Latin flavour to hip hop Jews

Jewish Telegraph, April 2002

A LATIN-American rap group is mixing Jewish and Latino sounds to create a totally new genre. The Hip Hop Hoodios consists of bilingual musicians from Jewish/Latino backgrounds, but they don’t want to be known as the Latino Beastie Boys.
Josue Noriega (Josh Norek) came up with the idea for the group whilst at Cornell University in 1996. He said: ‘‘I had spent some time in Buenos Aires working for Warner Music Argentina, and when I came back to the States, I really wanted to combine the vitality of Latin alternative music with the American-Jewish culture I had grown up with.
‘‘It wasn’t until several years later, being back in New York and heavily involved in the local Latin alternative scene, that I actually met other Latino Jews who could help pull off a vision like this one.’’
Hip Hop Hoodios’ drummer Federico Fong was a member of multi-platinum Mexican rock band Caifanes and also currently plays bass with La Barranca. Guitarists are Abraham Velez, a Puerto Rican/Jewish writer and editor for several national music publications, and Adam Salzman de Weinstein (‘Ad-Salza’), a Uruguayan-Jew.
Hip Hop Hoodios say they owe much of their success to reclusive producer Pakov, who has worked with Madonna.
‘‘There is so much more to Jewish music than just klezmer and prayer hymns,’’ Noriega said. ‘‘And Jews have been a vital part of the Latin music scene as well.’’
Fong added: ‘‘Many Latinos don’t realise that they have Jewish roots even though they follow Jewish customs. I hope that with Hip Hop Hoodios, we can awaken the dormant Jewish heritage of Latinos.’’
Fong himself is not Jewish, although a sister married into the religion. Noriega is the only non-Latino in the group.
Among the group’s repertoire is 1492 about the Spanish Inquisition and Ocho Kandelikas, a Chanucah song sung in Ladino.
‘‘Initially, we were fearful that all the interest in the band would be because of the ethnic novelty factor,’’ Norek says. ‘‘But, the five-track EP, Raza Hoodia (Jewish race), has been getting overwhelmingly positive reviews.
‘‘It’s frustrating for us as Jews that the Jewish media has largely overlooked us. Until now, most of our support has come from non-Jewish Latinos.’’
He added: ‘‘We want to bring Latino-Jewish hip hop to a wider audience — as well as change the stereotypes of just what a ‘Jew’ or ‘Latino’ is. Even if the group were to dissolve tomorrow, I’d feel like we had accomplished a lot — as well as overcome some enormous preconceptions of what a Latino Jewish hip hop band is all about.’’