Artists
Artist Profile
Soulico
- Contact
- For all inquiries, contact Jacob Harris
- Links
Sabbo: 
Ido: Rob:
Circa 2000, the four members of Soulico were just friends that loved records, liked to party and had stockpiled massive collections of rare and unique Middle Eastern vinyl. DJs Sabbo, Rob, Shimmy Sonic and Wido would sometimes spin together, but mostly alone, rocking beats that masterfully fused hip hop, reggae and dancehall to Israeli folk and disco from the 1970's. The excitement surrounding their eclectic sound was more akin to that of the underground club scene budding in Europe than anything the Middle East had experienced prior. They decided to throw a party as a group, pooling the genius of four radical DJs into one red-hot set. But what to call it?
Soulico.
It was the party to end all parties in Tel Aviv, but the DJs already had other plans. Sabbo traveled to Jaimaca to work with Stephen and Damien Marley while Wido joined the staff of VP Records in NYC. Meanwhile, Rob and Shimmy Sonic spun as a duo, perfecting the base for what would eventually solidify the group as a whole. Sabbo and Wido's return brought weekly parties, fresh new tracks and the very first Masabacha mixtape - all united under the Soulico moniker.
A handful of madcap mixtapes and countless parties later, Soulico was awarded Israel's top DJ prize, driving their breakout radio hit and ringtone favorite "Lo Tzipiti" (a version of Tanya Stevens' "It's a Pity") to the top of the charts. By 2004 Soulico was a household name, with the guys handling production for Israel's biggest stars. The group was throwing the wildest parties around.
But it wasn't enough.
"I was digging through the bins at Tel Aviv's Hatav Hashmini record store and I found the first mixtape, Masabacha," says JDub founder and CEO Aaron Bisman. "The sound and the attitude were exactly what I look for in a group-authentically Jewish and musically unique. They flip a 500 year old folk song into a hip hop beat and that's not an easy task. Neither is putting Kelis, Sean Paul and Israeli rap group Hadag Nachash back to back, but Soulico does it seamlessly. It took a lot of work to find them, but the day they put up their US Myspace page I was the first to message them. We signed them immediately."
Soulico's deal with JDub was a perfect opportunity. From there, the crew began to tour the USA, rocking parties in New York, Los Angeles, SXSW, San Francisco, Boston, DC and Seattle. They've performed alongside Del the Funkee Homosapien, Buju Banton, Kid Koala, Nightmares on Wax, Devin the Dude, Balkan Beat Box, Sierra Leone Refugee All-Stars and Hadag Nachash. In 2008 they released a mixtape podcast through Diplo's Mad Decent label.
Their debut album, Exotic on the Speaker, features guest appearances by Ghostface Killah (Wu Tang), Del the Funkee Homosapien, MIA protege Rye Rye, Pigeon John, MC Zulu, Ceci Bastida and Middle Eastern MCs Tomer Yosef (of Balkan Beat Box), Onili, Saz and more.
Latest_news
Soulico on NPR’s Top 12 Discoveries From KEXP
Our friends over at KEXP come through for us again, this time helping Soulico make it to an NPR Best of 2009 list alongside great acts like tUnE-yArDs, Fanfarlo and Bomba Estereo. You can check that out here.
What We Did With Our Winter Vacation
Well, we’re back from vacation, and it’s time to catch you all up on what you might have missed over the break. Here ya’ go:
- The Faster Times included The Sway Machinery and Girls in Trouble in their Best of 2009 Music list.
- The Boston Survival Guide chose Girls in Trouble to include in their 2009 Band Roundup.
- Made Up Disease (MUD) posted a really nice and very thorough ode to JDub, including a whole bunch of our artists, like The Macaroons and Balkan Beat Box.
- Music magazine Blurt included Alicia of Girls in Trouble in their The Artists Have Spoken: Best of 2009 feature.
- JTA’s The Fundermentalist shed a little light on the recent Jdub/Nextbook partnership.
- The Forward listed Soulico and The Sway Machinery as picks on their 2009 Forward Fives list.
- The University of Oregon’s Oregon Voice had a great writeup on Soulico’s Exotic on the Speaker.
- DJ Anjali listed Soulico’s Exotic on the Speaker as part of his Top 5 of 2009 in the Portland Mercury.
- Digital City has a fantastic interview with Dave Schneider of The Macaroons — conducted by Corn Mo’!
- The Sway Machinery is one of LimeWire’s Best of 2009 Staff Picks!
- Jeremiah Lockwood, of The Sway Machinery, published an op-ed in The Forward about the band’s trip to Mali.
- Our friends over at Tablet Mag talk up The Macaroons in a podcast dedicated to the best family-friendly music of 2009.
Last but not least, I’ve posted more photos from Jewltide 7 under the cut! All credit goes to Dan Sieradski.
Soulico Remix Contest Winners!
The results are in for the winners of Soulico’s Exotic on the Speaker Remix Contest. Big thanks to all who submitted remixes, it was tough to pick the winners, but we chose what we thought were the cream of the crop here. So congrats to the winners and all the producers who submitted a remix. Check the remixes below and if you haven’t picked up a copy of Soulico’s Exotic on the Speaker, it’s on sale for the next few days for only $5.99.
Grand Prize Winner:
Soulico - Exotic on the Speaker: BrainDeaD Remix
Runner Up’s: Exotic On The Speaker (Aryeh’s 12 Tribes Remix)
Vibetown Remix by Ori Shochat & DJ Alarm
Exotic on the Speaker Remix by polyp
“Put ‘Em Up” is NatGeo Song of the Week!
The fine people over at National Geographic are giving away Soulico’s “Put ‘Em Up” this week, as it’s their Free Song of the Week! Grab that HERE. Full text under the cut.
Idelsohn Society Hanukkah mixtape
JDub’s good friend Josh Kun is a founding member of the Idelsohn Society for Musical Preservation, an outgrowth of Reboot dedicated to “incit[ing] a new conversation about the present by listening anew to the past.” He just posted their “limited edition” (I guess it comes down soon?) Hanukkah mix which includes JDub’s own DJ Sabbo of Soulico. In Kun’s words:
“Where else can you hear Charlton Heston mashed up with The Mexican Institute of Sound? George Jessel with Soulico’s DJ Sabbo? Barbra and Neil alongside Lionel Hampton’s take on “Hava Nagila”?
Answer: only in your dreams, baby. Check it out HERE.
Tracklisting after the jump
“The Problem”- Ray Brenner & Barry E. Blitzer
“White Christmas”-Barbra Streisand
“Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel”- Ella Jenkins
“Hava Nagila”- Lionel Hampton
“Mizrachi on the Drums (Sabbo Remix)”/”Seeing Israel”- The Yemenite Trio Vs. George Jessel
“Kale Kale”- Avram Grobard
“Holiday Mambo”- Machito & His Afro-Cubans
“They’re Serving the Fish”- Benny Bell & The Brownsville Klezmers
“Blue”/”Santa Claus”- King Midas Sound vs. Ray Brenner & Barry E. Blitzer
“Where Can I Go?”- Marlena Shaw
“The Jewish Experience (MIS Remix)”/ “In The Beginning”- Gershon Kingsley vs. Charlton Heston
“Songs My Mother Loved”- Milton Berle
“That Old Black Magic”- Johnny Mathis
“Loco”- Don Tosti
“Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”- Neil Diamond
“Hanukkah Dance”-Woody Guthrie
Video
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Pitom Banu
Photos
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Rooftop Roots Volume III
A JDub Mixtape - (v/a)
2007
Out Of Stock
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Telavivin Mixtape
2007
Out Of Stock
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No events are scheduled for Soulico.
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