Y’all know how I feel about bad Jewish parody rap; I somehow feel it is my divine duty to help you distinguish between “crap rap” and honest-to-Hashem Jewish hip-hop.
These dudes, going by the moniker Chutzpah, have been receiving huge press lately as part of the latter category. Upon viewing their video of the song “Chanukah Is Da Bomb,” which features skankily-clad women and dorky guys in warm-ups and fake bling, I must warn you that Chutzpah has a lot of chutzpah to try and present themselves as anything but 50 Shekel’s bee-otches. You know, before he got all Jesusy and just plain sucked.
Not to be hatin’ on anyone promoting Jew pride, but please, listen for yourself and tell me it’s not embarassing.
ok… i did what you said… i listened. Mostly because I am a fan of hip-hop… these guys can’t be for real. These songs sound like they were written by… well, I don’t want to hate on mentally-challenged people.
My official verdict: Chutzpah sucks.
thier only redeeming value… they are Jewish oriented. We need better Jewish rappers… maybe I should try to book some studio time or something
We have much better Jewish rappers than this shice that’s being peddled to the public.
Check out Y-Love http://www.myspace.com/ylove
and my friend Etan G http://www.jewishrapper.com/
Happy Chanukah y’all!
Heshy thanks for the info on Y-Love. That guy sounds really great and an amazing story behind his conversion to Judaism.
We’ve blogged him now on Jewtastic.com as well and will also big him up on our other network sites.
I must confess that I always thought myself well educated, but I cna’t understand much of this “article”. The last I heard, it was still not a crime to use English. I really don’t want to “outgoy” goyim.
Do we really need Jewish rappers at all? This crap insults Jews and those that are true to hip-hop.
I watched the video also of Chutzpah. I think you’re crazy. This is very cool and entertaining. THough it is funny, I didn’t look at it as parody. The beat was pretty kickin’ and the rap was good and celbratory. I am Jewish and do not feel offended at all. In fact, I feel a little empowered. I suppose everyone has a right to an opinion, but opinions are like A….holes….everyone’s got one.
PS—for the “head Yenta,” you say you don’t like parody rap, but what’s all this site about???? Is this serious Judaism? Top hats and bling star of David’s are also a type of parody…like this gourp or not…you’re entitled, but don’t be that obvious a hypocrite.
Sammy, I’m not sure I understand your last comment. This site is not about parody rap, nor is it about what you might consider “Serious Judaism” (notice the capitals? Serious.)
It’s about what is Jewish, religious, pop cultural, culinary and whatever else catches my Jewdar; since Chutzpah is most definitely Jewish, a critique of it belongs here. But it’s still a parody an imitation of a street style known as hip-hop rather than hip-hop itself. It’s cute and celebratory, I suppose, but pretty silly.
I’m glad you feel empowered by Chutzpah and it’s lyrical and video cliches I’m sure many people do, which is why they’re getting so much play as a novelty act. After listening to the rest of their clips, I doubt they’ll ever be considered anything else.
And as for you calling me a hypocrite, I stand behind my opinion (notice the category?) that this “band” is a subpar offering of true Jewish hip-hop (see Heshy’s comments)and as I shut down the computer and light the candles this afternoon, at least I don’t need others to validate my Judaism for me.
You know how to say… “it sucks” but…
Do you know ANYTHING about hip hop?
Its guudude..
Hiphop is a mode of urban expression. I happened to discover hiphop as a mode of learning Torah — it was the Gemara that showed me that words rhyme in Aramaic and that Aramaic is a beautiful language. Not only is it not insulting to Jews (granted, ein hacha namei, it may not be appropriate for New Square and Boro Park listeners), but it is an unexplored area for kedusha.
Why *not* listen to my single Mehadrin Rhymin’, 1/3 in Aramaic with references to the mesorah of Amoraim?
Im down with anyone expressing themselves- if they’re good at it. Matisyahu is cool singing reggae, but he wouldn’t be if he dressed up all rasta-like and spoke with a Jamaican accent.
Jewish hip hop is a meek attempt at art because it copies. All art is inherently original in it’s expression. Having said that, I find nothing wrong with it as a parody of urban Jews who like hip hop. If they don’t mind “playing the fool” to have some fun with the synthesis of Jewishness and hip hop, why should I?
What part of Hip-Hop is Jewish? I am so very confused.
They may be able to fool other people who wouldn’t know any better in to believing that they are truely authentic, but it’s true that they totally exploiting their jewishness.
They’re just awful. What a waste