meet our keynote speaker
isaac shelem fadiga
Isaac Shelem Fadiga, known by his mononym Shelem (pronounced shuh-lem) is a 25-year-old hip-hop artist and producer. Born in Silver Spring, MD to parents from the Ivory Coast in West Africa, he began producing at age 14 and recording his own songs a year later. After graduating from Marshall University in Huntington, WV with a degree in Civil Engineering in 2018, he moved to Charleston, WV. His debut album, The Jaunts, was released on September 22nd, 2018.
In 2019, Shelem 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. Also in 2019, 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 single bearing the same name on streaming platforms.
In April 2020, Shelem released his sophomore album titled UhhYup! The Mixtape, followed by music videos for the songs “Renegade” and “Yada Yada”. In the summer of 2020, 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 one packaged album, each song was released weekly. 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. In July 2021, Shelem was featured on NPR Music’s Slingshot Series and released his latest single “Suga Wata.”
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.”
In 2019, Shelem 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. Also in 2019, 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 single bearing the same name on streaming platforms.
In April 2020, Shelem released his sophomore album titled UhhYup! The Mixtape, followed by music videos for the songs “Renegade” and “Yada Yada”. In the summer of 2020, 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 one packaged album, each song was released weekly. 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. In July 2021, Shelem was featured on NPR Music’s Slingshot Series and released his latest single “Suga Wata.”
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.”