Hadag Nahash

Hadag Nahash

The band's logo
Background information
Origin Jerusalem, Israel
Genres Israeli hip hop
Hip-hop
Funk
Years active 1996–present
Labels Hed Arzi
Website hadagnahash.com
Members Sha'anan Streett
Guy Mar
David Klemes
Moshe "Atraf" Asaraf
Yaya Cohen Harounoff
Shlomi Alon

Hadag Nahash (Hebrew: הדג נחש‎‎ ha-Dag Naḥash) is an Israeli hip hop/funk band, founded in 1996 in Jerusalem. The band is known for its leftist political statements in many of its songs. Some of the band's songs have been used in protests.

Name and symbols

The group's name literally means "The Fish-Snake". It is also, however, a Hebrew spoonerism on the phrase Nahag Ḥadash (Hebrew: נהג חדש‎‎, "A New Driver"). In Israel, people who have only recently gotten their driver's licenses must place a tag on their back window with these words.

The band's icon, depicting a child urinating, comes from a Hebrew idiom loosely translated as I will show you from where the fish pisses (אני אראה לך מאיפה משתין הדג) meaning something akin to "I will show you how it's done."

Musical Style

Like many Israeli pop musicians such as Teapacks and the Idan Raichel project, Hadag Nahash blends Western pop music with Eastern elements to create a sound tapestry containing influences from funk and world music. The band notes that although its style is hip-hop-oriented, its music is placed in that section in Israel because marketing executives at the group's label did not know how to classify the band's style, despite it being closer to groups such as the Brand New Heavies rather than Wu-Tang Clan or A Tribe Called Quest.

History

Hadag Nahash has been a major contributor to the Israeli hip-hop scene, and is presently one of Israel's most successful bands, with six albums released to date. The band's songs call for peace, tolerance and equality, and include political and social protest. Most songs are written by Sha'anan Streett, the band's lead vocalist.

In 2000, Hadag Nahash released its first studio album "Hamechona Shel Hagroove" (Hebrew: המכונה של הגרוב‎‎, "The Groove Machine"), which was written by and composed by the entire band. The album included well-known songs such as "Lo Mevater" and "Af Ehad," which both featured Israeli singer Mazi Cohen.

Hadag Nahash's second studio album, "Lazuz" (לזוז, "To Move"), was released in 2003 and produced by Yossi Fine. The album was an immediate success and sold over 30,000 copies, with hits such as "Gabi ve Debi," "Misparim," and "Lo Frayerim." The album featured famous Israeli musicians such as Berry Sakharof.

"Gabi ve Debi" was notable for its political message. Hadag Nahash sings about meeting Gabby and Debby, characters from a children's show that was part of the Let's Learn English series, who, in the show, had a magic stick that could transport them to any time and place. They offer to take the narrator wherever he wants – as long as it has a positive Zionistic message for the children. The three visit first Herzl and then Trumpeldor, two famous promoters of Zionism, and find each to be a far cry from their idealized images. Most notably they see Herzl on drugs and offering them the same, using a paraphrase of the motto of Zionism: "If you will it, it is not a legend." This audacious and controversial song is typical of Hadag Nahash.

Yossi Fine also produced the band's third studio album, "Homer Mekomi" (חומר מקומי, "Local Material"), which was released in 2004. The biggest hit out of the album was "Shirat Hasticker" (שירת הסטיקר, "The Sticker Song"), which was written by Israeli novelist David Grossman.[1][2] The lines of the song are all slogans seen on Israeli bumper stickers. The opposing political slogans are juxtaposed to create an angry and ironic portrait of political and religious life in Israel. Other notable songs from the album are "Halifot," "Hakafa Metzaltzelet" and "Rak Po". The album attained platinum status and the band was named Band of the Year by Galgalatz and Reshet Gimel, Israel's leading popular radio stations.

In 2006, Hadag Nahash released "Be'ezrat Hajam" (בעזרת הג'אם, With Help of the Jam, a wordplay on the expression "With God's Help"), which was named Album of the Year at the Israel Music Awards.[3] The album, recorded at In the Pocket studios in California, was the first album in which the vocals were divided equally between Sha'anan Streett and DJ Guy Mar. "Be'ezrat Hajam" contained the hit "Hine Ani Ba" (Hebrew: הנה אני בא‎‎, "Here I Come") written by Guy Mar about moving from his hometown Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. "Hine Ani Ba" is also an example of a song with a political or cultural message, as it depicts a cultural struggle between Jerusalem, a symbol of Israel's heritage, and Tel Aviv, a hub for young people and nightlife.[4] One marker of its success is that this song is also featured in the Adam Sandler movie You Don't Mess with the Zohan.

In March 2008 Hadag Nahash released its first live album, Hadag Nahash Live, released both as a CD and a DVD.

In December 2009, Hadag Nahash released the first single from its sixth album, 6: a protest song against the rising internal violence in Israeli society, called "Od Ach Ehad" (עוד אח אחד, "One More Brother").[5] Further singles from the album were "Shir Nehama," which featured Israeli traditional guitarist Yehuda Keisar; "Ani Ma'amin"; and "Lo Maspik." The latter was selected by EA Games for soundtrack of The Sims 3 expansion pack The Sims 3: Late Night, and was re-recorded in Simlish.

Group members

Performance partners

Past members

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

References

  1. ↑ Freedman, Samuel G. (August 16, 2004). "Honk if You Love to Sing Bumper Stickers; Israeli Author Turns Slogans Into Rap Hit". The New York Times. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  2. ↑ Curriculum based on "The Sticker Song"
  3. ↑ "Santa Barbara News-Press". Newspress.com. Retrieved 2011-07-21.
  4. ↑ Snakes, fishes, rhymes and Hollywood interest for Jerusalem nightlife
  5. ↑ "הדג נחש - "עוד אח אחד"‎". Mako.co.il. Retrieved 2011-07-21.

External links

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