GRAMMY-winning electronic music producer & DJ, Sharam arrives today with a new single titled “Exodus (Pin Drop Mix)” for his Washington, DC-based label Yoshitoshi. The song features James Baldwin’s remarks from his famous 1965 debate with William F Buckley at Cambridge University regarding race in America, bringing together speech and poetry over house grooves.
Listen to “Exodus (Pin Drop Mix)” here: Yo.lnk.to/YR278A
Sharam—who immigrated to the United States from Iran when he was a child– learned about the Black American experience through house music sampling prominent figures. “Pop culture was my pathway to learning about American culture and to understanding the language. I had an insatiable appetite for discovering new music, almost an obsession, which led me to become a DJ and producer. I recall a few tracks I came across in the record stores early on featuring the spoken word,” says Sharam. “Little did I know that those songs were serving as an educational device for me and so many others. I was introduced to Martin Luther King Jr. and to Maya Angelou opening my eyes and ears to the civil rights movement.”
Reimagining his 2019 instrumental techno track “Exodus”—Sharam recreated a new and groovy house jam, tapping the James Baldwin speech hoping to help educate others in the same way. “His powerful words illustrate the divide in accomplishing the American dream, something that is still present in today’s world and something that has resonated with me,” shares Sharam.
Proceeds will go to Hampshire College’s James Baldwin Scholars Program, a fund which supports students who have great potential but who, because they have attended under-resourced and underperforming schools, might otherwise lose the opportunity to attend college.