Exclusive Interview with Nissim Black by Zvika Bornstein

fly fly away far far away from this place when nobody can Nim I know you had a career before Judaism actually an amazing career I also know that you don't really talk much about it so I want to take this opportunity right now to ask you straight out about your previous life and find out about your amazing career before you ventured into Judaism it's a good question uh I don't know how amazing I can say that it was uh really I was just uh I was young my parents were were hip-hop artists my mother was my father was so I really didn't have a shot at doing anything else you know I could have uh been a janitor or something like that but it didn't work out that way uh I was always into music um at a young age and uh right around when I was 13 years old I hooked up with a producer by the name of vitamin D vitamin D at the time I think we doing doing he was doing things in the industry smaller things but working with uh some big names at the time but it was very well known in Seattle and uh we did uh we did two records together and from there it led to me working with other managers and open me up to to new people so it was how I started from then I uh started started performing before a lot of crowds and it just one of those things that Trickle and trickle Trickle and one day my uh demo made it to the to the um desk of an anr and I started getting calls from a record label and um at the time also to I was very very involved independently like trying to push my stuff every every second that I could and um I got a call from anr virsion records when we started talking and it seemed like it was going to be something very hopeful and remember we got on the plane we went to New York we went to Slim Shady Records we went to Atlantic we went to uh Dame Dash music group this is right after the Jay-Z and Rockefeller uh split with Dame Dash uh met with Clark Ken to discover Jay-Z and bigy Smalls and uh he wanted to move forward at a conference call the next morning it didn't go through uh nothing was looking that it was going to be so promise promising so we decided to do an independent and when we did an independent it made a big splash uh mainly locally and then it started to spread a little bit more in the region and things picked [Music] up I'm seeing bodies loaded on the truck and if it wasn't for my trade it would be us I'm staring at mother and I started searching and during that time of searching I realized that you know I was searching for I was searching for God and so I pursued that and the more and more I grew spiritually I found myself more and more disconnected with music at this time it was like everybody's like this is all the hype is happening I'm here about to release called my sophomore record and uh that sophomore record I remember having a meeting with my business partner and I told him I said listen this is going to be my last record I don't want to do it anymore but uh what he say so he he's very shocked he was very shocked you know he didn't really know how to take it we at this time we had finally made a platform to do what we wanted to do and and and to take things to the next level and uh Next Level means what like MTV to the next level was was was was hopefully to eventually take our independent label and to get imprint deal and to be able to put out you know our music nationally internationally and along with other artists but you know here I am I felt that urge inside of me saying I can't go on anymore and what can you do with that so I told him this is going to be our last but I told him under condition I said listen I don't want any money from anything I don't care what it makes or anything like that and he shows anything I didn't want money from anything I said all I want to do is be able to keep Shabbat and yam that's it and no shows on those days don't get bugged they don't get bothered or whatever so we agreed to it and released that record and and it made a big I mean nationally I mean there were so many different people I remember doing the release party and the release part people were crying walking out of the walking out of the door and and it was one of those things that you can feel the vibe and something was in the record the the main the first single and ended up onv yeah y'all know what it is some of that uh motivational music some of that feel good yeah a new life new day new breath make moves get through do your best that's what they say to you cuz if the music takes who we are watch what they play to we came a long way from always playing the background it seems that they all want to be where we get now was on full rotation on MTV and I had guys like DJ Premiere uh was a big big Legend in hip-hop you know what I mean really endorsed me and just previous right before the record I did a song on Jake W's uh white van Music and on that record it was like people were saying like f my fan I'm on there with buston ryes young buck and little brother was on there I mean you're talking about big names that were on this uh you know the hip-hop world on this record and little me from Seattle shoot real hard no got no we still rid looking for Miss too from Seattle you know what I mean nobody was making a big splash so set things up for that record and then when it was on MTV we're like wow and I went to New York and I got to meet with a lot of my favorite rappers and they knew who I was I didn't have to say anything and people knew who I was you know these are Big names people I've been listening to for years they knew who you know was a very very very very eye openen experience but call it whatever just don't call the street I would admit that back then I was a beast but I traded for that big was like the turning point where you just said okay and completely walked away from it what what what was it I think it was trying to to like I said live in Two Worlds it was very very hard for me because and not because music is bad obviously you know it was because I my relationship to it was one that wasn't one of Holiness it wasn't Kucha in the in my relationship to the music and because of that I I couldn't see how I can make the two work I'm searching for God and trying to improve myself spiritually and at the same time I have music and I have rap music and it's and you know what I mean to try to find clean wrap or something that was uh really satisfying to the I couldn't so so for me I couldn't make it work so I think coming to that realization that you know these are two different worlds even though obviously I found out later on that I was wrong but it in my head it was divided it was two different worlds and I couldn't make it in the last year Nim exploded on the Jewish music scene and uh really 2016 I think was was was a big year um music videos one after another and and and seeing you on on the biggest stages in the world um how did that happen tell us a little bit about that it's a very good question I think there's uh two two words to describe that Hashem um