DIFFERENT DRUMMER
from page 81
and Jewish heritage, the group produces
its own records and has donated pro-
ceeds from album sales to Israel's emer-
gency medical service.
Having gained a cult following
amongst Southern California Chicano
audiences, the Hoodios are poised to
break through to the mainstream with
their rhymes about the Jewish experience
with a twist of humor: "My nose is
large, and you know I'm in charge."
Northern State
Northern State
housewife. Throughout her songs, it's
clear she's the one wearing the pants.
Hip Hop Hoodios
Combining the bravado of artists like
Jay-Z with the pulse of Latin alternative
music, it is difficult to classify this
Latino Jewish hip-hop collective.
Like the Roots and the Beastie Boys,
they use live instruments in addition to
samples while rapping lyrics in Hebrew,
Spanish,
and English. Bass,
guitar, and Latin percus-
sion complement tracks with
whimsical titles like "Havana Negiola,"
"Ocho Kandelikas" (Eight Candles), and
"Raza Hoodia" (Jewish Race) —
"Hoodio" is a play on the Spanish word
for Jew: "judio."
Fun and upbeat, the Hoodios' music
fuses multiple cultures. Of mixed Latino
Resembling other mid-'20s female
hipsters, the members of Northern State
prefer loose fitting clothes to the flashy
jewelry and revealing outfits typically
favored by hip-hop and R&B girl
groups.
In addition to MC-ing, they also play
their own instruments, including guitar,
drums, bass and keyboards.
Not signed to a label yet, Northern
State has been gaining popularity, mostly
through word-of-mouth.
Dropping references from Beverly Hills Sneakas
90210 characters to Sylvia Plath,
Twenty-two-year-old Sneakas, ne Yoni
Northern State members Hesta Prynn,
. Ben-Yehuda, a budding hip-hop artist
DJ Sprout and Guinea Love (an
who, like Remedy, is striving to take
Italian-American who is the
Jewish hip-hop Out of the novelty cate-
sole non Jew of the group) gory and into the ears of serious rap
bring listeners back to the
fans, wants to be taken seriously for his
days of old school hip-hop
lyrics and beats while addressing weighty
before lyrics were saturated in issues such as anti-Semitism and the
violence and sexism.
Holocaust.
But it's not just their lyrics
'A lot of them try to be funny and
that recall the formative years of Woody Allen-ize their hip-hop," Sneakas
hip-hop music — their defini-
said of Jewish hip-hop artists. "I think
tively old-school sound has drawn
an MC's skill speaks for itself, and if you
comparisons to the Beastie Boys.
don't approach your music as a novelty
What is not retro about the Long- act — and try to put some deep mes-
Island bred trio are their pro-choice poli- sages in your songs — then you won't be
tics expressed in their debut album,
perceived as one."
Dying In Stereo:
Sneakas' rhymes confront hefty issues,
"Keep choice legal / your wardrobe.
including AIDS, the globalization of
regal / Chekhov wrote The Seagull I
hip-hop culture and the experience of
Snoopy was a beagle."
his grandmother, who escaped from a
.
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.
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HIP-HOP ISRAELI STYLE from page 81
hop as the new expression of our identity," he says,
explaining that it is only natural to turn to African-
American culture for cultural cues.
"We dreamed of Israel, reuniting with our Jewish
brothers and sisters, but the dream was broken when
we got here," he says. 'We got hit in the face. These
were not the brothers and sisters we expected."
Many Ethiopian hip-hop artists address feelings of
betrayal and alienation in their songs.
"What happened in the 1960s in New York is hap-
pening now in Israel," Jeremy says, citing racism and
poverty.
Seeing "black people succeeding" in hip-hop, he
says, "encourages and strengthens us, helps • us deal
with issues facing Ethiopians in Israel."
An Israeli-born Canadian, Shi — both his name
and an acronym for his rap handle, Supreme Hebrew
Intellect -- got into hip-hop through his Haitian
friends in Montreal.
"I took what I felt they were talking about: a lot of
positive messages, a lot of conscious hip-hop, political
stuff. I took that and told my side," he says.
He connected to hip-hop, he says, the same way he
connected to Mizrahi music.
"It's a symbol of the people; it's the music of the
street," he says.
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2003
82
- Now living again in Israel, Shi incorpo-
rates his Moroccan heritage into his music.
"I bring my Mizrahi identity through the
beats, the sounds, the rhymes, the accent,"
he says. "When I rhyme in French, you can
hear a Moroccan accent. I even weave
Moroccan words in and out."
Tarnmer, an Israeli Arab rapper, also
draws on Middle Eastern musical motifs.
As with hip-hop in America, however,
ethnic identity is just one of the issues to
croon about.
"The idea is to develop your own lan-
guage," says Shianan, a rapper from Hadag
Nahash, a popular Israeli band with several
hits.
His band sings about racism, violence
U.S. rapper Remedy pelforrned in Israel this summer. "We came to
against women and the economic situation
in Israel.
spread hip-hop from New York to IsraeL" he says. `It's how the new
"I write about being' a woman in society," generation communicates."
says Shirr,
S n, Israel's first em e rapper.
"There were people who supported me,"
may be an outgrowth of general male dominance in
she says of her entrance into hip-hop, "but there was a Israeli society
lot of discrimination because I was a woman in the
"There are less women CEOs, less women in
hip-hop community. People tried to stop me."
Knesset, and so on. It's hard for women here," he says.
Sha'anan says male dominance of Israeli hip-hop
American hip-hop artist Remedy, an Ashkenazi Jew,