There is no Israeli culture...

So, this guy?

He's an Israeli hip-hop artist. If you want to call it that. I'm not sure that's accurate. He does rap ballads. They are not good. Now, here I go with all my east-coast swagger. But for real? I can't get into it. Judge for yourself. (http://www.idanraichelproject.com)

He's like a Puffy-type. He doesn't really rap. He brings together acts, (some of which are quite good). And he preserves the sexy or something equally as vague as whatever Puffy does.

Dude walks in to the lobby of my hotel and I'm over him--immediately. The smell of patchoulli and Nag Champa incense comes into the room before he does. (Although, to be fair, since I'm in the Middle East, I guess he does get to call dibs on Nag Champa...)

And then, there's the super long dreadlocks. And this dude. I swear. The whole time he's playing his music, he's all up in my grill, looking at me and waiting for me to nod my head as he talks about his sound and how he's been influenced by American hip-hop. I don't so much as tap my toe. Nah, I can't co-sign this right here.

Here's the thing. Idan is Israeli. He grew up playing piano and the accordion. He began hanging out with the Ethiopian Jews, a small community of about 100,000 who live in Israel. His crew, (he's worked with over 70 artists on one album), sing and rap in Hebrew, Arabic and Amharic, one of the major languages in Ethiopia.

So I can't hate. Cause there's some political elements in all this. The Ethiopians in Israel have no real role models. They are rarely seen in the media. And Idan believes that giving musicians of Ethiopian descent a crack at fame will eventually help propel them socially and politically.

"When i perform in poor neighborhoods," he says, "The children ask me for my autograph. But they still say bad things about my performers. They live in a village all of their life. They do not understand people with dark skin. A few generations and that can change."

That rubbed me the wrong way. It felt like he was a bit smug and self-serving. I could be wrong.

Here's what I learned.

In 1984, the Israeli government brought thousands of Ethiopian Jews to Israel to escape religious persecution from surrounding Arab nations. In 1992, Israel went into Ethiopia again, airlifting 20,000 Ethiopians in 36 hours. [Damn!] And now, they are in Israel. A very small segment of society. From what I've heard, the older generations have had problems with assimiliation. There were many suicides, something almost unheard of in the Ethiopian culture.
There are still 20,000 Ethiopian Jews who've been forced out of Ethiopia and into camps, They are in Purgatory, trying to get to their Promised Land.

The Israeli government is not trying to bring anymore Ethiopians into Israel. And they are tightening up the requirements for who can claim to be a Jew in order to come into the country.

See, many of the Ethiopian Jews converted to Christianity in order to escape persecution. Now, their descendants want to come to Israel and practice Judaism, (and of course, escape a hopeless economic structure). The Ethiopians want the Israelis to allow them to go back 7 generations. If they can prove their people practiced Judaism at least 7 generations back, they want to be allowed in. If Israeli agrees, (which they won't), there would be 800,000 Ethiopians in Israel. Today, there are only about 100,000.

So, here's my problem with Idan. I learned all of this about Ethiopians in Israel from him. But he admits that he doesn't discuss these issues in his music. ("I'm not political," he says, throwing up his hands).

So he walks around looking counterculture with the dreadlocks and the baggy clothes and the unlaced boots. But he doesn't rap about what the Ethiopians are dealing with. He just tries to give them a platform in the entertainment industry.

Maybe I'm too much of a cynic. Maybe I was turned off because I felt like he was trying to impress me. Maybe he's doing more than anyone else around here for Ethiopian people.

Ok.

So, at the end of his presentation, Idan is asked what the critics say about his music. He laughs. "They say I make bad Ethiopian music. But I don't make Ethiopian music because i am not Ethiopian. I am Israeli and I'm very proud of that. And I make music, period."

So, what is Israeli music?

Idan waves a hand dismissively.

"No such thing," he says. "There is no Israeli food. There is no Israeli music. There is no Israeli culture. We all came here from somewhere else. And we just brought our food, music, clothing and art with us. Israeli culture doesn't exist."

Comments

[MamaJanna]

Hey Li, I read somewhere that Ethiopians comprise the bulk of new emigres to Israel. Is that true?

[me]

Interesting! All that about the Ethiopians and how they came to Israel [I spelled Israel like Isreal (ea) on previous posts, sorta my version of the Nuclear/Nuc-u-lar thing] is pretty deep.

Anyway, you ARE kinda hard on ol' Idan. Why does he have to give the Ethiopian Jews a platform AND champion their cause in his raps, too. Can't they do that part themselves? I like that he's trying to change things, or at least he understands the need for change as it relates to race relations.

But maybe I needed to see him be smug for me to feel your disdain for the Israeli Beastie Boy. I can only root him on for what he's trying to do. Now, as for them trying to get 700,000 more of their Ethiopian peeps inside, can't see that happenning no matter what dude raps about. Asking a lot for a small country, no matter what color or religion they're claiming.

[Maya from Jersey]

Very interesting stuff. And my middle name is supposedly Ahmaric (Tsehay).
Thanks for blogging. Keep it comin', I like, I like.

[mobius]

my friend kitra is currently in ethiopia with the falasha mura -- the christian converts -- who are struglling to get into israel. you can check out her photography and writing on the subject on my blog jewschool:

http://jewschool.com/?author=81

[guy emanuel]

in what way is idan r a rapper? not one of his songs has any element of rap in it. i'm reading this cuz Sagol, passed on the other blog entry. but this is the most uninformed piece of music writing i have ever read. you have to at least judge things within the context of what they are . thats like saying beethoven sucked cuz he don;t sound like mos def.

[betti]

Hi. i'm frome Israel and I jus want to say that he's not a raperrrrrrrrrrr...where do you find rap in his songs?

You mak him looks bad and I dont like it.

Maybe if you'll go to his show you'll understand better... he's not a raper and not get near to rap...
Have a nice day.

[ayelet]

hi..i just wanted to say that you were totally wrong about what you said and idan is not a rapper!so at the next you write something-check if what you writes is true...because if you don't know what you're talking about-don't write anything!