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Saturday, March 2, 2013

Reading Response # 15


The link titled "Channels of Rage: Dissecting the Inner Conflict," was engaging to read. The two main characters, Subliminal (an Israeli-Jew), and Tamer Nafar (an Israeli Arab) were the best of friends. However, in the movie, the conflict is too strong and their friendship is lost over their "inherent differences." Each of these men talks about the violence and conflict that takes place through rapping.

I thought the segment about the media was the most intriguing, personally. We all know that the media has the ability to blow things out of proportion. In this case, "sound bites that contain shocking views polarize and distract, and give media outlets the opportunity to misrepresent and sow fear for the sake of ratings and profits." It shows that we can't take everything we hear as the truth. We have to be able to develop our own opinions.

As I began reading the background on Israeli hip-hop I was surprised to see that "they imitated black rappers with admiration and even envy, but without perceiving the world from a black perspective." In other words, Israeli rappers try and mix in their Jewish/Israeli culture with the stereotypical American "ghetto black culture." I thought the article made a really interesting comparison. So often people don't associate rapping with the Israeli culture (due to ethnicity). However, here in America, one of the greatest rappers is Eminem, a white man. They argue that if Eminem can be successful with his music, then so can Israeli rappers.

I really enjoyed the interview by Jewish rapper Subliminal. He is known as the Jay-Z of Israel, yet most Americans have never heard of him. He even said himself, "I want to get my music outside of Israel." His lyrics, beats, and music videos were very good. I think he (along with other Israeli rappers) could be successful in the American markets if people accepted Israeli rappers more openly.

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