The True Jeruz collective stakes its claim as the new generation of Jerusalem hip-hop.
By GAVRIEL FISKE'True Jeruz' rap crew.(photo credit: BEN LIVNE WEITZMAN)
Late on a Thursday evening not too long ago in Jerusalem, the True Jeruz hip-hop crew took the stage in its first-ever live performance. It was a cold and rainy winter evening but True Jeruz, a collective of young DJs and rappers, drew a capacity crowd to Hamazkeka, an intimate live-music venue downtown.The evening began slowly, with DJs spinning old-school hiphop, funk and soul tracks for the slowly gathering crowd. Using the open dance floor to their advantage, a series of break-dancers took solo turns at showing off their moves, but the small dance floor quickly filled up.Then, close to midnight, when there was hardly room to move, a group of five or six rappers took to the stage, trading raw exchanges of improvised poetry in Hebrew and English. This freestyle session, or “cypher,” would continue for some time, and after another short DJ set, the rappers would return for a final turn on the microphones before the evening ended, the satisfied crowd streaming out into the cold, wet night.This first evening was an instant success, leading to another show at the same venue a month later, which was also packed.Now, this Thursday, the True Jeruz crew plays host to legendary Jerusalem underground rapper Segol 59 among other guest performers, in what has turned into a regular monthly event highlighting the capital’s once-dormant hip-hop scene.The True Jeruz project began organically, says Amir Menasheof, who DJs under the moniker Susita Soul. A tall, gentle presence with a riotous full beard, Menasheof relates that “it started small” – with himself and fellow DJs Nevo “Flow Nevo” Shirazi and Netaly “Mermaid” Aylon.The trio, who were already active individually in Jerusalem’s club and party scene, “started to bring more friends, people who were doing freestyle, and it became more of a performance.” In addition to the aforementioned DJs, the True Jeruz crew often includes an additional DJ, Shabang!, and a regular crew of rappers including Soha-e, TayShin, Oven Wolf, MC Oshra and MC Ziffi.One of the main rappers in the group, Oshra “MC Oshra” Attia, is well-known in Jerusalem for her English-language improvisatory raps, which she has delivered at a variety of parties, venues and concerts over the years. Raised in Los Angeles, MC Oshra, whose family originally hails from Egypt, also raps in Arabic, but whatever the language, “everyone is always shocked” when she grabs the microphone, she says.Unlike most of the other MCs, although she is fluent, Attia “hardly raps in Hebrew, unless I am drunk,” she laughs, but says that being from America, the original home of hip-hop, gives her a certain credibility on the scene.True Jeruz “is a diverse crew, a Jerusalem crew,” she maintains, and notes that the gender balance – in addition to herself and Aylon, rapper MC Ziffi is also female – is “something that just happened.”The group also embodies some of the contradictions and struggles going on in Jerusalem. During one show, MC Ziffi, who was wearing a T-shirt printed with a strong political statement against the settlement movement, and MC Oshra, who is married and religious, and lives with her family in the settlement of Nokdim, got into a back-and-forth live freestyle debate that touched on religious-vs-secular issues, the settlements themselves and the pros and cons of city vs rural living.This kind of give-and-take is important to Shirazi, who says the group strives for music that is based on their own experiences. Hip-hop is “a vehicle for us” to express ourselves, he notes, and says that “we are using the classic sound of hiphop, but in 2015, we look at the world differently” than the artists of previous hip-hop eras.True Jeruz aims to be “the next generation of hip-hop in Jerusalem,” he explains, adding that in the past, many great Israeli hip-hop artists such as Hadag Nahash, Cooloolosh and Segol 59 hailed from the capital, but the scene has fallen off a bit in recent years.For Aylon, girls “make hip-hop from a slightly different place, [with] girl power. It is sexy if a woman is doing things in a man’s world... It shows that this thing can belong [to everyone].”The presence of the ladies, both on the microphone and behind the DJ controls, is a rarity in Israel. Unlike in the US, where hiphop acts are mostly male but some female MCs have always been successful, and where contemporary white-hot rappers Nicki Minaj and Iggy Azalea are bona-fide pop music phenomenons, in the Israeli hip-hop scene there is a dearth of female rappers.Aylon focuses on tracks influenced by soul and gospel – in contrast to her fellow DJs, who often go for a harder sound. “It is important to bring in more people, we want people to come and dance,” she says, stressing that on stage as well, the crew is open to guests and collaborations.People in Jerusalem should feel “they have a place, a community” for the music they love, she adds. For the True Jeruz crew, “It’s important that people will come to be a part of this, something new in the city.” The True Jeruz crew will perform on Thursday, March 26 at 10 p.m. at Hamazkeka, 3 Shoshan Street. Entry NIS 20. Info: hamazkeka@ gmail.com
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