Meet Nissim Black (photo on right). His journey to where he is today is truly remarkable; his search for truth and meaning brought him to Hasidic Judaism and finally to Israel.
A number of interviews have been done with him in the past - here is a good one from 2016. https://www.timesofisrael.com/black-rapper-who-found-spiritual-home-in-orthodoxy-on-the-move-to-israel/. Below is a short interview with him from a recent episode of the Today Show as well as 4 of his videos.
That brings us to Shyne (center photo). Originally from Belize, he made it big in music in the US but was jailed for shooting and wounding two people in a fracas involving Sean "Puffy" Combs. While in jail he found Hasidic Judaism. I used to run into him in the Old City of Jerusalem (working as a tour guide of Israel) but hadn' tseen him for awhile. Now I know why: he's been busy...
And if you find them interesting, check out this article about Y-Love (photo no left) - a black, gay, formerly-Hasidic Jewish rapper who recently launched a news site for Jews of Color... The Tribe Herald (which looks AMAZING) https://www.timesofisrael.com/rapper-and-entrepreneur-y-love-launches-news-site-for-jews-of-color/
CHECK OUT https://tribeherald.com/
I originally became aware of Nissim Black 4 years ago when he appeared with Gad Elbaz on the remix of Hashem Melech. This quickly became my daughters' favorite song :).
Mothaland Bounce came out 5 months ago and is an ode to Coming to America - the great Eddie Murphy/Arsenio Hall comedy - where Africa meets America meets Hasidic Jewry?
I love the video for this one - Win - which features another famous African-American convert to Judaism, former NBA star Amare Stoudemire. Together they seem to be a pair of medieval Jewish mystical knights heading out to on a quest...
Finally, here is his new single, Best Friend, which came out a few days ago. it totally reminds me of the boombox that I carried through Israel for 6 weeks on my third trip here, when I was 17. Who knew that I would one day end up a tour guide of Israel?
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