Sheldon Pitt, better known by his

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Solitair, is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

and

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

from

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. He is a founding member of the now defunct Black Jays record label and production team. Solitair has been producing

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

and R&B for nearly 20 years, and has produced for

Nina Sky Nina Sky is a Puerto Rican-born musical duo based in the United States, consisting of identical twins Nicole and Natalie Albino. Their debut single "Move Ya Body", released from their Nina Sky (album), self-titled debut album in 2004, was a succ ...

, Glenn Lewis,

Cham Cham or CHAM may refer to: Ethnicities and languages *Chams, people in Vietnam and Cambodia **Cham language, the language of the Cham people ***Cham script *** Cham (Unicode block), a block of Unicode characters of the Cham script * Cham Albani ...

Maestro Maestro (; from the Italian '' maestro'' , meaning " master" or "teacher," plural: maestros or maestri) is an honorific title of respect, sometimes abbreviated Mo. The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and oper ...

Rascalz Rascalz are a Canadian hip-hop group from Vancouver, British Columbia. The group played a crucial role in the artistic and commercial development of Canadian hip hop as well as specifically for the Westcoast scene in Vancouver popularizing the te ...

Kardinal Offishall Jason Drew Harrow (born May 11, 1976), better known by his stage name Kardinal Offishall ( ), is a Canadian rapper and record producer. Often credited as Canada's "hip-hop ambassador", he has been regarded as one of the country's most prominent ...

Ivana Santilli Ivana Daniela Santilli is a Canadians, Canadian Contemporary R&B, R&B singer and multi-instrumentalist, who has recorded as a solo artist and as a member of the 1990s R&B/pop trio Bass is Base. Early life and career Santilli was born to an Ital ...

Jully Black Jully Black (born Jullyann Inderia Gordon Black, November 8, 1977) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and actress. She has released 4 studio albums, and 2 remix EPs. She has collaborated and written for many artists, including Nas, Saukrates, Ch ...

Choclair Kareem Blake (born March 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Choclair, is a Canadian rapper. He was one of the most successful rappers in Canada in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Choclair has been nominated for six Juno Awards, winning four ...

, 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 The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12) is a type of vinyl (polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compar ...

, "Silver Surfer". Early in his career, Solitair and fellow rapper Kardinal Offishall founded a production company called "Silver House and the Girl" (S.H.A.G.) in 2000. As a duo, the pair mainly produced for various hip-hop and R&B artists on the local

music scene. Solitair's first internationally successful production was Kardinal's single "

BaKardi Slang "BaKardi Slang" is a hip-hop song by Kardinal Offishall. Produced by Solitair, it was the first single from his second album '' Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol. 1''. The single was released in Canada in 2000, before being re-released in the U.S ...

" from the album '' Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol. 1'' released in 2001. Also in 2001, Solitair released a

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

for his single "Easy 2 Slip”, which was nominated for a

MuchMusic Video Award The iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards were an annual awards show broadcast annually on Much (TV channel), Much from 1990 to 2018, and Fuse (TV channel), Fuse from 2010 to 2013 that honoured the year's best music videos. Originally debuting in ...

in 2002 for Best Independent Video* and for Best Rap Recording at the 2002 Juno Awards By 2004, Solitair and Kardinal renamed their label Black Jays. Solitair and Kardinal produced a remixed version of

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

's '' The Black Album'' and called it ''The Black Jays Album''. When Kardinal created the mixtape ''Kill Bloodcott Bill'', featuring guest appearances by

rappers Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing b ...

and

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

deejays, Solitair produced the title track “Kill Bill” as well as being featured as a rapper on several other tracks. Solitair was also commissioned along with rapper Ro Dolla to produce the intro for basketball highlights sports program ''NBA XL'', on

Rogers Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globe ...

. In 2006, Solitair began to collaborate with

Cipha Sounds Cipha Sounds (born Luis Diaz; on April 19, 1976) is an American DJ, comedian, and radio and television personality of Puerto Rican descent. He is mostly known for his work as a DJ, a VJ for MTV, and as a comedian. Biography Radio career In 1 ...

Hot 97 WQHT (97.1 FM, ''Hot 97'') is a commercial radio station, licensed to New York, New York, which broadcasts an urban contemporary music format. The station is owned by Mediaco Holding, a subsidiary of the Standard General hedge fund. WQHT's st ...

. The songs they produced together were created under the production name “More Fire”. Throughout the course of their partnership, the duo has produced for artists such as

, Daytona (rapper),

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...

Dj Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (; born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ and record producer. Originally a Miami-based radio personality, Khaled has since become known for enlisting high-profile music industry ar ...

Jim Jones James Warren Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American cult leader, preacher and mass murderer who founded and led the Peoples Temple between 1955 and 1978. Jones and the members of his inner circle planned and orchestrat ...

, Elephant Man, and

Trey Songz Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer and songwriter. After being discovered by record producer Troy Taylor (record producer), Troy Taylor in 2003, Songz ...

. Solitair volunteers to speak to at-risk students at high schools in Toronto. He also teaches audio production part time at Toronto Metropolitan University.

References

{{Authority control 1975 births Living people 20th-century Black Canadian musicians Canadian male rappers Canadian people of Grenadian descent Rappers from Toronto Canadian hip-hop record producers 20th-century Canadian rappers 21st-century Canadian rappers 20th-century Canadian male musicians 21st-century Canadian male musicians 21st-century Black Canadian musicians