Soul Supreme

There’s a sense of duality in the work of Soul Supreme: jazz-minded,
hip-hop-schooled. His acclaimed 45 records with reinterpretations of classic
material by A Tribe Called Quest, J Dilla, Madvillain, Mos Def, and Grandmaster
Flash show how he carefully studies and dissects music to flip things upside
down for something entirely new. Serving as tributes to both the sampled
originals as well as the golden-era productions—a spirit also heard in his
original compositions on 2020’s self-titled album.
The Amsterdam-based, Jerusalem-born keyboardist, DJ & producer first released music in
2018 under the moniker of Love’s High, on Chicago’s Star Creature record label. A year
later, his first 45 with his own versions of “The Message” (Grandmaster Flash & The Furious
Five) and “Umi Says” (Mos Def) on Tugboat Edits set the blueprint for the records to follow
under the alias of Soul Supreme.
“It’s kinda ironic: these songs are interpretations, but almost everything is different,” Soul
Supreme said about his versions of two A Tribe Called Quest classics in early 2020. “The
harmony, the melodies, the instruments that are used for each part, the structure... I want to
take the listener on a trip through music they know, but from a different perspective.” That
approach has been praised and played live by Jazzy Jeff, Lord Finesse, DJ Koco, Z-Trip,
Rich Medina, Skratch Bastid, among many others, with radio airplay by the likes of Gilles
Peterson, Huey Morgan, and LeftO.
With an acoustic piano, Fender Rhodes, Moog Sub37, and a Sequential OB6 as his tools of
the trade to get the job done, he independently released a series of sought-after, instantly
sold-out 45s on his own label, Soul Supreme Records. That was followed by an official
full-length album in 2020 with his own compositions. With influences ranging from jazz-funk
to house music, and from broken beat to hip-hop production. A new LP is currently in the
works and slated for release in 2023.
As a DJ, Soul Supreme has supported acts including DJ Shadow, Damu The Fudgemunk,
Boogie Blind, DJ Day, and Shortkut (of The Beat Junkies) throughout the years. These
days, Soul Supreme has been taking the stage for DJ-sets again in Amsterdam, New York,
Paris, Berlin, Cologne, among other cities.