82. DeScribe & Y Love – Change (2009)

One of the decade's most uplifting developments is the rise of Hassidic hip-hop, which comes mainly from the US. While most religious Judaism remains hostile to pop, there are those in it who find in the spirituality of reggae something they can relate to, and express their Jewish soul through contemporary dancehall/reggae. Matisyahu is the biggest star to come out of the scene, and his success is commendable. But it is still hard for me to get excited by his and his peers' music, because I hear nothing new in it. The themes and messages are the same as in Hassidic music – only the style is different.

Y Love, on the other hand, is something else. A black Puerto Rican who was born a Catholic but converted to Judaism and studied in a Jerusalem yeshiva, he blends English, Hebrew, Arabic and Aramaic to one seamless fabric, and spreads the words in an amazing flow that makes them all sound like the same language. His music is also very varied, able to collaborate with musicians from all over (especially Jews and Arabs), and his spirituality is a universal spirituality, carrying a message of peace and harmony.

Here he collaborates with DeScribe, a Hassidic rapper from Brooklyn, making his first steps. What I like about DeScribe is his use of auto-tune, because the vocal manipulations of the auto-tune always remind me a little bit of the Jewish trill, and DeScribe does indeed utilize it in his favor. Together, these two mishuginas make a crazy and groovy mix.