How to make money from street music: The fascinating story of Israeli hip-hop
How did local hip-hop go from an obscure scene to shows selling 90,000 tickets in advance? A new docu-series from Kan 11 set out to explore the genre, from the roots of "HaAsham Tamid" to the takeover of the mainstream led by Ravid Plotnik and Tuna.
The author is a DJ, an international music producer (Vooz Brothers), and the owner of an event music company in Israel and abroad.
Like the schnitzel that comes from Austria or the falafel born in Egypt, which have become the most Israeli foods, hip-hop, which made aliyah from the USA, has become a living and kicking local genre. The new documentary series that aired this week on Kan 11 and Kan BOX, "Black Gold - The Story of Israeli Hip-Hop," comes to explain to the current generation how lucky we are to have Yossi Fine and how, like many good stories, this genre started as a successful joke by Yair Nitzani about 30 years ago.
The series, created by Rom Attik and Emery Dekel-Kadosh, manages to make the hip-hop scene accessible in an addictive candy wrapper. One of the participants and someone who was dominant in Shabak S, the first hip-hop group, is Muki (Dani Niv). "We were never really interested or occupied by 'the scene.' We didn't deal with how we should dress and talk and which clubs to go to. We did our thing the way we wanted, and that's it," he says. "And we invented hip-hop in Israel, there wasn't really one, so there wasn't really anyone to mingle with. Before us was Nigel HaAdmor (who was ahead of his time with 'Hummus Metamtam' and the song that gave the name to the legendary local hip-hop radio show that aired for 11 years on Galgalatz, 'Esek Shahor' - ed.). Then came Hadag Nahash and Subliminal and HaTzel, and everyone was pretty much on their own. Respect and all, but we didn't hang out together."
A new generation for whom Caesarea is not a dirty word
Just as Muki presents it, the hip-hop scene started with all sorts of outsiders and became a monster that fills stadiums, like a series of 6 consecutive shows by Ravid Plotnik and Tuna at the Rishon LeZion Amphipark in 2023, with 90,000 tickets sold in advance. But the road was long and winding, and for artists like Tuna to conquer every radio station playlist, one must know where it all started and when the new generation arrived for whom Caesarea is not a dirty word.
"I moved to the front," says Duda, a rising star in the genre who also received recognition from Ravid Plotnik, who chose him to open his tour. "I produce for others and draw inspiration from many genres - Bukharan music, Amharic, trance. I really love the connection between hip-hop and electronic, but I don't deal with definitions. 'Pop' comes from 'popular,' and whoever causes it - that's the audience. So a song that explodes eventually becomes what is called pop, and I have no problem with that. And if my truth and pain and laughter and punches reach the biggest stages - then great."
"Today everything is the hook, the music is getting shorter"
Subliminal is considered a chief architect in turning Israeli hip-hop into a commercial industry. Together with "HaTzel" and the "Tact" family, he is responsible for the Big Bang, but some will also say for the near extinction of the genre - all because of one commercial for chocolate milk in 2003. "This is criticism that was leveled at me, but I don't agree with it, it seems to me that I just anticipated my time by two decades," says Kobi Shimoni (Subliminal). "In total, I just wanted to show my father that I could make a living. And I love chocolate milk. It's not drugs. Rappers I grew up on also advertised 'McDonald's' or 'Sprite' (Run DMC and Nas respectively - ed.)."
"Artists need to be brave - there will always be someone who says something, whether you do it or not," adds Shimoni. "I've been in the business for 30 years, and it's clear to me that every few years I need to reinvent myself. I have something to say, and that's why I got into music, so if a chorus with HaGevatron or Dana International is needed so that people listen to us doing rap - that's what we'll do." Tuna in Israel was also criticized for selling out after advertising black coffee.
"Every kid with a laptop thinks he's going to conquer the world"
Subliminal believes that musical platforms and clickbait culture make music formulaic and lacking in depth - and listeners impatient. "Today everything is the hook, the music is getting shorter, and it's not fun. Once, when an album came out, you would get sucked into it, connect to it and to the artist. I think this is something that will return. Not just a 2-minute song as the platform's algorithm requires, but an album where artists can express themselves."
Regarding the new music, Shimoni says: "There are two sides to the coin here. On one hand, there is flooding. Every kid takes a laptop and thinks he's about to conquer the world, but everything sounds very similar and very predictable, because that's what the Suno program does - it flattens the edges. I use it too, but to understand what everyone is doing, and I try to bring something else. That's the positive side of the matter - artists will arrive who are exceptional both in music and on the platform. I wouldn't be surprised if suddenly an alien artist appears who really catches on, who makes music that doesn't fit on a Spotify shelf or in a genre, who will be different."
When I ask Muki about the younger generation, he reveals that his connection to it is through his son, who really likes Maor Ashkenazi, for example (look for "Want to be my friend?" - ed.). "I enjoy seeing and hearing an original flow or speak. But there is nothing that I currently say, 'This really turns my heart, it blows me away,'" he testifies. "When I met the creators of the program 'Black Gold,' I saw that they come with a real love for the thing. Hip-hop, a bit like our beloved country, only sanctifies 'the here and now' - there are no processes. But it is impossible to move anywhere if you don't understand where we came from, and then try to think where you want to go from here."
