About Sh@me Music

In an age when every punk kid with a laptop is a producer and weak style spreads like a virus, Sh@me is the antidote. Holed up in his Upstate studio, Bronx native Shameen Rucker is quietly crafting a new sound. Listen to any 10 of Ruckers trackssolo beats, collaborations with instrumentalists, vocalists, rappersand youd never guess they all came out of the same imagination. Moving from dark, chattering industrial dirges to synth-heavy electro grooves, classic NYC boom-bap to sexy neo-soul, Rucker is a fusion chef, making every move in the service of the song.

Rucker grew up in the Golden Age of NYC hip-hop, surrounded by the game-changing sounds of the Wu-Tang Clan, Biggie Smalls and Jay-Z, but found his way to the piano courtesy of DAngelos Brown Sugar. So began an obsession with music that brought him upstate to St. Lawrence University to study music theory and performance. He studied jazz greats, learned to improvise, and began touring the East Coast with indie pop band the Casual Fiasco. It was during this time that he began to find his voice. When one of the bands guitarists would break a string, Rucker was thrust to the forefront, leading the rhythm section in his R&B-influenced tunes. During one such episode in Geneva, NY, Travis McCoy of the Gym Class Heroes jumped onstage to join Rucker in a show-stopping rendition of Snoop Doggs classic Gz and Hustlas.

Stay hungry, not thirsty, he says, because the hunter is always focused and his technique grows stronger with every kill, while the thirsty man wanders the desert for eternity in wild desperation. Ruckers a perfectionist to the core, but hell never settle for perfect, understanding that open ears, commitment and constant adaptation are the only way to stay inspired, relevant, and on the listeners stereo.
Rucker is most comfortable, at his keyboard and computer, backing up charismatic talent and giving an audience something they never saw coming. His beats are raw and organic, each texture fine-tuned for that live pop, the end result sounding less like a dude pressing buttons and more like a bunch of studio musicians doing as theyre told. Ruckers a producer, but first hes a musician.

So, the answer is simple. Make music like you breath. Naturally. All the time. For Rucker, Sh@me Music is more than a project; its a philosophy. Listen up.

~ Josh M. Potter ~