Wednesday, February 6, 2008
On Thursday night, University of Kansas students will be treated to a free show from Israeli funk group, Hadag Nachash, at The Bottleneck. The performance will kick off KU Hillel’s celebrations in honor of Israel’s 60th anniversary.
Hadag Nachash, a well-known music group from Israel, plays a mixture of funk, hip-hop, jazz and electronica that combines Western music with traditional Israeli music. The seven-man group’s appearance in Lawrence was made possible by funding from Student Senate.
Jason Oruch, Plano, Texas, student senator, wrote the bill that sponsored Hadag Nachash’s visit to Lawrence. Oruch said the combination of one of Israel’s most famous hip-hop groups with KU Hillel’s reputation as a student group made it easy to recommend using Senate funds to pay for the event.
“I personally feel that this is going to be the biggest multicultural event to ever come to campus,” Oruch said.
Matt Lehrman, KU Hillel program director, worked with Oruch to bring the group to Lawrence. He said Hillel members were excited to see such a famous act from Israel at the University.
breakbox
When: Thursday at 9 p.m.
Where: The Bottleneck
Price: free for students, $10 for non-students
Age: 18+
“Everyone is thrilled,” Lehrman said. “We anticipate The Bottleneck being filled to capacity on Thursday night. It’s a really unique opportunity, especially to be able to offer it for free for all students.”
Although the performance will be almost entirely in Hebrew, Minneapolis sophomore Joe Jaffe said the language gap didn’t take away from the experience and the show’s atmosphere. Jaffe said he had attended two of Hadag Nachash’s shows and planned to attend on Thursday.
“I think they put on a good show. It’s entertaining and even though I don’t understand a thing they are saying, it’s still a fun show to attend,” Jaffe said.
Lead vocalist of Hadag Nachash, Sha’anan Streett, said most American audiences focused more on the music rather than the lyrics because very few speak Hebrew. He said the group has shunned mainstream hip-hop themes in order to focus on issues that affect the Israeli people.
“Most of my lyrics are about our life in Israel and not about bitches, hoes, cars and drugs,” Streett said. “A little bit of drugs, but most of the things are about politics, finance and things like that.”
The group has been making periodical tours throughout the United States since 2004, Streett said. Though the group focused primarily on funk music initially, Streett said hip-hop and rap crept into the Hadag Nachash’s music because of the way he could communicate his message to the audience.
“I was influenced by the freedom in hip-hop lyrics that you could use, and I wasn’t familiar with that in Hebrew,” he said. “That’s what did it for me.”
Hadag Nachash literally means “Snakefish” in Hebrew, but Streett said it was only a play on words without any significant meaning. Because of its sometimes controversial lyrics about terrorism and the Israeli way of life, Streett said the group inspired a wide range of emotion within their supporters and critics.
“I know some people love us and some people hate us, but that’s fine,” Streett said. “Instead of going with the common denominator, we do what we believe.”
Lehrman said Hadag Nachash’s dedication to producing socially conscious music was one aspect of the group that drew people to its work. He said it was the ideal way to begin celebrations for Israel’s 60th anniversary and have a good time in the process.
“It’s good music, but they are really a unique act and a unique perspective on Israeli life,” Lehrman said. “To be able to see them in Lawrence just kind of seals the deal. It’s pretty exciting.”
—Edited by Russell Davies
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