Well as usual, behind the scenes machinations here at Afronerd can sometimes cause a delay with our regular schedule, but unfortunately it can not be avoided. The above video serves as a perfect example. For those unfamiliar with this blog's mantra, we attempt to showcase alternative Black culture with the goal of dismantling the alleged African-American monolith. Enter young master Yitzchak (Y-Love) Jordan- a hip hop artist on the rise who is Hasidic and African-American. His journey is definitely an interesting one, so stay tuned for our interview with him as soon as his schedule opens up. Here's more on Y-Love, courtesy of a recent NY Daily News piece:
He dodged bullets on a streetcorner. He watched his mother die from a cocaine addiction. But Flatbush's Yitzchak (Y-Love) Jordan is more Hasidic than 'hood.
New York's only known black ultra-Orthodox Jewish rapper left his native Baltimore at 21 for Brooklyn, converting to a religion that drew him into a far different world.
Jordan, now 29, travels the globe rhyming his views - as a black man and a Jew.
"The entire way I look at the world is a fusion between Baltimore and Brooklyn," said Jordan last week, finishing a performance at the Knitting Factory in Tribeca.
"Being black affects everything," he said. "I had kids stare at me like I was a gremlin in Borough Park."
In the song, "From Brooklyn to Ramle," Jordan raps about straddling two worlds:
The same racist systems create the same victims
Half-hour in the pizzeria, they ain't even ask me, man ... hattan I could spend 1/2 hour hailing taxis
That's how I live on the daily
Black man Haredi [ultra-Orthodox]
Can't let these haters faze me 'cuz if I did, I'd go insane!
If Jordan's real-life story weren't rare enough, he raps in a mix of English, Hebrew, Yiddish, Arabic, Latin and Aramaic - a homage to his love of the Torah and other old-school godly texts.
Meanwhile, let's get into tomorrow's (7pm eastern) broadcast. You guys know our drill-give us a buzz "live" at 646-915-9620 or via IM/email-afronerdradio@yahoo to converse and analyze the following: a Hollywood exec thinks Oscar winner Forest Whitaker is too ugly, Black and unbankable to star in said exec's movie; the House says "nay" to the bailout and our predictions for the Thursday's VP debate. So as always...Be there, Square and certainly not "ugly."
And for more of the Daily News' take on Y-Love, click on the link below:
Tale of tragedy and triumph for a struggling Hasidic rap star
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