Darshan (band)

Last updated
Darshan
Origin Brooklyn, New York, USA
Genres Jewish hip hop, alternative hip hop, folk rock, conscious hip hop
Years active2008 (2008)–present
LabelsShemspeed, Chant
Members Eprhyme
Shir Yaakov
Basya Schechter
Website darshanproject.com

Darshan is an American Jewish alternative hip hop group from Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 2008, the group primarily consists of rapper Eprhyme and singer-songwriters Shir Yaakov and Basya Schechter. Its debut album, Deeper and Higher, was released in 2015, followed by a second album, Raza, in 2017.

Contents

History

Prior to meeting for the first time, Eprhyme had been a rapper in the Olympia music scene as part of the duo Saints of Everyday Failures, [1] [2] [3] while Shir Yaakov Feit had informally freestyle rapped and beatboxed with the band Lev Yerushalayim as a yeshiva student in Israel. [4] The two met in the summer of 2007 at Hazon's Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Connecticut, where Epryhme was a fellow in the Adamah program and Feit was a residential employee. They connected musically while Eprhyme was driving Feit to the airport at the end of the session, and Feit subsequently provided vocals for Eprhyme's first solo album. The following summer session, they began writing and performing together. [5]

The band's debut EP, Lishmah was released by Shemspeed Records on December 15, 2009, [6] who subsequently re-released the record on January 5, 2010. [7] [8] The EP was produced by Shir Yaakov and engineered by Smoke M2D6 of Oldominion. [9] A second EP, To Zion, was released on January 14, 2011. [10] [11] One of the EP's songs, a hip-hop version of "Chad Gadya", was issued as a single via Shemspeed in 2012. [12]

The group's first full-length album, Deeper and Higher, was released on September 29, 2015. It was produced by Jamie Saft and featured accompaniment by him, Ben Perowsky, and Basya Schechter of Pharaoh's Daughter. [13]

Musical style

In addition to hip hop, Darshan's music also contains elements of folk rock and the minor key melodies of traditional Jewish music. [6] [7] An early press release by the band described their sound as "harmonizing Hebrew chant with hip hop, folk rock with electro-pop, love poetry with kabbalistic psychology" and cited The Postal Service, Björk, Beastie Boys, and The Beatles as reference points. [14] Ezra Glinter of The Forward wrote, "Eprhyme's hard-driving lyrics are tempered and sweetened by Shir Yaakov’s more melody-driven sensibilities." [7]

Discography

Albums

TitleDetails
Deeper and Higher
  • Released: September 29, 2015
  • Label: Self-released
Raza
  • Released: November 1, 2017
  • Label: Chant Records

Extended plays

TitleDetails
Lishmah
  • Released: December 15, 2009
  • Re-released: January 5, 2010
  • Label: Shemspeed
To Zion
  • Released: January 14, 2011
  • Label: Shemspeed

Singles

YearTitleAlbum
2012"Chad Gadya"To Zion
2015"Know Return"Deeper and Higher
"Aleph Bass"Non-album single
2017"Remember the Future"Deeper and Higher
2018"Hapax Legomenon"Raza

Music videos

YearSongDirector
2015"Know Return"Ken Ross
"Aleph Bass" Brian Savelson, Abbey Luck
2017"Remember the Future"MorningAltars (Day Schildkret)
2018"Hapax Legomenon"Timslew, Eden Pearlstein

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bizarre (rapper)</span> American rapper

Rufus Johnson, better known by his stage name Bizarre, formerly Bizarre Kid, is an American rapper and producer, best known for his work with the Detroit-based hip hop group D12.

Pharaoh's Daughter is an American Jewish world music band from New York City. Formed in 1995 by Basya Schechter.

