“I saw American rappers on MTV, but there were also rappers in my neighborhood,” he says referring to a group called KMS that was active a decade ago in Kiryat Moshe, a predominantly Ethiopian-Israeli neighborhood. “I began to write in 7th grade,” says the rapper ADL, who grew up in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood of the town of Rehovot. Orit Tshuma began to write at the age of 11 or 12.
Moti Taka wrote his first song in 8th grade, in the middle of a lesson, in the wake of his father’s death. One of the common traits of many of them is that they began to write songs at a very young age, sometimes as a way of coping with a life that wasn’t easy. That, too, was the impression I got from interviews conducted over the last few weeks with a dozen musicians, among them, singers Moti Taka, Avior Malasa, Gili Yalo, Aveva Dese, Tamar Rada, Orit Tshuma, Yael Mentesnot, and Sivan Sisai, as well as the rappers Tzagai Boy, Avraham Lagasa, and ADL. In the jazz world, the great saxophonist and singer Abate Brihon has been active for 20 years, but his music is very far from mainstream pop.īut all of this is changing. And the participation of Ethiopian musicians Kabra Kasai and Avi Wassa in the internationally successful Idan Raichel Project did not lead them to launch solo careers. Several artists and male hip hop groups that emerged about 10 years ago – such as Kalkidan (KGC), Café Shahor Hazak and Axum – achieved a following within the local hip hop scene, but it was a limited scene with no connection to broader musical circles.
Singers such as Ayala Ingedashet and Hagit Yaso, who won the Israeli “Star is Born” TV talent show, shined but only briefly and struggled to persevere a career. Just a short time before that, such success had seemed impossible. Israeli soul sister chooses to sing in English New lions in Zion: Israeli reggae comes of age Another musician who established himself and achieved popularity was Gili Yalo, who began as the lead singer of the reggae band, Zvuloon Dub System, and afterwards embarked on a solo career.Įthiopian immigrants create an Israeli tradition out of Africa A second major development was the emergence of the duo Café Shahor Hazak, part of the broader move toward independence of Israeli hip hop in the last five years. All at once, she became the darling of the Israeli “indie” community and within a short time began to appear successfully around the world. It may be odd to relate to new musicians like Esther Rada, Café Shahor Hazak (“Strong Black Coffee”) and KGC as pioneers, but that’s how musicians of the new generation see them – as pioneers who paved the way and made it possible for the new generation to do what they are now doing.Īt the end of 2012, Rada participated in the InDNegev festival, capturing the hearts of thousands.