By Barrett Holman Leak
(Photo: Ballotpedia)
LA JOLLA, California — Who could keep a packed theatre full of people on their feet, dancing and singing for two hours? Orthodox Black Jewish hip-hop artist Nissim Black, that’s who.
Nissim Baruch Black is keeping it in the family when it comes to his musical gifts. He is the son of two famous rappers, James “Captain” Church Croone and Mia Black of Seattle, Washington. Nissim’s parents were rappers in the late 1970s who belonged to the rap groups Emerald Street Boys and Emerald Street Girls, respectively. His grandparents were also musicians who played alongside musical greats Ray Charles and Quincy Jones in Seattle. He, his wife Adina, and their seven children live in Jerusalem.
Last year he performed outdoors at Leichtag in Encinitas but this year it was at the Garfield Theatre in the Lawrence Family JCC in La Jolla. After a brief warm pre-concert Q&A chat session with a few dozen of us, on Thursday night May 30, Nissim Black packed us in, rocked us and rolled us with rapid fire hard-hitting rap
While a background video of the sea rolled behind him (reminding me of time I spent at the beach in Netanya, Israel) throughout the concert he took us, the audience through gospel-influenced rap with background vocals of pop and rock. Hits like “Mothaland Bounce” and “The Hava Song” had us shouting. It was like being at a lit bat mitzvah. Humorously calling himself the world’s best Zumba instructor and vowing to keep us on our feet and dancing, he moved through song after song.
Black manages to integrate Jewish theology, history and culture into his lyrics. The cadence and flow of his music is similar to Jay-Z and Ice-T. He even weaves in some humor. There is a definite gospel vibe. It was spiritually transforming, transporting us out of the tension we in the Jewish community have been living under for eight months.
The theatre was so on fire at one point that a group of about a dozen teenage boys jumped on the side of the stage , fists pumping, bodies jumping in tune to the music. There were middle-aged and senior women I chatted with beforehand who told me they came from Black churches in San Diego and had heard about Nissim Black coming, as well as a diversity of people within San Diego’s Jewish community. The wide range of concertgoers, singles, couples and families was great to see.
After he sang his last note and put his hat on his head to leave the stage, he raised his fist and chanted “Bring them home now!” The crowd cheered. Hopefully, we will see him again in 2025!
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Barrett Holman Leak is an author, educator and the founder of Playing Together Project, a Jewish non-profit whose mission is to unite Black and/or Jewish San Diegans over a common love of film, food, music and art.