y-love :: this is babylon

this is babylon, a new album by hasidic hip-hop artist y-love, pulls few punches regardless of the language (english, hebrew, arabic, aramaic, latin) in which its contents are delivered. the album sets chants and tongue-twisting, mellifluous lyrics of revolution and resistance and love to dance hall beats:

"1 out of 44 look like me, and 1 in every 20 kids go and buy trees, fighting israelis threes on the level, 1 out 50 spending cheese on the pebbles, 7 out of 10 know the birds they [flatten], 2 out of 9 try and bring kids back, 3 out of 5 killed the family name and the two of y'all gonna hear me the same," raps y-love on the politically charged "state of the nation."

y-love - state of the nation


y-love seems far less a novelty act than matisyahu, another rapping orthodox jew, whose combination of hasidic lyrics and reggae's historically christian tropes can sometimes feel problematic. this is babylon features both israeli & palestinian rappers (hadag nachash and saz zakout), about which y-love says, "any interpersonal dialogue between jews with a connection to israel, and muslims with a connection to palestine, is a positive thing. if a mind can be changed, a life can be saved."

y-love also maintains a blog on which he expounds on topics political and social, including the most recent post concerning obama's stance on energy independence.

you can listen to more songs from this is babylon here or here.