Yitz Jordan (born January 5, 1978), better known by his stage name Y-Love, is an American hip hop artist. An

Orthodox Jew Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on ...

, Jordan was formerly

Hasidic Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...

.Jerry Portwood
"Y-Love is Ready for Love,"
'' Out'', May 15, 2012. He is a web developer, activist, and entrepreneur. Jordan rhymes in a mixture of English,

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and Aramaic, often covering social, political and religious themes.

Biography

Personal life

Jordan, an only child, was born and raised in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to it ...

to a Christian Ethiopian father and Puerto Rican mother, occasionally attending a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul com ...

church. As a youth, Jordan was a fan of the conscientious rhymes of

KRS-ONE Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from New York City. He rose to prominence as part of ...

and

Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...

Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D helped creat ...

.Jesse Serwer, "Walk Wit' Me: Black Jewish MC Has Rhymes For You Little Yentas," ''XXL'', Issue #101, April 2008. Jordan first became interested in Judaism at the age of seven. "I saw a commercial that said, 'Happy Passover from your friends at Channel 2,'" he said, "and I went drawing six-pointed stars on everything at my mother's house.""Jewish hip hop artist Y-Love,"
''Jerusalem Post'', November 7, 2010. He started wearing a

kippah A , , or , plural ), also called ''yarmulke'' (, ; yi, יאַרמלקע, link=no, , german: Jarmulke, pl, Jarmułka or ''koppel'' ( yi, קאפל ) is a brimless cap, usually made of cloth, traditionally worn by Jewish males to fulfill the ...

and observing

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

at 14, and

converted to Judaism Conversion to Judaism ( he, גיור, ''giyur'') is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. ...

around the turn of millennium.Trymaine Lee
"Black and Jewish, and Seeing no Contradiction,"
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', August 27, 2010. He later spent time studying at a

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish education, Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish p ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. In May 2012, Jordan

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

. As of 2012, he still identified as an Orthodox Jew. However, by 2013 he proclaimed himself

off the derech Off the ''derech'' ( he, דֶּרֶךְ, pronounced: , meaning: path) (OTD) is a Yeshiva-English expression used to describe a Jew who has left an Orthodox Jewish community. Despite its negative connotation in insinuating that the exiter has left ...

Career

After moving to Brooklyn in 2001, Jordan began performing at open mics around the city as Y-Love. He received a measure of criticism from the local Jewish population for also being a member of the hip hop community. He also works as a web developer and activist. Y-Love released his first

mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

in 2005, ''DJ Handler Presents Y-Love: The Mixtape'', leading to an award for Best Hip Hop Artist at ''

Heeb ''Heeb'' is a Jewish website (and from 2001 to 2010, a quarterly magazine) aimed predominantly at young Jews. The name of the publication is a variation of the ethnic slur "hebe", an abbreviation of Hebrew. However, in this case, the word "heeb" ...

s 2006 Jewish Music Awards. A few years later, he teamed up with beatboxer Yuri Lane to record the a capella album, ''Count It (Sefira)''. The vocals-only offering can be listened to by Orthodox Jews year-round, including the period between

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or ...

and

Shavuot (''Ḥag HaShavuot'' or ''Shavuos'') , nickname = English: "Feast of Weeks" , observedby = Jews and Samaritans , type = Jewish and Samaritan , begins = 6th day of Sivan (or the Sunday following the 6th day of Sivan in ...

, when it's not permitted to listen to musical instruments.Ben Bresky, "Jewish Rapper Releases A Capella CD," ''Shiur Times'', August 2008. In the Fall of 2008, Y-Love released his first solo full-length album, ''This Is Babylon''. '' XXL'' said the album "balances Jewish spirituality with party rhymes and political commentary in an effort to spread -Love'smessage of global unity." His 2011 EP ''See Me'' (produced by Diwon) debuted as a "New and Noteworthy Release" on the front page of the

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

Hip Hop page. The music video for the EP's single "This Is Unity" was called "awesome" by '' URB''. In Fall of 2014, Y-Love appeared in a documentary called ''Punk Jews.'' In June 2020 he became the chief product officer at Tribe Herald, a news site for

Jews of Color Jews of color (or Jews of colour) is a neologism, primarily used in North America, that describes Jews from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, whether biracial, adopted, Jews by choice, or part of other national or geographic populations (or a ...

Musical style

Y-Love generally comes up with his rhymes through extensive

freestyling Freestyle is a style of improvisation, with or without instrumental beats (Mystrodamus), in which lyrics are recited with no particular subject or structure and with no prior memorization.Kevin Fitzgerald (director), '' Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme' ...

. "You freestyle and wait until something hot comes out," he says. ''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper ...

'' called Y-Love a "spiritual, rapping guru" who is "front and center in a trending hip-hop revolution." He was named to ''

The Jewish Week ''The Jewish Week'' is a weekly independent community newspaper targeted towards the Jewish community of the metropolitan New York City area. ''The Jewish Week'' covers news relating to the Jewish community in NYC. In March 2016, ''The Jewish We ...

s 2009 36 Under 36, an annual list of 36 notable Jews under the age of 36. "I'm using hip hop to elevate," Y-Love stated. "That's what I'm about." Y-Love uses strong Jewish themes in his lyrics, saying "We know that the Book of Psalms was written using the types of musical instruments which were contemporary to King David’s day. Today we have digital equipment."

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

* "Change" - DeScribe & Y-Love, prod. Prodezra. Released May 14, 2010. * "Boom Selecta" - Shemspeed MCs vs. Electro Morocco (feat. Y-Love, DeScribe, Kosha Dillz & Eprhyme). Released July 12, 2010. * "Move On" - Y-Love feat. DeScribe. Released August 10, 2010. * "The Takeover" - Y-Love feat. TJ Di Hitmaker &

Andy Milonakis Andrew Michael Milonakis (; born January 30, 1976) is an American actor, comedian, rapper, and streamer. He is best known for his work on '' The Andy Milonakis Show'', a sketch comedy series that aired on MTV and MTV2 from 2005 to 2007. Other n ...

. Released October 18, 2011. * "Focus on the Flair" - Y-Love feat. Onili. Released May 15, 2012.

Mixtapes

* ''DJ Handler Presents Y-Love: The Mix Tape'' (2005)

TV appearances

* London & Kirschenbaum - Israeli Channel 10 (July 2007) * BBC World TV (September 2008) *

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late night talk show, late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity i ...

- with

Erran Baron Cohen Erran Boaz Baron Cohen (born May 1968) is an English composer and trumpet player known for collaborations with his younger brother, Sacha Baron Cohen. Life and career Baron Cohen is a founding member of the world music group Zohar who are sign ...

(December 12, 2008) * The Jewish Channel (multiple appearances since 2008)
"Faith, Music and Culture"
-

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

Special (June 7, 2009) * Fox 2 Detroit (March 25, 2011)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
1978 births African-American Jews American Orthodox Jews American Ashkenazi Jews Jewish rappers Living people Converts to Orthodox Judaism Former Orthodox Jews LGBT African Americans American people of Ethiopian descent American people of Puerto Rican descent Hebrew-language singers Yiddish-language singers Arabic-language singers Latin-language singers Aramaic-language singers American gay musicians LGBT Orthodox Jews LGBT rappers LGBT people from Maryland Shemspeed Records artists Rappers from Baltimore 21st-century American rappers 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people 21st-century African-American musicians