#82 Pretending to like Israeli Rap

Israel is not a country known for its global musical influence.  Sure, the entire world uses IM and cell phones based on Israeli technology, and the country appears frequently in the news, but rarely does anybody outside of the Middle East hear about the other aspects of Israeli culture.  That is why it is odd that Jewish Young Adults frequently claim to follow the Israeli Hip-Hop scene.

JYAs are usually exposed to the world of Hebraic Rap either at a Birthright Mega Event (or any similar event commemorating a trip to Israel), or at a local Israel Day celebration.  The bands are brought to such events specifically to gain the interest of JYAs, especially unaffiliated JYAs who would otherwise avoid such events.  Ironically, JYAs find themselves, at least temporarily, avid fans of these groups, even though they have no idea what they are singing about.

Typically JYAs are familiar with the name of one act, at most two, and will flaunt their supposed acquaintance with Israeli Hip-Hop acts to other JYAs, especially when attended such events as listed above.  JYA “Ari”, a regular attendee at San Francisco’s annual Israel in the Gardens event, mentioned to “Sarah”, “Subliminal was here last year, it was such a phat show”.  Even though they may know the name, the JYA usually will not be able to list any specific song or individual member of the band.

Therefore, the assumption is that JYAs are not actual fans of the bands in question, but rather pretend to like Israeli Hip Hop when surrounded by other JYAs, supposedly because they feel a need to assert themselves.  This claim is further supported by the fact that Israeli Rap is not very good in general, and is also not technically pure hip hop or rap in many cases (frequently more funk or reggae).  Unfortunately, there is little correlation between this alleged interest and actual CD sales of any of the bands in question.

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