Socalled

Josh Dolgin is a Montreal-based music producer, piano player, and accordionist who makes eclectic hip-hop under the stage alias Socalled. Klezmer, folk music, and funk are among the styles and genres Dolgin incorporates into a lively mix of singing and rapping. Socalled's debut album was a collaboration with British composer <a href="spotify:artist:1gcfvwU9WR32PQKKnXXWIQ">Sophie Solomon</a> titled HiphopKhasene, released by Piranha in 2003. Clarinetist <a href="spotify:artist:2bKhH9LgypylqsqknQUbKk">David Krakauer</a> was a featured performer on the album, and Dolgin returned the favor by appearing with on <a href="spotify:artist:2bKhH9LgypylqsqknQUbKk">Krakauer</a>'s Live in Krakow (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Label+Bleu%22">Label Bleu</a>) the same year. Socalled contributed to <a href="spotify:artist:74LSKCQcrNkgbVK1fqJfOl">Beyond the Pale</a>'s album Consensus: Live in Concert in 2005, the same year he released The So Called Seder: A Hip Hop Haggadah for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22JDub+Records%22">JDub Records</a>. Ghettoblaster followed in 2006 on the French label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Bleu+Electric%22">Bleu Electric</a> before it received a U.S. release in 2007 by <a href="spotify:artist:5I2PZkA5Eg43Mx2w8bMTji">JDub</a>.

In 2010, Dolgin was the subject of a documentary entitled The Socalled Movie for the National Film Board of Canada. Lorber Films oversaw the U.S. theatrical release. His album SleepOver arrived in 2011 with guests including rapper <a href="spotify:artist:3r7n7y3j0nYgkPePO4p3QC">Roxanne Shante</a>, vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:49M5ffliLG3tQbespbUb3z">Katie Moore</a>, and then-95-year-old pianist <a href="spotify:artist:3OvAFKnwsP64jJpiKfjmiI">Irving Fields</a>. Two years later, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Dare+to+Care+Records%22">Dare to Care Records</a> released a cast recording of his puppet musical The Season. In addition to Dolgin, it included performances by <a href="spotify:artist:49M5ffliLG3tQbespbUb3z">Moore</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6H1ayO6tXF5TTPB8DlprAA">Yves Lambert</a>, Rich Ly, and Yassin Alsalman, aka <a href="spotify:artist:0dkcQCK8GjDBCGrjlUJhlg">Narcy</a>. The same label issued 2015's People Watching, which featured over two-dozen guests (including <a href="spotify:artist:0dkcQCK8GjDBCGrjlUJhlg">Narcy</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:49M5ffliLG3tQbespbUb3z">Moore</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6H1ayO6tXF5TTPB8DlprAA">Lambert</a>, and Ly), and 2017's Tales from Odessa, "A Socalled Yiddish Musical." ~ Marcy Donelson