Post 50 Shekel: Enough with “Jewish� Hip Hop.

The attraction of young Jews to hip-hop is less about what we (supposedly) share culturally with African-Americans, but rather, what we are not.

The crossover, or parody, is most certainly one way for the most part. There is not, last time I checked, a similar interest among African Americans in Klezmer.

But if we are unhappy being who we are, it won’t help to pretend we are something we secretly wish we were, even in ‘parody� form.

This is not to say that Jews should refrain from listening to hip-hop. It is to say that pretending we have anything to do with it on an artistic level (as opposed to business, where we are very involved) or on an experiential level (even in parody form) is apparently not only dishonest, but leads only to even greater dissatisfaction.

As evidenced by 50 shekel’s recent conversion.