: A Socalled Yiddish Musical (2017)
- Di Frosh (with Kaiser Quartett) (2018)
- The 2nd Season (2019)
Singles
- "(These Are The) Good Old Days" (2007)
- "You Are Never Alone" (2007)
- "(Rock The) Belz" (2007)
Self
- The Socalled Movie (2010)
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Socalled”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Socalled.jpg by sflaw/Original uploader was Domestic Correction at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
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