Rebin Shah (born 4 October 1988), better known by his stage name Rebstar, is a Swedish rapper and entrepreneur.[1] He is the founder and CEO of the entertainment company
Today Is Vintage[2] and pro-bono Creative Director for
World Childhood Foundation founded by
Queen Silvia.[3]
Spearheading Sweden's hip hop export, Rebstar and Today Is Vintage have gained notable international exposure leading the "Swedish invasion".[4][5][6][7]
Early life
Rebin Shah was born in
Malmö, Sweden, on 4 October 1988. He is the only child of a Persian mother and a Kurdish father. He found his love for hip hop at an early age, and grew up in
Rosengård until his late teens.[8][9] He learned English in an international elementary school and, after graduating high school, moved to the United Kingdom to study law at the
University of Aberdeen.[10] During his short stint in Scotland, he suspended his studies and moved back to Sweden to pursue a career in music.[11][12]
Music career
2008–2011: Early career
In late 2008, Rebstar released his debut single "Without You", produced by Canadian
T-Minus and featuring
Trey Songz.[13] "Without You" quickly became a hit and was the third-most requested song on Swedish radio. The success of the single led to Trey Songz coming to Sweden for a promotional tour with Rebstar in December 2008.[citation needed]
In 2008, Rebstar founded 2fresh Records to release his own music.[14] 2fresh served as the label for Rebstar's music and has released singles in collaboration with acts such as Trey Songz,[15]Ray J,[16]Boi-1da[17] and more.
Rebstar's debut mixtape Arrival was released on 4 October 2010. It features Ray J, Trey Songz,
Boi-1da, T-Minus,
REO,
DJ Pain 1.[18] A follow-up mixtape entitled Arrival 2.0 was released on 3 May 2011, including three new songs.[19]
In July 2011, a song by Rebstar entitled "Good Life" featuring
Drake and Rock City was leaked and surfaced on multiple blogs.[20]
2012-2013: Bad Karma and Today Is Vintage
In March 2012, he released the mixtape Bad Karma with promotional support from
The Pirate Bay and
MediaFire.[citation needed] In August 2012, Rebstar featured on
Kállay Saunders' single "
Tonight". The song peaked at #5 on Hungary's Top 40 Charts with an accompanying music video released on 6 September 2012.[21][22]
During Autumn 2012, Rebstar announced the founding of a new label,
Today Is Vintage.[23][24] In November 2012, Kállay Saunders became the first signee under Today Is Vintage.[25] In December 2012, Saunders' first single under the label was released, "
My Baby".[26]
In August 2013, Rebstar announced a partnership with educational association Studieförbundet Vuxenskolan to form Vintage Initiativet, a non-profit organization for young musicians in Malmö.[4][27] Rebstar serves as the chairman of the organization and as one of the mentors for children and teenagers interested in music.
On 21 August 2013, Rebstar featured on "
Play My Song" by Kállay Saunders, peaking the Hungarian
MAHASZ Top 40 Radio Charts at #16, leading to an Eastern-European tour co-headlined by Rebstar and Saunders.[28] The single was followed up with a music video released on 7 October 2013.
2014–2016: You Know Nothing About Love and Girls Like Nicole
On 29 September 2014, Rebstar released "Safe Safe (040 Zlatan Mix)", featuring several prominent rappers from Malmö.[29] The song and music video is a tribute to Swedish
footballerZlatan Ibrahimović, who is also from the same neighborhood as Rebstar, the infamous district Rosengård. "Safe Safe" became an international sensation and Rebstar became a topic of controversy due to the video's exaggerative depiction of Zlatan.[30][31][32][33]
In mid-2014, he began working closely with Gambian recording artist
Saint which led to eventually signing him to Today Is Vintage.[34][35]
On 13 June 2015, Rebstar released his new single "Thing About You" and announced that he is working on a new album, Girls Like Nicole.[36] The single lead to marking Rebstar as the first Swedish rapper in over a decade to be played on American MTV.[37][38]
In October 2015, Rebstar released yet another single, "Reputation".[39][40] On 30 November 2015, Rebstar followed up a surprise-release of the EP You Know Nothing About Love,[40] consisting of six songs.
In March 2016, Rebstar revealed to Forbes that his album Girls Like Nicole would be released in the late spring.[41] In June 2016, Rebstar released his album
Girls Like Nicole.
2017: The Swedish Invasion and Don't Stress Me
In December 2016, Rebstar discovered and signed
LE SINNER whose debut single "Paris" reached #1 on Spotify's Viral Charts in USA and garnering 3 million streams within its first 2 months.[42][43]
Rebstar's "Don't Stress Me" was released in September 2017,[44] from a new album of the same title.
2019: Rosengård
Rebstar's third album Rosengård was released to mostly favorable reviews in April 2019.[45] The title ("Rose Town" or "Rose Manor" in Swedish) refers to where Shah grew up, an unassuming, blue-collar city that has had a major influx of refugees and immigrants since the late 1990s. The album cover depicts Shah as a toddler, standing in a garden. The album was executive produced by his rumored girlfriend, now his wife as of June 14, 2019,
Saturday Night Live writer Megan Callahan.[46]
Business career
Rebstar is the founder and CEO of
Today Is Vintage, a record label, music publisher and management firm. In 2018, Rebstar moved to New York City and relocated the company headquarters.[47][48]
In 2020, Rebstar launched Today Is Vintage Pictures, a film and TV production division with
Saturday Night Live writer Megan Callahan-Shah serving as co-founder and co-CEO.
As of 2022, Rebstar has taken an executive role in the company, personally representing Grammy winning producers with songwriters and artists cumulating over 10 billion streams worldwide.