DJ Shay

Demetrisu Chawton Robinson (November 23, 1971 – August 21, 2020), better known as DJ Shay, was an American producer, DJ and record label manager from Buffalo, New York. He was best known for DJing/producing for the Griselda crew and being a member of Black Soprano Family.

Robinson began DJing local events in Buffalo when he was just 10. He eventually started making beats and working with the early-’90s hip-hop group Brother/hood Nation. At the end of the decade, he launched a series of compilation albums called Unsigned City, which highlighted local hip-hop artists from Buffalo.

In the 2000s he became acquainted with Buffalo rappers Benny The Butcher and Conway the Machine, and eventually went on to produce, mentor, manage, and record with them prolifically through his own label, Buff City Records. Shay also discovered other Griselda or BSF artists like Armani Caesar and Rick Hyde.

DJ Shay is to Buffalo what Dre is to Compton, what Michael “5000” Watts is to Houston, what Preemo is to New York.

– Benny The Butcher, No Jumper

Shay passed away due to complications from COVID-19 in August 2020.