Shemspeed
Shemspeed is an American independent recording label & promotional agency, working primarily in the genres of hip hop, dancehall, pop and world music.
Company History
Shemspeed was introduced in 2007 by Founder and CEO Erez Safar, along with its website, Shemspeed.com (billed as the Internet’s largest Jewish music site).
Shemspeed.com is updated daily, featuring Jewish music and music videos; events listings; features and reviews; and a music and apparel store. To celebrate the website’s launch, Safar booked four concerts in four nights at venues across the globe – in Jerusalem, London, New York and Los Angeles – featuring over 40 live acts in total.
In early 2010, Shemspeed began selling a blue and white "Israeli keffiyeh" featuring Stars of David and the Hebrew slogan "Am Yisrael Chai" ("The people of Israel live"). Manufactured by Baruch Chertok’s company, Dveykus, the scarves caused some minor controversy by putting a Jewish spin on the Middle Eastern garb most prominently associated with former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Safar defended the sale of the keffiyehs, noting that Jews indigenous to the Middle East have worn some variation of the keffiyeh for thousands of years.
Events
Sephardic Music Festival
Shemspeed organizes the Sephardic Music Festival in an effort to bring Sephardic music to a greater audience. The seven day celebration takes place annually in December around Hanukkah at venues across New York. The New York Times described the festival as having an "eclectic lineup of traditional and contemporary artists, including many dedicated to fusing disparate sounds or bridging new and old."
Shemspeed released the 2010 compilation album Sephardic Music Festival, Vol. 1, featuring Middle Eastern-tinged tracks from a variety of acclaimed Jewish artists, including Matisyahu, Pharaoh's Daughter, DeScribe, Moshav and Sarah Aroeste. A second volume came out in 2012.
Hip Hop Sulha
Shemspeed also organizes Hip Hop Sulha, a concert series promoting interfaith tolerance. The concerts have featured Jewish acts such as Americans Yuri Lane and Y-Love and the Israeli Sagol 59 alongside Arabic artists like Saz and the N.O.M.A.D.S. "At the Sulha," The Guardian wrote of the event in 2007, "everyone was able to come together under the banner of hip-hop, providing a perfect umbrella for opinions to be aired freely."
Artists
- Y-Love
- DeScribe
- Diwon
- Electro Morocco
- Eprhyme
- Tj Di Hitmaker
- Brody
- SHI 360
- Kosha Dillz
- Dov Rosenblatt
- Dreams In Static
- Hood Samaritan
- Shtar
- Moshiach Oi!
Shemspeed Discography
Albums
- Y-Love & Yuri Lane - Count It (Sefira) (2008)
- Y-Love - This Is Babylon (2008)
- C-Rayz Walz & Kosha Dillz - Freestyle vs. Written (2009)
- Benyamin Brody, Diwon & Dugans - Shir Hashirim (Song of Songs) (2009)
- DeScribe & Y-Love - The Change EP (2009)
- Dreams In Static (Diwon and Dugans) - Serene Poetic (2010)
- Various Artists - Sephardic Music Festival, Vol. 1 (2010)
- Darshan - Lishmah (EP) (2010)
- Eprhyme - Waywordwonderwill (2010)
- DeScribe - Harmony (EP) (2010)
- D. Brook & J. Harkman - Darkcho (2010)
- Y-Love - See Me - EP (2011)
- Various Artists - Sephardic Music Festival, Vol. 2 (2012)
Selected Singles
- Shemspeed MCs (DeScribe, Y-Love, Kosha Dillz & Eprhyme) vs. Electro Morocco - "Boom Selecta" (2010)
- DeScribe feat. Matisyahu - "Pure Soul" (2011)
- Lipa Schmeltzer & DeScribe - "Acharon Acharon, Chaviv (Diwon Remix)" (2011)
- Y-Love & Tj Di Hitmaker feat. Andy Milonakis - "The Takeover" (2011)
External links
he:Shemspeed