It's been a newsworthy week for Jews in hip-hop, with a new viral video and a rap battle heating up.
Rapper
Drake has beef with
Kanye West, who recently cut a new album called
Watch the Throne with
Jay-Z. After Drake's verse was cut out of Kanye's
song "All of the Lights," the Canadian-Jewish rapper accused Kanye of
stealing his collaboration idea, which he said he had been planning with
Lil' Wayne.
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Kanye's car (a $1.7 million Mercedes) and saying "I'm just feeling like
the throne is for the taking, watch me take it" – a reference to the
Kanye-Jay-Z collaboration.
In "Otis," a single released last
week, Kanye fought back, responding to Drake's "never seen the car you
claim to drive" with the following line: "They ain't seen me cause I
pulled up in my other Benz/Last week I was in my other other Benz." The
Schmooze agrees with
Tablet Magazine's assessment of the battle: As
cool as Drake may be, Kanye has Jay-Z on his side, and Jay-Z is the
undisputed king of rap these days.
On the lighter side of hip-hop, comedy site Funny or Die released a
parody of
Wiz Khalifa's hit "Black and Yellow" called "Black and
Jewish," complete with shout-outs to Drake,
Lenny Kravitz,
Rashida
Jones, Manischewitz and Birthright.
History magazine Lapham's Quarterly's food issue decided to solve some
very
old epicurean debates through infographics, determining the origins
of certain foods. One of them is the sandwich, which members of the
tribe already know predates the Earl of Sandwich. Of course, it was
invented by Hillel in the first century BCE, who put bitter herbs
between two pieces of matza.
If you think you know your Jewish food, or at least your Ashkenazi
Jewish food, check out this fun
Yiddish food quiz on Kveller. It's
pretty easy, but hey, doesn't it feel good to get 100% on a quiz?
Is Facebook too immodest for you? In that case, you might be a fan of
"
FaceGlat," a new, gender-segregated social network for those adhering
to the strictest halachic standards. Even a husband and wife cannot
"friend "each other on the new site. This haredi version of Facebook was
invented by Kfar Chabad resident Yaakov Swisa, 25, and includes a
feature that blocks men impersonating women and vice-versa.
While Facebook may be scandalous for some, there are apparently rabbis
who think that HBO series
Entourage is not that bad – despite being
notorious for its portrayal of drug use and nudity, nudity and more
nudity.
The New York Times website featured a slideshow of photographs
from the premier of the show's final season last week. Three Jewish
people named Ari appeared in the photos: Ari Gold,
Jeremy Piven's
character on the show,
Ari Emanuel, the Hollywood agent on whom Ari Gold
is based and
Rahm Emanuel's brother, and
Rabbi Ari Shapiro. Shapiro
stood out in the pictures, with his dark beard and black yarmulke. Who
is he? Apparently, a childhood friend of
Entourage executive producer
Mark Wahlberg.
The Weekly Schmooze collects the
hottest Jewish culture news from around the world. Ranging from
celebrities to philanthropy to quirky communities, we're here to
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