Socalled

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Socalled

| image = File:Socalled.jpg

| caption = Socalled performing in Montreal, October 2005

| background = solo_singer

| alias =

| birth_name = Joshua Dolgin

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1976|12|28|mf=yes}}

| birth_place = Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

| origin = Montreal, Quebec, Canada

| genre = Jewish hip hop, klezmer

| occupation = Rapper, record producer

| instrument = Piano, accordion

| years_active = 2003–present

| label = Piranha Musik, Label Bleu, Dare to Care Records

| associated_acts =

| website = [http://www.socalledmusic.com/ socalledmusic.com]

}}

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".{{cite web|title=Who's Who in KlezFest, Ot Azoy! and the Jewish Song School 2005|work=Jewish Music Institutes|publisher=University of London|date=March 25, 2005|url=http://www.jmi.org.uk/ashkenazimusic/events/05_faculty.html#jd|access-date=January 3, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311081205/http://www.jmi.org.uk/ashkenazimusic/events/05_faculty.html#jd |archive-date=March 11, 2008}} 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.{{cite news|url=http://mg.co.za/article/2011-06-23-canadas-jewish-cowboy-combines-klezmer-with-electro |author=Viatteau, Michel |title=Canada's 'Jewish cowboy' combines Klezmer with electro|newspaper=The Mail & Guardian|date=June 23, 2011|access-date=September 15, 2011}}

Life and career

Dolgin's Socalled collective and guests celebrated the Jewish Festival of Lights with the seasonal concert "Hip Hop Hanukkah" in 2007.{{cite news|last=Roberts|first=Rob|title=If you do just five things this week|work=National Post|publisher=CanWest Global Communications|date=December 7, 2007|url=http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/toronto/archive/2007/12/07/if-you-do-just-five-things-this-week-dec-8.aspx|access-date=January 3, 2008}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} 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.{{cite news|last=C|first= Scott|title=My Socalled column|work=Montreal Mirror|publisher=Quebecor|date=May 24, 2007|url=http://www.montrealmirror.com/2007/052407/incubator.html|access-date=January 3, 2008}}

In 2013, his remix of Moe Koffman's "Curried Soul" became the new theme music for CBC Radio One's As It Happens.[http://music.cbc.ca/#/blogs/2013/9/As-It-Happens-Curried-Soul-theme-remixer-Socalled-on-how-to-remix-a-classic "As It Happens 'Curried Soul' theme remixer Socalled on how to remix a classic"]. CBC Music, September 4, 2013.

His 2011 recording "Work With What You Got" was co-written by and features vocals by calypso musician The Mighty Sparrow.{{Cite web|url=http://exclaim.ca/music/article/socalled-work_with_what_you_got_video|title=SoCalled 'Work with What You Got' (video)|website=Exclaim!|access-date=April 28, 2023}}

Discography

=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)

References

External links

[http://www.socalledmusic.com/ Socalled], official site
{{IMDb name|nm3064436}}
[https://www.nfb.ca/film/socalled_movie The "Socalled" Movie] at NFB.ca
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080311080618/http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid1=114&csid2=946&fid1=27367 Exclaim.ca September 2007 Interview with Socalled]

Category:1976 births

Category:21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people

Category:21st-century Canadian rappers

Category:Anglophone Quebec people

Category:Canadian gay musicians

Category:Canadian hip-hop record producers

Category:Canadian LGBTQ rappers

Category:Canadian male rappers

Category:Canadian people of Romanian-Jewish descent

Category:Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent

Category:Canadian people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent

Category:Gay Jews