One of the more recent blips on the radars of Jewish Young Adults is French-Israeli singer-songwriter Yael Naim. Ms. Naim has been around the music scene for a while, her first album was released in France in 2000, but it wasn’t until one of her songs was hand picked by Steve Jobs for the new Macbook Air commercial that her fame skyrocketed.
Since then, Ms. Naim, who sings in English, French, and Hebrew, has become the teacher’s pet of JYAs from Seattle to Paris to Jerusalem, and the many JYAs who purchased her single online made her the first Israeli to hit the top ten in the US. The reason why JYAs have such love for Ms. Naim is simple, she is OG. Her own JYA-ness transcends cultural and religious lines, while at the same time she fully represents it, having been born and raised in France, served in the IDF, and toured the States. JYAs cannot help but support and respect her, even if some of them are a little jealous.
Ms. Naim, like Regina Spektor, is a proud Jewess who doesn’t hide her Jewessness, but also doesn’t flaunt it as an M.O. for her popularity. The popularity of these women will hopefully bring more musically inclined female JYAs, like Robyn Harris or Michelle Citrin, to the forefront, giving more deserved cred to Jewish Girls everywhere.
I need a JYA translation: what is OG?
Original Gangster
I am pretty sure Yael grew up in Israel. Her parents are Tunisian, she was born in France, and she spent her youth outside of Tel Aviv.
She also was in “The Prince of Egypt.” And she’s playing a free show in Central Park on 22 June!