Anticon MC Serengeti: The Quirkiest, Deepest Rapper
Why would a black/Jewish rapper adopt the pug-nosed Polish slang of a Bill Swerski Super Fan?
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Music
Pierre Bensusan: Creating “Vividly”
Born in Oran, Algeria, before he and his Spanish Jewish parents fled to Paris during the Algerian revolution, Bensusan taught himself guitar at the age of 4 and has been called “the acoustic Jimi Hendrix” for his experimentation with alternative tunings.
Rapper Finds Order in Orthodox Judaism in Israel
The rapper Shyne in now an Orthodox Jew. The Sean Combs protégé served almost nine years in New York prisons for opening fire in a nightclub in 1999 during an evening out with Mr. Combs and his girlfriend at the time, Jennifer Lopez. His legal name is now Moses Levi.
Fusion Confusion Taints Otherwise Fine CD of Blacks Performing Jewish Songs
There are only two things wrong with Black Sabbath, the latest compilation CD from the estimable Idelsohn Society for Musical Preservation: its subtitle—“The Secret Musical History of Black-Jewish Relations”—and the premise behind it.
Activist and Singer Yavilah McCoy Talks of Faith, Race Ahead of Performance
Jewish educator, activist and performer Yavilah McCoy will be presenting her original theatrical creation, “The Colors of Water: An African-American Jewish Journey,” on the evening of Monday, October 11th, in Newton, Massachusetts, as part of the Mayyim Hayyim Gathering The Waters International Mikveh Conference.
Johnny Mathis Sings Kol Nidre? Sure!
What do Billie Holiday, Cab Calloway, Johnny Mathis and Nina Simone all have in common? Besides stellar voices, they were among many black American artists who sang Jewish songs. This rarely told American story is chronicled on a new compilation called Black Sabbath: The Secret Musical History of Black-Jewish Relations, which uses music to connect these two seemingly disparate groups.
A Gay Asian Jew Discusses His Music
Not just anyone can go around saying that he’s a proud gay Jewish Japanese musician, but singer and songwriter Danny Katz is not just anyone.
Mazel Tov, Mis Amigos
The exhibition “Jews on Vinyl” is full of Latin-Jewish, bagels-and-bongos audio treasures, and this listening party celebrates everything from Yiddish mambos to Fiddler on the Roof charangas. Come hear how Tito Puente ended up playing the Catskills, how a Brooklyn Jew became known as El Judio Maravilloso, and much more. “Mazel Tov, Mis Amigos” is 7:30 pm Thursday July 8 at the Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 North Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA.
Jewish-Black Rapper Drake Gets the ‘Heeb’ Treatment
Drake was born to an African-American father and a Jewish mother, who divorced when he was five. Raised by his mother in Forest Hill, a heavily Jewish neighborhood of Toronto, he attended a Jewish day school, and was even Bar Mitzvah’d (the song of the night was Backstreet Boys’s “I Want It That Way”). All of which is to say that, whatever else happens, Drake is already the first-ever black Jewish rap star.
Get Down, Moses: Dance Party Showcases Black Singers of Jewish Songs
On Thursday, June 3, the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles will host “Get Down, Moses.” At this outdoor music listening and dance party highlighting the complex musical relationship between Jews and African Americans, the focus will be on African-American artists singing Jewish songs.
Regina Carter: Translating African Folk To The Jazz Violin
Regina Carter, the jazz violinist and onetime MacArthur Fellow, stopped by NPR headquarters recently to perform and discuss material from her new album, Reverse Thread. The sampling of African music includes a song originated by the Jews of Uganda.
Bringing Hip Hop to Israel
Some sorely-needed mid-90s hip hop will grace South Tel Aviv when legendary New York group The Beatnuts play Comfort 13 in Florentine May 20…Concert promoter Lukas Brenowitz told The Jerusalem Post that he sees the concert as part of his efforts to introduce more and more people to a different side of Israel, a sort of “hip-hop diplomacy,” if you will.