very interesting you know I released in 2013 I released a um I released the lp it was titled n um there was some buzs around that I did a a video for a as Tor uh for for Kana was a little bit of hype and and Buzz but it wasn't like what it is you know today and and over from from 2013 to 2015 or at least when the sh came I I went into a place of really trying to find myself and and in the midst of all of that I was I I was homeless with my family I didn't know how I was there was nights I slept in my car uh I was in I found myself in the lowest places financially burdened I mean he talk about like you know embarrassed I was in a very very low place and uh by the time I I got called to do has was a mutual friend called me up and told me about the song you know with the like have you heard of hasim you heard the song You Know got elbow it's like of course another song my 2-year-old didn't stop playing and I'm tired of the song actually you know if you want to be honest but uh and he and he asked me about this I said listen you know whatever I do he he he found me from the kanaka thing he knew knew me from the kanaka thing so uh he called God God was interested in doing it and uh I was like okay let's do it and so I remember going in to record it and the first time I went to go record those L mind you 2013 I released a record I was Jewish it was a very amazing and positive uplifting record okay but for the first time when was the first time that I openly spoke about hash in a rap I never talked about God in a rap like openly like that you know what I mean so I think what it was was that I felt a sense of like freedom for the first time because if a guy talk to me on the side anytime that's what I'm talking about we're talking about AEM we're talking about but in rap I caned it because I still have this hope maybe that I can in influence the world and by by keep and I realized that it wasn't it wasn't true to my person but the first time when I went in and I did a and I started speaking and that you know I I was tearing I was crying afterwards you know and uh I felt something so when that video when that video came out there was a lot of controversy because it involved rap right and and there is there is a controversy about rap in in in the Jewish music well in general in the Jewish World in the Shish world right here's the question is rap kosher it's not so pushu uh is rap kosher rap you know what we have today when we listen to obviously when we look at predominantly I don't know a lot of clean rappers I can't really say I know any I don't you know what I mean so uh I can't say that rap is kosher what I came to the realization for myself is is that I have a certain K I have a certain strength Hashem blessed me with a certain talent and a certain gift and I need to use that in order to glorify and magnify his name that's it and it spread his name into the world so I took that and I used it so the question really is can rap be kosher it could be kosher what decides whether or not music is kosher is not the genre so r says and in the third in the third Torah he says he defines very clearly what is and what's not a Kos musician it's not defined on the the genre the style of music it is based upon the musician himself are they working on themselves in kadus are they purifying themselves working that and then from that because the the expression of what comes out of a person is everything that's inside of them so if you have you know a a a clean and a and in a wholesome bottle pouring something out that's what the liquid's going to be if it's in something that's tainted and and it's dirty and and you pour that up that's also what it's going to be so you know I don't think that you could say this genre can be kosher and that one can't I mean who can Define that but Hashem knows the heart of a person and the people that have a true hairage people that can feel that have true feeling they feel when something's coming from a pure or inure place and it's also based upon the person giving it on the person receiving it where are they holding I wanted to ask you a little bit about the album if you could tell us uh what this specific album is about what's the theme the thing so the name of the new record is lamala and I think it's just that it's about going up ascending going up to to to the high voice and elevating elevating oneself um they they the record came about I was was making Aliah first record started way before that like I said I was crying many prayers on being able to make this record and and with nothing I had like Zaman Koto and that was it that was the only song I had and I was like this rain and I'll be able to make something and now I I ding on the quality I want it to sound like this I want every little thing to detail that that I could think of I I pray God when we were making Aliah we moving to yain leaving from Seattle um the first day I got in D with just I had an email from a guy by the name of is he says to me I have a studio and the studio is in uh is in B it's right by the miva blah blah blah so usually whatever you know the first thing is she investigate so we checked out see W was at the studio I seen the equipment I was like this is amazing and uh he's got everything I need and so I went to go meet with him and we really hit it off really really well so me him um and my brother-in-law ysf Brown we got together and we started making this album and to me it's it's a masterpiece for me because only is it like I said it's phonically everything's in the right place and it's and it's and it's amazing music good to the ear but it's from the heart and I was able to work on it with two amazing amazing years so I want to talk a little bit about the message the message that you're trying to get out through your music so the the message I want to get out through the music is that no matter where a person is no matter how low a person is no matter what a person is going through even from that place it's not my message it's a message of the the great greats greats greats before me including REM my teacher is that no matter where a person is in the lowest places even there you can still find hasem and even there you can climb out and you canide my whole story is that the whole everything and I didn't create my story I don't tell up my story to say that oh look at all the Hashem chose me as a character in life and this is the story and everything that he cut out that he that he gave me so with that I had to realize what can I contribute to the world what can I contribute to Y what what is my what is my contribution my contribution has to be somewhere within my area what was my life like what was I doing I look for the for the clues and the hints and I seen that I came from that and the sh brought me there so obviously it must be for me that with my music and with whatever CL that I have and I'm using it to bring people from the lowest places up to the highest place cuz that's that's all I have to give that's all I have to give [Music] oh