About

Isaac Shelem Fadiga, known by his mononym Shelem (pronounced shuh-lem) is a 25-year-old hip-hop artist and producer. A self-proclaimed true entertainer, his primary focus has always been to bring levity and good times into the lives of his audience. He strives to create a magnificent experience with every song, performance, video, and interaction. Born in Silver Spring, MD to parents from the Ivory Coast in West Africa, he began producing, writing, and recording his own songs at age 14. After graduating from Marshall University in Huntington, WV with a degree in Civil Engineering in 2018, he moved to Charleston, WV to begin his engineering career as he developed a plan to launch his music career. 

Shelem’s debut album, The Jaunts, was released on September 22nd, 2018. In 2019, he launched his “Delivery Man” campaign in tandem with the release of his song of the same name. For a month, he personally delivered all merchandise orders within a 100-mile radius of Charleston. Later that year, he released a series of 25 one-minute freestyles on social media titled Lemme Rap (Season 1) that showcased his lyrical prowess in unforgettable bite-sized bops. Three of those tracks were released as a packaged single bearing the same name on streaming platforms.

As the pandemic brought live music to a grinding halt, Shelem diverted his focus to growing and interacting with his audience in a digital space. In April 2020, Shelem released his sophomore album titled UhhYup! The Mixtape with a social media “takeover” where he recorded and distributed dozens of clips for fans to post on their stories as if he had hacked their accounts. That summer, Shelem issued a social media challenge in which he used fan-submitted words and phrases to craft the lyrics and instrumental of a song. Now his most notable release, “Butter” has amassed over 25K streams across all platforms.

At the top of 2021, Shelem released his next project UhhYup! Bingo. In lieu of releasing the songs in album format, each song was released individually. Staying true to the online setting, the experience was hosted on his website and encouraged social media interaction. As songs were released, players filled their bingo cards to reach a 4-in-a-row alignment of song icons for a variety of prizes. Once live music returned in the summer of 2021, Shelem played a wide array of local festival slots including FestivALL, the Huntington Music and Arts Festival, Charleston WV’s Live On The Levee series. In July 2021, Shelem was featured on NPR Music’s Slingshot Series and released his latest single “Suga Wata.” In the fall of 2021, Shelem released the music video for “Suga Wata” after increasing Youtube followers and social media interactions.

In December of 2021, Shelem released his EP Cheers! It’s Christmas Baby. The EP was inspired by a Christmas Show Shelem has booked for December 23. In the first song “Cheers!,” Shelem uses witty lyrics and a fun beat to describe what Christmas has become. Then, he slows it down in “It’s Christmas Baby” for a jazz-inspired traditional Christmas duet. 

Shelem kicked off 2022 with shows in Columbus, Charlotte, and Ashland, including opening for Bone Thugs at the Paramount Performing Arts Center. At the end of February 2022, Shelem presented during TEDxMarshallU. In March, Shelem performed at the Appalachian Studies Conference. Shelem headlined at The Loud on April 1 with Massing, Corduroy, and Joey Aich opening.  Shelem participated in speaking engagements and performances at Marshall University and Davis & Elkins College in April 2022. After a purposeful two-month break, Shelem returned to the stage in July 2022 after releasing his music video to “Piper Wright.”