Shiest

About Shiest

Noel Callahan aka Shiest is a St. John's born and bred MC. Although new to the masses, Shiest has earned his stripes in a decade long underground career.

Influenced by some of the hip hops greats, such as Nas, Big Pun and The Notorious BIG, Noel is known for his slick talk, unique swagger and flow, his freestyling abilities, and his incredible mic presence.

Shiest first graced the ears of hip hop listeners in the late 90’s, on recordings by DJ Crafty, and his East Coast Influence crew with Deck, Lee Fitz, and Theft – then on a 4 track promotional CD called "Hip Hop 101" which featured a solo track and collaboration with long time friend Suave. Shiest has since opened and\or toured with many Canadian talents such as IRS, Concise, Classified, Snow, Rascalz, Spesh K and Kardinal Offishall amongst others.

Shiest’s confidence as an MC can be credited to his travels as a teenager which began when he moved to South Carolina at 15 to live with his Mom. Introduced to a bigger hip hop culture, Shiest began to hone his skills in a way he wasn’t able to back in his home town of St. John’s Newfoundland.

After returning to the Maritimes in his early 20s, Shiest spent a short time in Halifax & Moncton, which opened his eyes to the hip-hop talent on the eastcoast. While living there he met and worked with Classified, J Bru, Spesh K, and Mic Boyd to name a few.

In 2004, Shiest moved to Edmonton Alberta due to the uncertainty of Newfoundland’s economy. Still with a passion for creating music, he quickly immersed himself in the scene performing at open mic nights and performing on any bills local rappers put him on. Within a matter of no time Shiest gained the respect of many throughout the community and began to work with the likes of DJ Agility, Prosper, Politic Live, and K–Riz.

After unsuccessful attempts to drop a debut record Shiest’s hip hop life came full circle. In early 2009 Shiest fittingly, returned to where it started at and teamed up with long time friend and producer DJ Crafty, of St. John’s ODC Productions. Via the internet, Shiest and DJ Crafty produced what became They Call Me. With Shiest now in Edmonton, recording for the album was handled by Edmonton-based producer DJ Agility, whereas the beats for They Call Me, were from various East Coast producers Shiest had worked with over the years.

Taking on Shiest as their first artist, ODC Productions filmed a video for his lead single, “Nuttin New” in St. John’s, the first of its kind. The “Nuttin New” video was premiered to the people of St. John’s on March 6th as Shiest performed a set for a Classified pre-concert party. Being the first St. John’s rapper to film a music video created a huge buzz for Shiest on the island. To date the video has received over 5,000 plays on YouTube – all in six months time.

They Call Me, features beats by mainly Suave, with credits to J-Bru, Hotbox, DJ Agility, Beatsmith & DNA. The album is also have some quality guest appearances from Canadian hip hop heavyweights Bishop Brigante from Toronto, Halifax MC Quake, and Shiest’s long time rhyming partners Johnny Hardcore & Lee Fitz.

Shiest presently promoting They Call Me, in hopes of putting St. John’s, Newfoundland on the Canadian hip-hop map like Classified has done with Halifax.

For More information:
Noel Callahan
Phone: (780) 473-0299
E-mail: ncallahan430@hotmail.com
Website: MySpace.com/LeonWShiest

Opening Act Highlights

2009 – Opened for Kon Live recording artist, Kardinal Offishall
2009 – Opened for Half Life/SonyBMG recording artist, Classified 2X
2005 – Opened for Def Jam recording artist, Ludacris
2004 – Opened for Dimsum Entertainment recording artist, Snow
2004 – Opened for SonyBMG recording artists, the Rascalz
2004 – Opened for SonyBMG recording artists, Shawn Desman
2003 – Opened For Universal Music Canada recording artists, IRS
2003 – Opened for Defenders Music recording artist, Concise