Soul Khan

Soul Khan
Soul Khan performing live
Soul Khan performing live
Background information
Birth nameNoah Weston
Born (1985-04-18) April 18, 1985 (age 39)
West Hollywood, California, U.S.
OriginWoodland Hills, Los Angeles, U.S.
GenresHip hop
Occupations
  • Rapper
  • songwriter
Years active2010–present
LabelsIndependent
Websitehttp://soulkhan.com

Noah Weston, better known as Soul Khan (born April 18, 1985) is an American rapper and songwriter. Born in West Hollywood and raised in Woodland Hills, California. He currently[as of?] resides in Brooklyn, New York City.[1] After a short career in battle rap that started in late 2008, in which he appeared in American circuits such as Grindtime and Smack/URL, as well as outside the United States, notably in Canada (KOTD) and United Kingdom (Don't Flop), he retired from the scene to focus his attention on his musical career in early 2010. He is a member of the Brown Bag AllStars, a collective of emcees and producers from the Brooklyn area.[2]

Music career

Soul Khan began battle rapping in 2008 and retired in 2010.[3] After retiring from battle rap, Soul Khan became outspoken about his regret over using language that many consider offensive to marginalized groups like the LGBT community and women. Since as early as 2012, he has expressed his remorse on social media.[4] In January 2020, Soul Khan returned to battle rap for a one-time performance against Dizaster in the King of the Dot league.[5] At the end of 2022, Soul Khan returned for another battle rap performance against A Ward on iBattleTV.[6] Since then he has announced he will be participating in more battle rap events.

Soul Khan met his current group, The Brown Bag Allstars, while working at Fat Beats in New York City.[7] In late 2010, Soul Khan released his free album Soul Like Khan.[8] The following year, he started releasing his Love Supreme series, four EPs in dedication to John Coltrane's legendary album by the same name, A Love Supreme.[9] The first EP, Acknowledgement was produced by DeeJay Element with an upbeat approach to help listeners feel "renewed."[10] The second EP, Resolution, was produced by Marink.[11] Pursuance EP,[12] produced by Audible Doctor is the third and Psalm, produced by Abnormal completed the series.[13] Soul Khan's song "Speeding Bullets" was also on the 2012 compilation album College Radio Day.[14]

Soul Khan performed at 2013 Bonnaroo with Black Violin, Jeni Suk, & Knower as the collective "Sooper Groop.".[15] Soul Khan lists Pharoahe Monch, Posdnous, Paul Robeson, & David Ruffin as musical influences.

Soul Khan was listed in Allhiphop's Top 50 Underground Hip Hop Artists of 2012.[16]

Politics

In February 2022, Soul Khan announced his candidacy for the New York State Democratic Committee.[17]

He is a member Democratic Socialists of America.[18][19]

Discography

Studio albums

  • Soul Like Khan (2010)

EPs

  • Acknowledgement (2011)
  • Resolution (2011)
  • Pursuance (2011)
  • Wellstone (2012)
  • Psalm (2012)[20]
  • Hugo and Rufus (2016)

Collaboration albums

  • Brown Bag Season Volume 1 (2011)
  • Once Again - Hard Luck Banjoes (Soul Khan & DJ Brace) (2016)

Selected guest appearances

  • Aabaraki - "Karate f/ Soul Khan" "Aabaraki" (2011)
  • PremRock & Willie Green - "Had To Be Me (f/ C-Rayz Walz, Soul Khan & DJ Addict) PremRock & Willie Green (2011)
  • El Da Sensei... - "Nu World (Part II) (f/ Nutso and Soul Khan)" The Nu World Remix EP (2011)[21]
  • Koncept - "Aspirations (f/ Soul Khan)" Awaken (2012)
  • Koncept - "The Only Thing (f/ Soul Khan)" Awaken (2012)
  • The Audible Doctor - "Stayin Busy Remix (f/ Silent Knight, Kon, Rasheed Chappell, YC the Cynic and Soul Khan) I Think That... (2012)
  • YC The Cynic - "More and More (f/ Soul Khan, Van Pea and Sene)" Fall FWD (2012)
  • Sene - "We Are Couleurs" (f/ Soul Khan)" Brooklyknight (2012)
  • Nitty Scott MC - "Beautiful Struggle" (f/ Soul Khan & Akie Bermiss) "The Boombox Diaries, Vol.1" (2012)[22]
  • Danimal Lector - "Look Out Now" (f/ Soul Khan) "Bars Attack" (2013)
  • Esoligh - "Being" (f/Koncept, Soul Khan and Cee belle) The Way I See The World (2014)
  • Kirswords - "Tri-State Mindstate" (f/ Soul Khan and Joe Swisher) "ABM Records Presents The Vault" (2015)
  • Sparx - "Just Begun" (f/ Kirswords, Koncept, Aayu, Soul Khan, Joe Swisher, and Enrichment) "ABM Records Presents The Vault" (2016)

References

  1. ^ "Official Bio". Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  2. ^ "Soul Khan bio". Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  3. ^ BuzzNtheBurgh (November 8, 2013). "Soul Khan Interview". Pittsburgh Buzz. Archived from the original on June 25, 2016. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  4. ^ Noah Weston (December 19, 2012). "If I could change one thing about my battle past, it'd be to have never said anything homophobic or sexist. Makes me feel stupid to hear it". Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  5. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiM3sDcEPc4 Archived 2022-09-05 at the Wayback Machine | KOTD - Rap Battle - Dizaster vs Soul Khan
  6. ^ "SOUL KHAN vs a WARD - iBattleTV". YouTube. 13 February 2023.
  7. ^ "Village Voice interview". Archived from the original on 18 February 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  8. ^ "Daily Tar Heel interview". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  9. ^ "Village Voice interview". Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  10. ^ "MTV News interview". MTV. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  11. ^ "The Madd Bloggers". Archived from the original on 16 October 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  12. ^ "Birthplace Magazine". 19 December 2011. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  13. ^ "Kevin Nottingham". Archived from the original on 6 November 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  14. ^ College Radio Day. Amazon.com. Amazon Digital Services LLC. October 12, 2012. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  15. ^ "Fuse TV interview". Fuse. Archived from the original on 1 October 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  16. ^ "Allhiphop.com". January 2013. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  17. ^ Noah Weston for District Leader [@noah4DL] (25 February 2022). "I'm running for Democratic District Leader to reshape the party into one for the working class: the renters, transit riders, service workers, caregivers (paid & unpaid), and everyone else who makes up the soul of this city. Please help if you can: https://t.co/1DqLeIBNS1" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 18 April 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2022 – via Twitter.
  18. ^ ManyYids BFE POV [@soulkhan] (16 July 2020). "Assembly 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹 Member 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹 Marcela 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹 Mitaynes 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹 Congratulations to @marcelaforny, @apellitteri43, @bibachowdhury, @Skitelman, and everyone who contributed to this incredible win by one of our amazing candidates on @nycDSA's @DSAForTheMany slate" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 18 April 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2022 – via Twitter.
  19. ^ ManyYids BFE POV [@soulkhan] (6 September 2018). "The smear pieces on Julia Salazar are a sign that they're afraid she'll win. And the best way you can help fight back is volunteer as much as you can. With your support, we can triple axel over the bullshit and elect Julia on Sept 13. https://t.co/IiN6rkmTmj" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 18 April 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2022 – via Twitter.
  20. ^ "Allhiphop.com interview". 21 December 2012. Archived from the original on 23 May 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  21. ^ "2Dopeboyz". Archived from the original on 9 November 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  22. ^ "Complex review". Complex Networks. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2012.