YEHUDIS LITVAK (Aish.com)
American-Israeli rapper Nissim Black grew up in the inner city of Seattle, WA. Musically gifted, he began composing and producing music as a teenager. As an adult, he embarked on a spiritual quest, which led to his conversion to Judaism. Today, Nissim lives in Israel with his family, and his Jewish-themed music inspires diverse audiences world-wide.
Last fall, Nissim had been working on his fourth album, with plans to release it in November. He had just released the second single from the album.
“Then October 7th happened,” says Nissim. “I couldn’t even look at music. I couldn’t do anything.”
He put the album on hold and threw himself into what he felt was more needed at the moment – “bring a voice of some type of hope, reassure people, to remember that G-d is on our side. I got creative, just not musically creative. I went on social media and started releasing videos, telling everybody that it is very important when dealing with terrorists not to allow them to cause terror. Don’t watch the videos, don’t be obsessed with the news. What we do in our times of struggle is we turn to G-d and prayer. This is our ray of hope.”
Diverse Audience
Despite the global rise in antisemitism, Nissim continues to perform all over the world, though now he travels with an armed bodyguard. Recently, Nissim performed in the United States, Canada, South Africa, Great Britain, Gibraltar, Germany, Brazil, and Jamaica.
His audience is diverse and not limited to Jews. In fact, many of his listeners are religious Christians. Nissim says, “It’s been very interesting to see, as it appears that more and more people are turning their back on Israel, that there is this overwhelming support, particularly from the Evangelical world.” Since October 7th, his Christian fan base has been consistently growing.
“Maybe because I’m here, in Israel, and I speak a language they’re familiar with. I don’t think my music is converting anybody, but people who are already pro-Israel are attracted to my music.”
Nissim finds it easy to connect with religious people – whether white or black, Jewish, Christian, or Muslim. When he noticed that his post-October 7th inspirational videos were attracting non-Jewish viewers, he made sure to use English terms rather than Hebrew and include “universal items of faith.”
“I was Muslim as a kid, but I wasn’t raised Muslim,” he says. “My grandfather introduced me to Islam when I was 8 years old, but my parents weren’t religious. Later, I converted to Christianity. So any religion I’ve participated in, from the three Abrahamic religions, I was a convert to. I was never raised in a religion. Because of that, I don’t have any resentment towards any religion. I wasn’t forced to go to church, or mosque, or synagogue. Every move towards G-d and spirituality I made on my own. So I have a certain level of tolerance that many people wouldn’t have. I want to see everybody close to G-d.”
Both Nissim’s music and words of inspiration have been received very positively. “I’ve been getting a lot of love,” he says. “That’s been awesome. I tour a lot – 100 days out of the year I’m on the road. So I also get to see the effect my music has had on so many different people. People have been able to stop listening to music that’s not good for them. I get messages from people and run into people all the time who are somewhere in the conversion process. It’s wild.”
Encounters with Antisemitism Post October 7th
In his travels, Nissim has also encountered a lot of antisemitism, especially after October 7th. “I’ve experienced a lot more antisemitism than I have racism.”
Though racism obviously exists, Nissim had not seen much of it growing up. There was systemic racism, such as lack of proper textbooks in his predominantly black high school in Seattle, but no blatant racism on a personal level.
After he converted to Judaism, Nissim experienced some racism within the Jewish community, though not on a large scale. “But on the flip side, there is so much love and acceptance that I have as a Jew that I never before experienced in my life.” Even without a large extended Jewish family, Nissim feels very much at home in the Jewish community and doesn’t feel a lack.
Antisemitism, on the other hand, has been a lot more pervasive. “I walk down the street, and everybody has got something to say,” Nissim shares. “And online – oh my goodness, how much antisemitism I get online! Very nasty and disturbing messages. Especially in the socio-political climate we’re in today, where if any of those people said any of those things to me because I’m black, it would be totally intolerable, but since I’m Jewish, they can say anything and nobody cares. I find it quite interesting.”
Nissim has been called a traitor, accused of joining “a white religion,” and criticized for not expressing support for the Palestinians, who are considered people of color.
“People are not thinking this through as they’re saying this stuff. Every once in a while, if I have an opportunity to educate, I will.”
Unifying Moments
Despite the darkness since October 7th, Nissim has found that his performances are able to bring some light, even to hotspots of antisemitism, like college campuses.
During Hanukkah, Nissim performed at the menorah lighting at George Washington University. The organizers were understandably concerned about security and took extra security measures. They lit the menorah at the same exact spot where the pro-Palestinian event took place just days earlier.
Nissim recalls, “The head of the DEI office came out and was so impressed! And then these black kids come out and start eating potato latkes and jam. I talked to some of them afterwards. It was a very awesome experience, the exact opposite of what everybody was bracing themselves for.”
Nissim was hosted by the DEI departments of other universities and was surprised to find the experiences very positive.
New Album
After postponing the release several times, Nissim and his team finally decided to release the new album on August 14th. The album, Glory, contains 17 songs, accompanied by beautiful footage filmed in Norway and Israel.
He says, “When I stopped making music and was just holding on to the album, a lot of people messaged me, saying, ‘Now we need music more than ever!’ Music can be healing. If you play the right song at the right time, it can really heal a person. We underestimate the power of music. It sets the mood. Everyone has a soundtrack to life – the songs that bring them back to their place. Music is a very powerful tool. The prophets, especially Elisha, would achieve their prophecy through music.”
Nissim compares his creative process to a journey. “First, it’s the prayers,” he says. “I try to stick to an hour of alone time with Hashem every day. Usually, that’s my inspiration. I come back, and I start writing. The music always comes first, then I start thinking visuals, I start thinking of what this song is saying to me. Then, before I get to the lyrics, I write cadence. I always think that the most impactful thing is not what you say but how you say it. Once music and cadence are there, it’s very easy to fill in the words, because I already know how I’m going to say what I’m going to say.”
Nissim has profound appreciation for his fans. Thanks to social media, he has been able to build relationships with his fans and form a community. He treasures all the feedback he receives.
“People underestimate how much it means when people take the time to let you know how much you’ve been able to affect them. It gives me so much strength to go on. You need that feedback, that constant love, you need people commenting on all the YouTube videos – all of that, because it gives you fuel for the fire and enables you to produce and do more. Everything that I have is all them.”
Nissim believes it’s more important than ever to stay positive and focused.
“The world is getting very loud, and the louder it is, the harder it is to hear the voice of G-d. In everything that is going on right now, G-d is calling all of us to come closer to Him, to get to know Him. And this is the time to really ramp it up and be more focused, but it’s really the hardest time to do it. Israel is trending in the media. Let’s make the focus on the things that we really should be trending for, which is revealing the light of G-d in the world.”
