Rapping on Jerusalem’s door
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Israeliness, Life, Music, Pop Culture, Religion
Brothers separated at birth - Shyne and the author. (Photo: Marc Israel Sellum)
A decade ago, as a 20-year-old Belize-born, New York street rapper – he was on top of the world – signed to Sean Combs’ (P. Diddy) label and recording his debut album. However, a nightclub shooting incident, in which Shyne claims he was protecting Combs, ended up with three people injured and a 10-year prison term for Shyne. Meanwhile his record was released and rose to the top of the hip hop charts making the rapper a household name in the urban community.
With an Ethiopian Jewish grandmother, Shyne returned to his roots while in prison, becoming observant, keeping kosher and celebrating Shabbat. Upon his release from prison last year, he was deported from the US and returned to Belize. But last Rosh Hashana, he decided to make his first visit to Israel, and he’s been a regular visitor ever since, spending most of his time here over the last three months.
Depending on the day, Shyne is dressed either in full haredi garb of the Hassidic Belz sect, or in a hip hop basketball shirt and baseball cap.
He’s become an ubiquitous presence in Jerusalem in recent weeks, whether it’s hosting a delegation of Def Jam executives last week to discuss his new album which they’re going to release early next year, working out at the David Citadel fitness center, studying at Or Sameach yeshiva or visiting the Gilad Schalit tent to talks with Noam and Aviva Schalit.
Whether or not his devotion to Judaism and Israel is a phase which will dissipate if a petition to pardon him and enable his return to the US is accepted by New York Governor David Paterson, Shyne seems sincere about his connection to the country and his faith, even undergoing a conversion process recently that Ethiopian immigrants take part in to erase any doubts of their Jewishness.
“I plan on making aliya and buying a home here,” he told me when we met at the Mamilla Hotel last week. “So even if I’m not really here, my soul will be. It will be my stake in the ground here.”
Spin Takes A Turn With ISRAEL21c
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Life, Pop Culture, Sports
ISRAEL21c is now a contributor to SPIN Earth, a new web video initiative from SPIN Magazine. The first video up: a profile of the Israel Parkour Team, who use the sidewalks and walls of Tel Aviv as their training ground.
British rapper raps Israeli security
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, General, Life, Politics, Pop Culture, Travel, War
Lowkey - unwelcome in Israel?
For better or worse, we invented profiling – if you stray outside of their accepted categories of low risk visitor – for instance if you’re black, or Muslim – or if you’re a radical British rapper with ‘Long Live Palestine’ splashed across your Myspace page – you better be prepared for some grilling and some uncomfortable moments.
Justified? Well, yeah. The ultimate goal is to prevent people dying in a terror attack. Could we do it in a friendlier, gentler way that doesn’t create long-standing bitter feelings? Well, yeah.
But it’s still hard to swallow the sour grapes spewed by minor talent British rapper Lowkey, of the hip-hop/indie left-wing collective Mongrel who claimeed he was recently detained at the airport for nine hours.
According to the British New Musical Express, the rapper had been travelling to Tel Aviv to take part in a series of charity shows in the country, and in the Palestinian Authority to raise funds to help rebuild the Gaza Strip.
“As soon as I stepped off the plane with my AA guide to Israel tucked under my arm, I was pulled away to the side and interrogated as to why I was in Israel, by a man who wore no uniform identifying himself as any type of security but was clearly heavily armed,” Lowkey explained.
“After this I carried on through to passport control. After giving over my British passport it was confiscated. I was then detained for nine hours. During this time I was interrogated about many aspects of my life, what the purpose of my trip was, where my parents are from and where I planned to go in Israel.
“Eventually I was told my story was a lie and was subjected to a bout of the Israeli polices paranoid mind games. I was eventually released, knowing that no matter how frustrating what I just went through was, I knew that it was not even a miniscule fraction of the degradation Palestinian people are subjected to on a daily basis.”
Well, thanks for the soap box, Lowkey. I haven’t received an answer yet from the airport authority regarding the validity of the events as Lowkey related them. But as one commenter to the NME story responded:
Maybe it had something to do with the fact you have – LONG LIVE PALESTINE TOUR IN PALESTINE!!!!. across your MYSPACE page you d***… of course they are gonna watch your arse when you step foot off the plane…
It’s unclear whether Lowkey actually performed in Israel or raised any money to rebuild Gaza. But I would bet money that he didn’t visit Sderot or Ashkelon during his stay here.
Jazzy Jay and other esoteria
Filed under: A New Reality, General, History and Culture, Music, Pop Culture
Just because the Israeli concert-going market can’t support more than one or two performances from A-list-ers like Paul McCartney each summer, doesn’t mean that we need to deal with washed-up international talents like Deep Purple the rest of the time.
The best of the not-quite-mainstream pop talent whose art is uncompromised, esoteric and less disposable have been entertaining us here more and more often, whether it’s Devendra Bernhardt, Low, Blonde Redhead, Lee “Scratch” Perry or Morrissey. Thankfully, more and more performers along these lines have been making their way to Israeli stages in recent years.
And despite the ongoing violence in the south of the country in recent weeks, the show must go on. No notices announcing a cancellation of this Friday’s Urbanology Festival have reached this cultural correspondent’s desk so far, which means that old-school talent DJ Jazzy Jay is still expected to hit the decks this weekend at the Cult Club at Herzl St. 154, Tel Aviv (tickets available at 057-777-4422).
Jazzy Jay is one of the founding fathers of hip hop. A scratch turntablism pioneer, he spun at street parties in the Bronx in the late Seventies and in downtown Manhattan clubs in the early Eighties. Part of Afrika Bambaataa’s Universal Zulu Nation collective, Jay was also a co-founder of the influential Def Jam Recordings. His “It’s Yours” single was the label’s first-ever release, and he helped broker the partnership between notorious trailblazing rap moguls Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons. His own Jazzy Jay’s Studio was an early home to luminaries like A Tribe Called Quest Brand Nubian.
Jay comes to Israel for the Cult Club’s Urbanology party, branded as a celebration of everything associated with old-school hip hop culture – rap, breakdancing, graffiti and more. Events like these have been taking place at venues across Israel for years, but none with a marquee performer of this stature. Other participants include local talents like the disco funk-fixated DJ Alarm, DJ Mesh, local old-schoolers Quami and Kottage, the Tachlis Band and alt-rappers Peled and Ortega.
Here’s Johnny
Filed under: Israeliness, Music, Pop Culture, Profiles
The cover of The Johnny Show
Johnny has that musical gift, and unlike many of us who never develop their seed of talent over the course of a lifetime, he lives and breathes music. This kid has a home studio, he’s produced albums for hip hop artists like Sagol 59, and he’s got his own dazzling versatile album out now called The Johnny Show, which features guests like Hadag Nahash, Shlomi Shaban and Useless ID. And he’s still going to high school, for pete’s sake.
And to top all that, he’s the sweetest kid you’d ever want to meet – soft-spoken, shy and earnest, but with a constant smile on his face. I guess this could be a story about a teen anywhere, but what struck me as being a uniquely Israeli version of the gifted kid makes good, is the fact that next year Johnny’s going to put aside his fast-track career and devote three years to serving his country in the army.
He told me that he hopes to serve in the entertainment troupes and continue playing music, but if it turns out that he ends up in a combat unit, he’s ready and willing. I guess there’s nothing special there either, as most of the 18-year-olds here don’t have much of a choice in what branch of the service they end up in.
But I’m hoping that Johnny is given the chance to play his keyboards or drums, or produce IDF band albums, or in some way, be allowed to continue exploring his muse. And that his smile continues to stay on his face and brighten everyone else’s.
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