G is for Gaza
With Palestinian-Filipino hip-hop groups like The Philistines and the Hasidic rapper Matisyahu, it seems the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has found voice in hip-hop.
But rappers have encountered opposition, not from fellow rap rivals, but from clubs from around the globe who have copped out after receiving calls from pro-Israel groups threatening to boycott their venues.
Montreal-based Jewish rapper So-Called—who raps about putting “the Jew back in Jukebox”—scoffs at the divisive style of such traditional pro-Israel groups.
“The face of Jews that Israel shows to the world pisses me off so much,” he says to the New York Times. “The point is to bring people together with the music, not to isolate ourselves.”
Click here to listen to The Philistines
Click here to listen to Matisyahu
Click here to listen to So-Called
Photograph by Tanya Traboulsi
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James Gabrillo
Contributing Editor
