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May
/ June 2006:
Musical
Notes: 5 to watch
From a Hasidic convert
to a classical hip-hop violinist, you need to load this
fresh crop of musicians on your iPod. Now.
Story by Silas Reeves
Anath
The first sounds heard on singer-songwriter Anath's cover of Blondie's song "Rapture" are fuzzy Middle Eastern drums that slowly begin a sensual tattoo as the singer's sleek voice pours over you. The voice belongs to a fusion pop goddess born of Tunisian descent but raised in Israel and France, an upbringing that helped develop her lush sound. Blending Middle Eastern instrumentation, North African rhythms, and dashes of European electro-pop, Anath creates a dizzying exploration of sounds that seduce your ears instantly. Influenced by a variety of artists like classic Egyptian singers Fadrid El Atrash and Oum Kalthoum, Anath is a hybrid of traditional music and modern pop. "The songwriting process is always surprising for me," she admits. "I'm influenced by so many styles. I never know what's going to pop up in the music." After leaving French gypsy pop band Fiesta Mora and singing in the French musical The Ten Commandments, Anath has settled into the New York club scene.
Juez
The deep bass sounds and noise of break-beat may not be for everybody. Some artists are too often mired in basic drum loops and feedback. Juez, a break-beat klezmer band featuring members from D.C., Chicago, and New York, succeeds in marrying the electronic fuzz of break-beat, the soul of jazz, and the heritage of klezmer together in a layered tapestry of sound. The group was nominated as "Best New Klezmer Band" at the first annual Jewish Music Awards. Their debut album Shemspeed Alt Schule is an exceptional effort, with the lead-track "Sitra Archa" starting slow with a build up to an explosive horn-frenzied climax. "Uncle Izzy", a hidden track, is our personal favorite. The shaky horns, constant drums, and increasing tempo keep the song feeling electric. Just try and stop from moving when the chorus starts.
Miri Ben-Ari
If you listen closely to Kanye West's College Dropout, you will hear Miri Ben-Ari's violin quickly building tempo, moving along with the rapper's bombastic rhymes. West hired the Israeli-born virtuoso to write, arrange, and play the strings on his debut album after she had worked on numerous tracks by Britney Spears, Wyclef Jean, and Patti LaBelle as a studio musician. Opening for West in 2004 in front of only 400 New Yorkers, Ben-Ari showed her incredible skill with strings as she performed not only a number of classic hip-hop songs, including Kurtis Blow's "The Breaks," but a searing version of Jay-Z's "Dirt Off Your Shoulder."
But Ben-Ari almost never got the chance to learn classical violin, because her parents were unable to pay for her costly lessons. Thankfully, Isaac Stern, the legendary violinist and composer, recommended her for an American-Israel Cultural Foundation Scholarship. After releasing her debut, Sahara, in 1999, and following that release with Temple of Beautiful in 2003, Ben-Ari has grown into a respected hip-hop fixture. Her new album, The Hip-Hop Violinist, is out now on Universal Records.
Y-Love
It has been more than a thousand years since anyone has spoken Aramaic, the language of the Jewish scholars of Babylon. However, a young MC named Y-Love is spitting freestyle rhymes not only in Aramaic, but Spanish, French, Yiddish, and even Cantonese.
His fascination with Judaism began in Baltimore at an early age. "My mother has me on video saying the kiddush when I was about 7-years-old," says Yitz, who converted to Judaism in Brooklyn at the age of 22. Y-Love's songs are celebrations of language, blending centuries of history with the modern sound of hip-hop. Similar to fellow Hasidic wordsmith Matisyahu, Y-Love takes a bold new step in the evolution of hip-hop by incorporating spiritual messages and scripture in his music. His debut album, This Is Babylon, is scheduled for release on the Modular Moods label later this year.
Hip Hop Hoodios
According to the Latino-Jewish rap group Hip Hop Hoodio's webpage, their debut album Raza Hoodia was recorded in one drunken weekend on a mere $500 budget. By contrast, their new album Agua Pa' La Gente was recorded on a Cirque du Soleil-sized budget during the course of 52 drunken weekends. The difference in the two records is clear. The production on Agua Pa' La is polished and the beats are heavier. The rhymes on the debut were embarrassingly funny, with classic songs like "Ocho Kandelikas" and "Nose Jobs" illustrating the adorable immaturity of the LA/NY based rap duo. However, on the new album, the boys show signs of growing up, highlighted by the track "1492", an energetic exploration of how the Spanish Inquisition resulted in millions of Latinos unknowingly having Jewish roots.
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