Soulico: Tel Aviv Hip Hop

The best part of writing a blog (hint hint) is getting comments or emails from fellow Jewish music fans. I got one the other day from another North Coaster (i.e. from Michigan) interested in pointers to Jewish Hip Hop. I was able to rattle off some of the main players, including Socalled, Balkan Beat Box, and Y-Love, but I know I was missing a bunch so I went on the hunt. (I love going on the hunt.) And I found Soulico:

Soulico is from Tel Aviv. I'm not a enough of a hip-hop fan to play the 'sounds like' game, but this is how they describe themselves:

"Soulico is a 4 member DJ Crew from Tel Aviv, the first DJ's in the Middle East to master the trifecta of production, turntablism, and party-rocking skills. Soulico has garnered incredible respect and critical acclaim both for their original songs and their unique mash-ups that blend Israeli folk and Jewish melodies with American hip-hop tracks.

My Hebrew isn't nearly good enough to keep up with the vocals, but I like how they kick back and forth between pop, hip-hop, and various folk music licks. I dig it. You can hear a few of their tracks on the Soulico myspace page and hear a full live show and one of their mix-tapes on the JDub Records website. If you're lucky enough to be in Boston or New York at the end of the month you can catch them in concert. Check the JDub site for details.