Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
I’ve wanted to write about Kendrick Lamar for a while. Mostly because listening to Kendrick seems to be what I turn to when I’m supposed to be writing, so integrating the two activities felt ideal. But what angle could possibly be found to write about hip-hop for a Jewish student website? Well, I’m not sure….
Though the popular perception of a rapper usually includes a a humongous diamond necklace (see: Rick Ross’ chain with a pendant depicting his own face), tattoos covering every visible inch of one’s body, and a trace of marijuana smoke trailing up behind one’s head. In the past few years, though, many new faces have popped…
During my interview with Kosha Dillz, he mentioned how rappers often portray Jews as “record label executives and lawyers who hoard rappers’ cash.” I decided to do a bit of research, and it turns out that he’s right – pretty much all the references to Jews in hippity-hop are as lawyers or rich kids—in fact, Jewishness…
I’m not old enough to have real nostalgia for the 1990s–the oldest music I heard as a kid that I still listen to has to be the singles off Speakerboxx/The Love Below. But I’ve heard more than enough about it—bands were ethically purer, less willing to sell out, hip hop wasn’t commercialized, the Simpsons was…
Crossposted from hipsterjew.com Maybe hip hop has just moved on from the Beastie Boys. I don’t want to be the one to say it, but listening to Hot Sauce Committee Part Two is, while not painful, not something I’d do more than twice. All the problems of the album you can hear on track 3,…
When I’m in a cypher, I don’t have time to plan my rhyme, I don’t even want to use that part of the brain. I start thinking about your rhyme scheme, or even consciously formulate a rhyme and I lose the beat– and the beat is everything. A rapper who establishes a rhythm with their…
Shyne received some much deserved love from the New York Times a while back. And at this point, I would guess that virtually everyone knows Matisyahu. But not everyone knows of Y-Love. A convert to Orthodox Judaism, Y-Love first gained an interest in the faith after seeing a commercial for a Jewish festival on television…
Jews and hip-hop have a long history. Jews, comedy, and hip-hop, however, are a newer trio on the global stage. Eric and Jeff Rosenthal, also known as It’s the Real, are pioneering the art. Their comedy plays mainly to hip-hop fans — like making fun of long-lost Houston rapper Mike Jones — but the Rosenthals…
In honor of the approaching New Year, let’s sum up the accomplishments of some of the biggest Jewish artists in urban music. From Canadian rappers who topped the charts to producers who emerged from disgrace to grace the boards, we’ve had quite a year to sing about. Drake: By now, everyone knows of Drake, the…
Jewish tradition has started to mix with Latin flavors in hip-hop, creating a dynamic mixture of urban vibes. The poster-boys for this Latin-Jewish movement are the Hip-Hop Hoodios (“judios” are “Jews” in Spanish), who mash together all sorts of genres to create a uniquely eclectic listening experience. Combining the self-mocking tone of Weird Al Yankovic…
For every critic who disparages hip-hop as being all about “booty-shaking†and liquor, there’s a rapper who defies that stereotype by putting out “conscious rap.†This subcategory of the genre often deals with real life problems that the artist faces, everyday dilemmas that are problems common to the artist’s listeners. As an area with its…
“I know it’s bizarre for a young Jewish girl from Connecticut to be so inclined…†That began my application for an internship at an independent New York City hip-hop record label. Most people would consider it a bit out of the ordinary for a white, suburban Jewish girl to be fascinated by the urban music…