Word: hip-hop
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Israel, evolving into a gritty hybrid expression of the Arab-Israeli conflict that steers clear of the original's current preoccupations with flashy wealth, gangster attitudes and fast women. "It's preposterous to pose as a gangster out here," says Sagol, 59, hailed as the Israeli godfather of hip-hop. Instead, Israeli and Palestinian artists have borrowed from earlier, more socially conscious rappers such as Shakur, and sharpened their songs to a razorlike political edge...
...Arab hip-hop doesn't get airplay on stuffy state-run radio and TV stations around the Middle East, so rappers have turned to MySpace.com and other Internet sites to find their audiences. No record deals are in the works for the Gaza crew, but fans abound in the Middle East, Europe and the U.S.; PR's website has had thousands of visitors since last June, according to Al Farra...
...Israel has rappers of every variety, from ultra-Zionists like Subliminal (he wears Star of David bling) to left-leaning hip-hoppers such as the top-selling Hadag Nahash (the Snake Fish) and Sagol 59. Promoter Dan Sieradski and Sagol 59 run a live monthly hip-hop show with Israeli and Palestinian performers called Corner Prophets, which, Sieradski says, aims to "take anger and redirect it into a creative outlet...
...Holy Land, it's inevitable that religious belief, as well as anger, would give hip-hop a special twist. A 30-year-old Miami native who recently moved to Israel, Jew Da Maccabi found rap before religion, but he's now putting his religion into his rap. He dons the black garb and practices the habits of an ultra-orthodox Jew, with a few hip-hop accessories such as a Yankees baseball cap instead of a broad-brimmed black hat. "After I became religious, I remembered what my rabbi said: 'Take what you did before, and flip it to holiness...
...Israeli record company with other rappers, the former hard partier acted shy about appearing with shimmying women dancers. But he's the one some other rappers find embarrassing. Jeers Corner Prophet's Sieradski, "We look at Jew Da and our eyes roll. Is this the future of Israeli hip-hop? If so, we're in trouble." But Maccabi shrugs it off. "Ninety percent of the kids are listening to hip-hop, so why not give them spirituality too?" Meanwhile, in Gaza, there are signs that hip-hop is gaining wider acceptance. After all, it's been nearly a year...