Bobby Sichran (real name Robert Lichtman, died February 2015) was a Jewish-American alternative hip hop musician. His music was often described as combining hip hop with several other musical genres, such as
blues rock
Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...
and
folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
.
[ His fusion of these genres has led many critics to compare him to ]Beck
Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...
,[ and, in some cases, even say that he originated the fusion of folk and hip hop before Beck made it famous.] Others have compared him to Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
, but Sichran criticized such comparisons, saying that he would "never want ismusic to exist on comparisons to someone else."
Early career
A native of Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
, Sichran dropped out of Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in the early 1990s, looking for a musical career. While doing so, he worked as a furniture mover for some time before getting his big break after knocking on the door of Public Enemy
"Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe p ...
's studio. After Hank Shocklee
The Bomb Squad were an American hip hop production team known for its work with hip hop group Public Enemy.
The Bomb Squad is noted for its dense, distinct, innovative production style, often utilizing dozens of samples on just one track. The ...
let him in at his request, Sichran ended up working as an apprentice engineer in their studio, and later played guitar on and produced Das EFX
Das EFX is an American hip hop duo. It consists of emcees Dray (also known as Krazy Drayz, born Andre Weston, September 9, 1970) and Skoob (also known as Books and Boogie Bang, born William "Willie" Hines, November 27, 1970). They named the ...
's debut album, '' Dead Serious''.
Solo career
On May 3, 1994, Sichran released his debut album, ''From a Sympathetical Hurricane'', on Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
. It was preceded by the single "Stray Dog."[ Record executive ]David Kahne
David Kahne is an American record producer, musician, composer, and former record company executive.
Professional career
Kahne started his musical career as a working musician and soon became Director of A&R for America's first punk and new ...
said with regard to the album that "Every time I listen to this record, I hear more stuff."[ Nevertheless, the album was not promoted by Columbia,][ and ended up being a commercial flop.][ After the album was released, its title track was also released as a single. ''Billboard'' named this single a "pick" and wrote that it was "fueled with the raw rhythm sensibility of a hip-hop jam, and topped with a classic pop/rock melody and freewheeling instrumentation that is positively funky."] Sichran went on to release a 7" single in 1997 entitled "All the Psychotics in My Building" on Messenger Records
Messenger Records is an independent record label. Based out of New York City, USA, the label was started by Brandon Kessler during his time in college in 1996. The label has released albums by Anne McCue, Dan Bern, Chris Whitley, Johnny Society ...
, the B-side of which, "There's So Much You Could Love," appeared on "Wouldn't it Be Beautiful?", a 1999 Messenger compilation album.[ He released a 12" in 1998 entitled "Smoke of the Ghetto", which was described as being a preview of an upcoming album of the same name; however, this album was never released. He later helped compose the music for the musical ''Fetish'', which was first performed at the theatre of ]Marymount Manhattan College
Marymount Manhattan College is a private college on the Upper East Side of New York City. As of 2020, enrollment consists of 1,571 undergraduates with women making up 80.1% and men 19.9% of student enrollment. The college was founded in 1936.
Hi ...
Theater in 1998.
Sichran released his second studio album, ''Peddler in Babylon'', in 2007.
According to the ''Columbia Spectator
The ''Columbia Daily Spectator'' (known colloquially as the ''Spec'') is the student newspaper of Columbia University. Founded in 1877, it is the oldest continuously operating college news daily in the nation after ''The Harvard Crimson'', and has ...
'', Sichran conceived ''Peddler in Babylon'' as "a concept album about the modern American's crisis of faith".
Reviews
The ''Calgary Herald
The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network.
History
''The ...
'' gave ''From A Sympathetical Hurricane'' a B+ grade, writing that it "...won't lift you off your feet, but it will move you farther down the road with its cool, cool breeze at your back." A review of its title track and single in ''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' described the track as "fueled with the raw rhythm sensibility of a hip-hop jam" and its instrumentation as "positively funky".[ ]Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
wrote that there were only two good songs, or "choice cuts", on the album: its title track and "Don't Break My Heart, Kid".
A review of ''Peddler in Babylon'' in ''the Jerusalem Post
''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper w ...
'' described it as "a heady meditation on spiritual exile that doesn't badger the listener with yiddishkeit
Yiddishkeit ( yi, ייִדישקייט ) literally means "Jewishness", i.e. "a Jewish way of life". It can refer to Judaism or forms of Orthodox Judaism when used by religious or Orthodox Jews. In a more general sense, it has come to mean the "Je ...
, but clearly bears a Jewish soul." In a less favorable review, Charles Ubaghs of Drowned in Sound
''Drowned in Sound'', sometimes abbreviated to ''DiS'', is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums.
History
''D ...
gave the album a 4 out of 10 rating, writing that "It’s a nice effort, but that’s the problem with ''Peddler In Babylon'': it’s nice, and nothing more."[
]
Discography
Studio albums
*''From a Sympathetical Hurricane'' (1994) - Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
*''Peddler in Babylon'' (2007) - Bombi Beat Media
Singles
*''Soundboy Limbo'' (1994) - Kings Crown (as Singing Teeth with Vincent Hans)
*''All the Psychotics in My Building'' (1996) - Messenger Records
Messenger Records is an independent record label. Based out of New York City, USA, the label was started by Brandon Kessler during his time in college in 1996. The label has released albums by Anne McCue, Dan Bern, Chris Whitley, Johnny Society ...
(7")
*''Smoke of the Ghetto'' (1998) - (12") Soupfly Records
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sichran, Bobby
Columbia Records artists
Alternative hip hop musicians
2015 deaths
People from Long Island
American hip hop record producers
Jewish American musicians
American blues singer-songwriters
Jewish rappers
Jewish hip hop record producers
21st-century American Jews