Joseph T. Evans, known professionally as Sev Statik and Stu Dent, is a hip hop musician and promoter from Albany, New York. Active as a rapper since the early 1990s, he has performed and recorded both as a solo artist and as a member of the hip hop collectives Deepspace5 and Tunnel Rats. Evans has also been a member of various Albany-area hip hop groups, including All Bully, Master Plan, Body Language, currently fronts the rap rock band Goldtooth, and is active in Pitch Control Music, a musical collective and arts movement he co-founded in order to promote and develop hip hop in the Albany area. Evans is a freemason in East Greenbush, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noah23</span> Canadian-American hip hop artist

Noah Raymond Brickley, better known by his stage name Noah23, is a Canadian-American hip hop artist from Guelph, Ontario. He is co-founder of the Plague Language collective and record label, and has been described as "one of Canada's best, most underrated MCs".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Y-Love</span> American rapper (born 1978)

Yitz Jordan, better known by his stage name Y-Love, is an American hip hop artist. An Orthodox Jew, Jordan was formerly Hasidic. He is a web developer, activist, and entrepreneur. Jordan rhymes in a mixture of English, Hebrew, Yiddish, Arabic, Latin and Aramaic, often covering social, political and religious themes.

Shtar is an Israeli Jewish rap rock band based in Beit Shemesh. Formed in 2006 by American rapper Ori Murray and English guitarist/songwriter Brad Rubinstein, the band released their debut album, Infinity, in Israel in 2010 and in the United States through Shemspeed Records in 2012. They have received considerable media attention, much of it focused on the contrast between their traditional Jewish dress and modern-sounding music. A second recording, Boss EP, was released through the band's own Heatseat Records in December 2012. In 2015, they were announced as contestants on the Israeli reality singing show HaKokhav HaBa.

Moshiach Oi! is an American Hasidic hardcore punk band from Long Beach, New York. Formed in 2008 by lead singer Yishai Romanoff and guitarist Mike Wagner, they released their debut album, Better Get Ready (2009), on Shemspeed Records, followed in 2011 by This World is Nothing. They were prominently featured in the 2012 documentary Punk Jews.

<i>Infinity</i> (Shtar album) 2010 studio album by Shtar

Infinity is the debut studio album by Jewish hip hop band Shtar. Produced by then-drummer David Epstein, the album was originally released by the independent Shemesh Music label on May 2, 2010. After the band was signed to the larger indie label Shemspeed a year later, it was re-released by that label on March 5, 2012.

Eden Daniel Pearlstein, better known by his stage name Eprhyme, is an American Jewish rapper and producer based in Brooklyn, New York. While attending The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, he became involved with the Olympia music scene as half of the hip hop duo Saints of Everyday Failures, with which he released two albums. According to Nic Leonard of the Weekly Volcano, Eprhyme "played a major roll [sic] in the creation of the Olympia hip-hop scene." He was noticed by local independent label K Records, who released his first two singles, "Punklezmerap" and "Shomer Salaam". He then released his debut album, Waywordwonderwill (2009), through Shemspeed Records, before returning to K Records for his follow-up, Dopestylevsky (2011). He is currently part of the alternative hip hop groups Darshan, with vocalist Basya Schechter, and Ruthless Cosmopolitans, with Jon Madof.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nissim Black</span> American Orthodox Jewish rapper

Nissim Baruch Black is an American-Israeli rapper, songwriter, and record producer.

<i>Waywordwonderwill</i> 2009 studio album by Eprhyme

Waywordwonderwill is the debut solo album by Jewish rapper Eprhyme, released on September 8, 2009 through Shemspeed Records. It was produced by Smoke M2D6 of Oldominion. The album's two singles, "Punklezmerap" and "Shomer Salaam", were originally released by K Records as part of its International Pop Underground series, marking the label's first hip hop releases in more than ten years. A release party for the album was held in New York's East Village.

<i>Dopestylevsky</i> 2011 studio album by Eprhyme

Dopestylevsky is the second studio album by Jewish rapper Eprhyme, released on April 26, 2011 by K Records. It is the label's first hip-hop album in a decade, as K Records is typically known for punk and indie rock. A video for the album's lead single, "Life Sentence", was funded by Kickstarter and released on November 7, 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punklezmerap</span> 2008 single by Eprhyme

"Punklezmerap" is a song by American rapper Eprhyme, the lead single from his debut solo album Waywordwonderwill (2008). It was released by K Records on March 4, 2008. Produced by Smoke of Oldominion and featuring Nomy Lamm on vocals, the song heavily samples from klezmer and traditional Jewish music. Lyrically, the song details Eprhyme's musical and personal evolution. At the time of its release, "Punklezmerap" was the first K Records hip hop recording in over a decade.

