Cha Cha Real Smooth

Sam Sellers (fka Rabbi Darkside) creates radically inclusive spaces through music at concerts, on dancefloors and in classrooms. With an expansive discography begun on wax in 2001, a performance career touching 5 continents, and over two decades in Education, there are countless places where you may have encountered him, from head coaching on MTV's MADE to headlining the Blue Note Jazz Festival consecutive years; facilitating interactive workshops from community centers in Uganda to Teacher's College at Columbia University. He is dedicated to artistic evolution, helping global citizens connect through the cypher, pursuit of clarity in personal pedagogy, and deepening his catalog. Recently he was Artist-in-Residence at AIR Cassis, France; released his first self-produced album; added to his C.V. teaching new college courses; headlined Breakthrough Hip Hop Dance Fest in Zurich; and was minted to 2019 End of the Weak Challenge of Champs U.S. Vice-Champion. He's been the official DJ for Saturday Night Live Season 43 & 44 afterparties; spent 4 years as resident DJ/MC at renowned NYC jam session The Lesson; and is in his 8th year teaching university seminars of his own design at The New School, where he is the faculty advisor to The New School Hip Hop Collective student group. He is also an ordained wedding officiant, having performed 14 secular ceremonies. Along the journey, he has shared the stage and studio with Aloe Blacc, bell hooks, Biz Markie, Common, Doug E. Fresh, Kool Herc, Last Poets, Lin Manuel-Miranda, Robert Glasper, The Roots, and Slick Rick, among many others.