Dave Shayman (Disco D), 1980-2007

[stargurl]

From URB:

Dave Shayman (aka Disco D) was found dead this morning of an apparent suicide. He was 26 years old.

The Michigan-bred, New York-based producer—who was best known for his work with 50 Cent — began his career at the age of 16 in the college town of Ann Arbor, MI. Having discovered the then unnamed Detroit ghettotech scene via artists such as DJ Assault and DJ Godfather, the still in high school Shayman dove head first into the music scene, scoring his first residency at age 17, at Ann Arbor's The Blind Pig before he could even legally enter the venue. He began releasing music soon after signing his first record deal before graduation with Bad Boy Bill's Muzik/Mixconnection label.

Shayman remained in Ann Arbor after high school to attend the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, starting his own label, GTI Recordings his sophomore year. It was around this time that ghettotech's popularity began to peak, with Shayman appearing on several magazine covers. He issued his first major label release, "A Night at the Booty Bar" on Tommy Boy in 2003.

After college, Shayman moved to New York and began a successful career as a producer with a diverse pallette of urban sounds. He produced "Ski Mask Way" on 50 Cent's multi-platinum The Massacre and the notorious Kevin Federline track, "Popozoa" which benefited from Shayman's connection to the Brazilian baile funk sound (he lived in Brazil part-time) but he also continued to collaborate with underground acts such as Spank Rock and the Brazilian group, BRAZA, who record for Shayman's Gringo Louco label. Shayman was also a perpetual business man, creating and licensing music for commercials and video games. He even oversaw the marketing for aLeda, a line of transparent rolling papers.

Shayman fought manic-depression for much of his adult life. He told URB in April of 2006, "It got to the point where I tried to kill myself. It was bad."

In 2001, I drove Shayman and another Detroit DJ to an event in Indianapolis, Indiana where he was scheduled to play. Still in college, Dave sat in the back seat of the rental car, smoking a foul dollar cigar and reading an economics textbook with a portable reading light. An hour later, he was cutting and scratching ghettotech classics like "Ass 'N Titties" to the collected ravers. This mix of high-minded business and down low funk made him a successful producer. It's unfortunate that despite his incredible talent, his disease kept him from finding contentment.