Orthodox Jewish Rapper Nissim Black Sings a Reimagined Hava Nagila

The latest single by Nissim Black, a pathbreaking Orthodox hip-hop artist, reimagines what may be the mostly widely known Jewish song.

As reported in Vos Iz Neias by JTA,

“The Hava Song,” released on Black’s 34th birthday is a modern and bass-forward reimagining of the traditional “Hava Nagila.” It features Black rapping about gratitude, his place in Jewish society and even allusions to the coming Messianic age.

“Big house coming down / from the sky to the crowd / we’re gonna sing it out loud / Black, Jewish and proud,” he sings.

Black’s previous releases, including the popular single “Mothaland Bounce,” have racked up tens of millions of views on Youtube and are popular with Orthodox audiences.

Black has been producing music since his teens but has been exclusively creating Jewish music with religious themes since his conversion to Judaism in 2012. He moved to Israel in 2016, where he currently lives with his wife and six children.

Enjoy!

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Nissim Black Merges Hip-Hop with Hasidic Finery in "Mothaland Bounce"

Mothaland Bounce is Nissim Black's latest hip-hop production. It's definitely not your typical Jewish song.

But as Henry Abramson wrote for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency,

Fans of mainstream Jewish music may find Nissim Black’s latest single “Mothaland Bounce” jarring and alien, but they’re just not listening with an ear to the rhythm of Jewish history.

Set against the aural backdrop of an African basso profundo beat, and framed by scenes of gritty urban blight, the popular African-American-Israeli Hasidic artist boldly intones his rap-staccato credo in a manner that’s hard to square with his woolen tzitzit, long Polish bekishe and towering shtreimel.

Nissim Baruch Black (born Damian Jamohl Black) is an American rapper and producer from Seattle, Washington. Originally performing under the name D.Black, he released two albums, The Cause and Effect (2006) and Ali'yah (2009), and was featured on producer Jake One's debut album White Van Music (2008). 

He retired in 2010 to focus on his conversion to Orthodox Judaism, but returned in 2013 under his Hebrew name, Nissim, and began writing from a more positive standpoint.In 2016, he collaborated with Gad Elbaz on the song "Hashem Melech 2.0". The song was an instant hit peaking at #3 on iTunes world charts and over 350,000 Total downloads. 

In the fall of 2016, Nissim went on to release his single "A Million Years", which hit more than 1 million views on YouTube in one month. He followed up with his hit song "Fly Away" and the release of his latest LP "Lemala" in spring of 2017. Since then Nissim has been touring the world with dates in USA, Canada, Israel, Germany, Brazil, UK, South Africa, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and more. 

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.