Pretty fly for a Jewish guy
 
African-American Jewish hip-hop artist Y-Love has plenty to rap about. LORIN BLUMENTHAL reports.
ASK any East Coast African-American rapper what their morning routine is and you probably would not find davvening Shacharit featuring high on their list. 
This is not the case for Baltimore-born, Crown Heights-based rapper Y-Love -— a soulful Jewish hip-hop artist who grew up in the hood.¬†Y-Love, 31, born Sean Jordan, is quite obviously not your typical Jew.¬†
Born to an Ethiopian father and Puerto Rican mother, his interest in Judaism was sparked at age seven by a television advertisement, finishing with the salutation “Happy Passover”. He asked his mother what this meant and she explained all she could with her limited knowledge of Judaism.¬†From this time it was his maternal grandmother who encouraged his love of Judaism, her own interest in Judaism ignited by Jewish employers.¬†At age nine she bought him a menorah and later a kippah and tzitzit. Initially, his parents believed his interest in Judaism was only a phase and that as he grew older, it would wane. This was not to be.
“As I began to take on the external trappings of Judaism, my mother was concerned the Jewish community would never accept me. That was the source of her initial negativity, but she eventually accepted my Judaism as I got older,” Jordan, named Yitzchak upon conversion at age 21, says.¬†
It turns out Jordan’s mother’s fears were not unfounded. During Jordan’s 13-month conversion process, he encountered significant racism.¬†”I heard the racial slur ‘shvartzer’ all the time, I could not find an apartment for 11 months and no-one would hire me,” Jordan recalls.
To augment the conversion process, Jordan’s rabbi insisted he go to Israel, a suggestion to which he was less than amenable at the time.¬†”I didn’t know anyone there and I had imagined it as a religious battlefield. Within five minutes of my arrival I was kissing the ground. Learning in Ohr Somayach Yeshivah was literally the best year of my life.”
Ohr Somayach was the unlikely seedbed of Jordan’s interest in hip-hop. While studying, Jordan met David Singer, an American Jew from Long Island.¬†The two used rhyme to assist them in learning Jewish scripts Jordan later honing his skills to recite various Jewish scripts in Hebrew, Yiddish, English, Latin, Arabic and later, in favourite language, Aramaic.
“Aramaic was the language spoken by the prophets and sages on the ancient streets of the Holy Land. It brings scripture and Talmud to life for me.¬†”Things like the fact that there is no unique word in Aramaic for love gives an insight into a culture that we would have no other way of interacting with,” explains Jordan.
Jordan describes his affinity with Judaism as instinctive. He explains he was drawn to the concepts of continuous renewal, universal redemption, as well as the concept of unlimited spiritual possibility.¬†”[When I converted], I felt like I was entering a world more suited for me, where intellect reigned over form, and God became that which one studies and learns about rather than something one follows without answering questions,” Jordan says.
Jordan believes hip-hop and Judaism are an obvious and natural combination. Bolstering this argument, he references the Jewish redemption from Egypt.¬†”What’s the first thing that happened? The song at the sea, which we learn through tradition, was freestyle [spontaneous],” he explains.¬†
“If hip-hop is an extant art form with popular appeal, I think it is perfectly understandable that eventually hip-hop would be a type of music that would be used for a divine purpose.¬†”We know that the Book of Psalms was written using the types of musical instruments that were contemporary to King David’s day. Today we have digital equipment.”
Demonstrating the nexus between Judaism, an ancient religion, and hip-hop, a musical genre borne through the struggles of the subaltern, has not been an easy path for Jordan to take. Many peers at Ohr Somayach criticised his committing Jewish texts to verse, despite his easier recall and recitation of passages and his marriage to a Chassidic woman is said to have dissolved following his career choice. 
Despite this, he says: “Music is a bridge-building tool, period. I hope to be able to branch out more into community activism and organising to help actualise the message in the music.¬†”My message, above all things, is one of unabashed unity and the diminution of prejudice by any and all means necessary and that message, received into the heart via melody, can change the world I believe.” ¬† ¬†
Jordan’s influences include Busta Rhymes, Immortal Technique (who he has performed with), Ludacris, Nas and Common.¬†Before he developed an interest in hip-hop, he spent his early years listening to metal and punk rock bands, including System of a Down, Serj Tankian and Rage Against the Machine. As a child, his mother would play him Jill Scott Heron.¬†
“A main thread throughout my musical history is revolution -— I have always been into people who want to make positive changes in the world.”¬†Jordan has also performed with popular Jewish artists Matisyahu and Idan Raichel. One of his latest releases, Make It, was performed alongside DeScribe, a Jewish emcee from Melbourne.¬†
In 2005, Jordan issued his first mixtape -— DJ Handler presents Y-Love -— which led to his winning Best Hip Hop Artist at the 2006 Jewish Music Awards.¬†The following year he released Count It, a cappella CD made for the sefirah, the Omer period between Pesach and Shavuot during which listening to music is forbidden among observant Jews.¬†
He then released an independent debut, This is Babylon, regularly endorsed by Jewish music promotional company Shemspeed. Jordan has also performed with Palestinian rapper Saz when both were involved with the Hiphop Sulha (Arabic for reconciliation) in which Jewish and Muslim emcees performed on stage as a peacemaking initiative.
Among Jordan’s Jewish heroes is little-known historical figure Billy Simons -— “the black Jew of Charleston” -— who fought racism to become America’s first black member of an Orthodox shul in the south in 1820.¬†Another figure is Moshe Feinstein, a codifier of Jewish law throughout a period of advancement. “He had to literally bring the Torah into the future, handling unprecedented questions.”
Jordan is currently in Australia with Diwon, formerly known as DJ Handler, born Erez Safar.¬†Safar met Jordan outside the Old City of Jerusalem and the two have been performing together since 2005.¬†Asked if the American Jewish community have finally accepted Jordan, Safar observes: “It seems they love him. It took a while for him to feel comfortable, but just yesterday I got stopped in Crown Heights when a 40-year-old mother told me that she is a big fan of our music and that Y-Love is a breath of fresh air in the Jewish community after so many cookie-cutter musicians.”
Jordan has a clear message to spread: “Use hip hop to elevate, not tranquilise.”¬†”All envelopes have been pushed in hip-hop -— murder has been re-enacted, women have been debased, all manners of violence have been glorified.¬†”I think hip-hop now, having exhausted the most negative of options, has only one way to go: up — spiritually and musically. For the good of all people who appreciate it.”
Y-Love and Diwon, who performed at Limmud-Oz After Dark in Sydney, will perform in Melbourne on Saturday, June 13 at the East Brunswick Club.¬†Y-Love will also perform on Thursday, June 11 at the East Melbourne Synagogue at 7.30pm with Rabbi Trugman in “Y-Love meets Carlebach”.
 
Photo:  Jewish hip-hop artist Y-Love    Photo by: Lenyoin Whitekar and Nina Safer
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