Cultural Fields: Israel Children & Youth, Israel Music Genres: Pop, Rap & Hip Hop Languages: Amharic, Hebrew, English
Focus:
Israeli Ethiopian Hip Hop Youth Group
About:
The young music group was founded two years ago at the donated studios of "Cellcum Volume" music center at the Community youth Center (Matnas) in South of Natanya, Israel, and since became a popular rising star band in Israel and one of the most popular youth group in the history of the country.
All the group members were raised in Kiryat Nordo in Natanya, Israel, and some of them immigrated to the neighborhood in their early childhood from Ethiopia. Growing up, they wrote and created music together reflecting on their environment. The group is composed of five performers who write and sing live hip-hop. In their performance they rap out in Hebrew their life stories, dreams, love and desire for a better future while mixing Ethiopian melodies, Hebrew and Amharic texts with contemporary R&B and Hip-Hop music.
Strong Black Coffee's performance is a thrilling and heart warming music blast of positive energy and hope, introduced by a video clip of their generation's story, interweaved with stories and accompanied by English translations screened on stage- A performance that received many standing ovations in Israel and in USA, including from the Israeli Prime Minister.
A fun and fascinating manifest of Israeli absorption and multiculturalism, the group has proven to Israeli youth and adults the possibility of making dreams come true regardless of any barriers.
Offering:
Full Concert interweaved with personal stories and integrates the crowd Promotional Educational Activity for schools and Universities Special Engagements for all ages with video, Acapella, discussions and Q&A Simultaneous Eng Translation during performance.
Special Israel Independence Day 2009 Performance: Strong Black Coffee together with the iconic Israeli singer songwriter Yoni Roe and the dance group Lions of Judah. The performance will integrate the hip hop music of Strong Black Coffee with all time Israeli songs performed by them and Yoni Ro'e, and accompanied by the break-dancers of Lions of Judah. This performance combines the best of Israel's past present and future, and celebrates Israel's cultural diversity. A fun and unforgettable experience for all ages.
Biography:
Operation Moses in 1984, was the first immigration of Ethiopian Jews to Israel. They traveled in tremendous hardships from remote Ethiopian villages all the way to Israel, walking towards their Jewish homeland. Not everyone survived this difficult journey. The ones who did had to face the huge gap between dream and reality. The new immigrants were located in different communities throughout Israel; Nordao neighborhood, in South Netanya was one of them. Here they settled and gave life to a new generation. Today this young generation is still striving to integrate in Israeli society while maintaining strong connection to their roots, which go back many miles and many years.
Among the children of this new generation, five young friends from the same neighborhood in Netanya, grew up with a dream…To be the ones who hold the mic and tell their story loud and clear; Who they are, their dreams to make a change and above all- to manifest and empower their community’s voice. By writing and composing their original Hip Hop music and lyrics, these five friends hope to become young Israeli leaders, paving the way to become one of the most popular youth music groups in the history of Israel and among the very few Ethiopian Jewish voices in the world.
Past Performances: May 8, 08/ Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, USA May 9, 08/ Westchester, NY, USA May 10-15, 08/ San Francisco, CA, USA May 18, 08/ Palm Springs, CA, USA June 1, 08/ San Francisco, CA, USA @ Israel in the Gardens