Bradley Adam Rubinstein is an English-Israeli Orthodox Jewish guitarist, songwriter, and producer based in Israel. Initially gaining fame with the short-lived London trip hop band Lisp, he moved to Israel after becoming a baal teshuvah and co-founded the Jewish hip hop group Shtar.

Electro Morocco were an Israeli American electronic music band from Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 2007 by members of Nanuchka, they released two EPs, Electro Morocco (2008) and Low Ride (2010) and were featured on the Shemspeed compilation album Sephardic Music Festival Vol. 1 (2010). They remixed and produced songs for Y-Love, DeScribe, and Eprhyme, and were noted for their unusual blend of electronic, rock, and Middle Eastern music.

Shir Meira Feit is an American rabbi, composer, liturgist, singer-songwriter, spiritual counselor, and graphic designer. Feit is genderqueer. As a musician, they have recorded several albums both solo and with the groups Darshan and The Epichorus. In their spiritual career, Feit has been a figure in the Jewish Renewal movement, having served the congregations Kol Hai, Kol Zimrah, and Romemu and served as ritual consultant at Eden Village Camp and visiting faculty at the Academy for Jewish Religion and the Jewish Theological Seminary. They are also a member of the Zen Peacemaker order.

Jewish hip hop is a genre of hip hop music with thematic, stylistic, or cultural ties to Judaism and its musical traditions.

Basya Schechter is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, cantor, and music teacher. She is the lead singer and founder of the world/folk rock band Pharaoh's Daughter and has released two solo albums. She has also collaborated with the groups Darshan and The Epichorus.

The Epichorus is an American world music ensemble based in Brooklyn, New York. Led by oudist Rabbi Zach Fredman, the group was formed in 2011 and released their debut album, One Bead, in 2012. They perform in a variety of musical traditions, primarily Jewish, Arabic, and Middle Eastern, with collaborators that have at times included Sudanese vocalist Alsarah, Indian-American singer Priya Darshini, Lebanese musician Bassam Saba, and American Jewish artists Shir Yaakov and Basya Schechter. In 2013, Time magazine listed the group among "10 Stars of the New Jewish Music", alongside acts including Rick Recht, Joshua Nelson, The Maccabeats, and Dan Nichols.

A State of Mind is an international hip hop act, their music is considered alternative hip hop, but draws influences from other genres like jazz and funk. They consist of two MCs, Benjamin Bambach alias Green T or GT Lovecraft from Canada and Maik Schindler alias FP respectively Funk E. Poet from Germany, as well as producer/beatmaker Adam Simmons alias Rhino or Fade from England. Since 2019 they are signed to Chinese Man Records, a French Indie-label run by band Chinese Man.

References

  1. Leonard, Nic (April 30, 2011). "HIP-HOP: Eprhyme's K Records release, "Dopestylvesky"". Weekly Volcano . Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  2. Schrag, Paul (July 20, 2006). "Saints of Everyday Failures new album". Weekly Volcano . Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  3. Sheen, David (May 13, 2011). "Finding His Groove in the Meld of Kabbalah, Klezmer and Indie Hip-hop". Haaretz . Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  4. Bresky, Ben (June 6, 2010). "Audio: Shir Yaakov's Folk Electronic / Strum -n- Bass". Arutz Sheva . Archived from the original (audio interview) on December 8, 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2015. Alt URL
  5. Hebshi, Shoshana (2016-01-22). "VIDEO: Darshan duo mixes mysticism, hip-hop in area concerts". Jweekly . Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  6. 1 2 Savage, Emily (November 30, 2009). "Darshan mixes hip hop with Hebrew". Jweekly . Archived from the original on 4 January 2010. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 Glinter, Ezra (February 5, 2010). "Shemspeed Albums from Bands That Start with 'D'". The Forward . Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  8. "Lishmah - Darshan (Eprhyme & Shir Yaakov)". Amazon . Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  9. Shemspeed. "Lishmah by Darshan". Bandcamp . Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  10. "To Zion | Darshan". Bandcamp . 2011-03-17. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  11. "Darshan's Ghetto Nightingale". Shemspeed. 2011-03-17. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  12. "Chad Gadya, by Darshan". Shemspeed. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  13. "Deeper and Higher by Darshan". Bandcamp . Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  14. "Darshan's "Lishmah" - Out Now!". Shemspeed. 2011-03-17. Retrieved 2023-04-08.