Solitair
Solitair (born Sheldon Pitt) is a Canadian hip-hop MC and producer from Toronto, Ontario.[1] He is a member of the Black Jays record label and production team. Solitair has been producing hip-hop and R&B for over ten years, and has produced for Nina Sky, Jim Jones, Glenn Lewis, Cham, Kardinal Offishall, Jully Black, Choclair, and Sugar Jones among others.
In the late 1990s, Solitair was part of a hip-hop collective known as The Circle. In 1998, he released his first 12″ single "Silver Surfer". Solitair and fellow MC/producer Kardinal Offishall founded a production company called Silver House and the Girl (S.H.A.G.) in 2000. They mainly produced for other hip-hop artists on the local Canadian music scene. After Solitair produced Kardinal's hit "BaKardi Slang" to critical acclaim in 2001, he felt that it was his turn to shine. Also in 2001, Solitair released a video for his single "Easy 2 Slip", which he calls a "tribute to fallen soldiers". He was nominated for a MuchMusic Video Award in 2002 for Best Independent Video.*[2]
By 2004, Solitair and Kardinal renamed their label Black Jays, and they almost immediately made an impact on the music scene. Solitair and Kardinal produced a remixed version of Jay-Z's The Black Album and called it the The Black Jays Album, then XXL magazine took notice once the album got leaked all over the internet, so they interviewed him about it. Meanwhile, Kardinal was inspired to make a mixtape after MCA Records folded in 2003, and called it Kill Bloodcott Bill. It featured guest appearances by rappers and dancehall deejays alike, and of course much of the production was credited to Solitair and Kardinal. Solitair even found the time to spit a verse with Black Jays rapper Ro Dolla for the intro to NBA XL, on Rogers Sportsnet.
In 2006, Solitair teamed up with Cipha Sounds of Hot 97 and Shade 45 fame. Cipha Sounds is a DJ who joined Black Jays International (subsidiary of Black Jays) and is now working with Solitair as a producer. So far, the duo has produced for Nina Sky's upcoming release The Musical, including the song "Sugar Daddy". They are working on the debut album by an underground rapper from the Bronx named Daytona.
Solitair volunteers to speak to at-risk students at high schools in Toronto.[3]
References
- ↑ Forman, Murray (2002). The 'hood comes first: race, space, and place in rap and hip-hop. Middletown, Conn: Wesleyan University Press. p. 345. ISBN 0-8195-6397-8.
- ↑ Bailey, Katie (2002-05-13). "MuchMusic Video Awards Nominees Announced". Chart. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
- ↑ Pearce, Christian; Bascuñán, Rodrigo (2007). Enter the Babylon System: Unpacking Gun Culture from Samuel Colt to 50 Cent. Toronto: Vintage Canada. pp. 230–31. ISBN 0-679-31389-3.