Aug
6
Heep Hope
I’m not a big fan of rap, never have been. Never got too excited about the whole “bling” factor. Although, I do like some artists who seem genuine, like Lauryn Hill (before she went mental) and Outkast. You know, the guys who “keep it real”. The Israeli hip-hop (pronounced “heep-hope” in this part of the world) scene isn’t much to brag about. But there are a few exceptions. One of them being a band I listen to when I jog, and they always manage to make me smile through all the sweat: HaDag Nachash (the fish snake? or is it the snake fish? hmmm…). Wikipedia has some ideas about what the name means.
HaDag Nahash are a band from Jerualem, and what’s cool about them is they talk about everyday life in Israel, about the difficulties, the injustice, the racism and more. No bling, no showing off – just trying to spread the message. Here are a few of my favorites:
This one’s called “We’re not Frayerim (suckers)
Never translated a song before, but let’s try a few lines (no attempt whatsoever to keep the rhyming):
(How much longer?)
In our dreams will we sail like a Mig
And look over the stench from a safe distance
Which is 5 minutes from Kfar Saba
(How much longer?)
Will we keep our eyes shut
To what’s happening right beneath our noses
We’ll get another beer from the fridge
And keep surfing the channels
Chorus: (And we’ll do reserve duty)
We’ll pay the taxes
(And we’ll stand in the traffic jams)
Nobody screws with us
(We’re definitely, definitely, defenitely not frayerim)
Here’s another clip, “The Number Song”, and this one has English subtitles:
One of my favorites is “Here I come”, which if you saw “Don’t Mess with the Zohan”, you might already be familiar with it. It talks about a guy debating on where to live, Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. Should he stay in Jerusalem, where all his friends are, where the hummus is good, where the weather is nice, or should he got toSoddom and Gommora and have some fun with the Tel Avivi women?
And here’s one by a guy named Mookie. Not really a rap song, but a nice tune about his relationship with God.
I’m not afraid of you
Just want to meet you
I have no doubt of you
You of me and me of you
