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The
Jewish rapper Etan G is Orthodox, but his career sure isn't.
MATT LEE
Special to the Jewish News
C
omedian Chris Rock made a
joke a few years ago about how
you knew the world was turned
upside down when the best golfer was
black, the best rapper was white and the
best basketball player was Chinese.
Fast-forward to the present and, mix-
ing things up a little more, is Etan G —
formerly Etan Goldman — who not
only aspires to become the first Jewish
rap superstar, but who's also daring to
challenge the art form itself.
It takes a brave man to be different.
But while G, an easygoing Orthodox
Jew from Baltimore now based in Los
Angeles, would probably never use the
word "brave" to describe himself, the
ing," says G, who recently appeared on
the Discovery Channel's reality show No
Opportunity Wasted (the episode will be
repeated 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 27). "I
tried it, and I think I was a great teacher.
But my problem was with the school
system. There were so many egos and
agendas, and those things really don't
work for me.
"But I was rapping on the side, and
I'd get called up to do all these jobs, a
bar mitzvah or a birthday party. I also
worked with this Jewish rock band,
Schlock Rock. I'd help them with get-
ting kosher food at concerts, taking
videos, selling merchandise. And
through that, I learned the music busi-
ness — the behind the scenes, business
side of the music industry.
"Then it just hit me: You know, I can
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DETROiT
The Detroit News
GF
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fact remains that he's made a career out
of rapping without ever delving into
standard rap themes.
Instead, G has braved uncharted
waters. Unlike the rabble-rousing Beastie
Boys, he's not just a rapper who happens
to be Jewish —Etan G is a Jewish rap-
per.
While his first album, 2002's South
Side of the Synagogue (produced with the
help of Grammy Award-winning pro-
ducer Cedric Samson and Macy Gray
producer Daryl "D-Style" Swan),
includes a few schlocky-, humorous tides
like "Yo Yo [Yarmulke]" and "Makin' the
Motzee," the disc consists largely of
more serious meditations on spirituality,
what it means to be Jewish and G's per-
sonal struggles growing up in an
Orthodox environment that he appreci-
ated, but where he nevertheless often felt
out of place.
"I have my master's degree in teach-
make a living doing this.' That was in
'96 or '97, and I've been doing it ever
since."
If making a living as a Jewish rapper
who waxes poetic on themes ranging
from odes to Zion to honoring the
women in one's life — as G does on the
song "Women of Valor," with lyrics lift-
ed straight from the last 22 verses of the
Book of Proverbs — sounds unlikely, Cs
circuitous career path is downright
amazing.
More interested in rhymes than text-
books, he was kicked out of the same
high school twice but still managed to
graduate. He's also a veteran of 44 jobs,
including one as an aide in a methadone
clinic and another as a women's clothing
store manager.
As his lyrics on South Side of the
Synagogue attest — "So now during the
daytime I got my leather straps /And at
HIP (HOP) To BE SQUARE on page 50
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11/26
2004
49