Why can't I be more like Jack?

That is, Jack Shack (it's his real name you know). He decides that any random day is Link to Jack day and a kazillion people comply. Everyone who read that post linked to him. I didn't- but that's because I came across the post a little late and felt stupid being so behind. Bad excuse, I know, so I guess I deserve this-- it's karma.

When I declared yesterday that it's Shuckle Day and that I will link to anyone who so much as says the word (this isn't shamelessly asking for links like, ahem, someone else did), I get no response. Nada. Zilch. *Sigh* I feel very alone. So Jack, what's your secret?

Shucklers in Love

I wrote about these guys last week, in my piece about Shuckle music. Then I came across this wonderful quote in an article on Lubavitch.com about Chasidic tunes that inspire rockers (though, now we can more correctly say, Shucklers).

One of the great accomplishments of niggunim is tying people together, a sentiment that Seliger emphasized in his interview with Lubavitch.com. "I love all Jews," he said, and paused for a moment. "And mainly because of their music."

This quote sums up the attitude of Shuckle music perfectly--the goal of real achdus and open mindedness. It's a good thing folks, so let's make it happen. Here's my challenge: use the word Shuckle and I will link to you. I don't expect any links to me, this isn't about my hits or popularity; I want everyone getting into the Shuckle groove. Together, we can spread the word. If you're not convinced, read this again, and then get back to me.

The first two musical revolutionaries are:
BloginDm
Life-of-Rubin

I know you want to be on this list. So get with the program and email me a link. Let the craze begin...

Update: Mottel starts a shuckle meme. Way to go!
Update: Jack at Teruah eloquently summarizes my fondness for Shuckle. "Names are important. They categorize (not this, but that) and they establish presence (it exists but once didn't)."

Move Over "Shiny Shoe Music"- it's Time for "Shuckle" .

The Forward ran an article in December that described the new wave in Jewish music-- the hip hop, reggae, rap inspired Jewish music that its creators are calling Shuckle. I’m surprised that this article went more or less unnoticed by other music blogs because it really does a great service to the Jewish music discussion. There's a lot of importance in defining a genre with an exact term; the term "Jewish music" is too general to be useful. A few years ago, MOChossid brilliantly coined a new name for the MBD-Avraham Fried-Shwekey brand of Jewish music. He wrote, "I... was mifarseim the term "Shiny Shoe Music" which is now almost universally accepted, even in the shiny shoe music world. (Chaim Dovid coined the term. We were talking and he referred to the "musicians with the shiny black shoes"; I took it from there). If I do nothing else in my blogging career, dayeinu." Indeed, the term shiny shoe music is the perfect way to talk about that specific genre. BloginDM and others were quick to use and publicize shiny shoe terminology. I think that Shuckle can be the next Shiny Shoe.

So, what is Shuckle? The article interviews Daniel Seliger and Alon Cohen of 12 Tribe Sound, "a production company they founded in order to cultivate and promote Orthodox hip-hop acts". They explain,

You have grunge. You have punk rock. You have shuckle… You shuckle when you daven, and you shuckle when you listen to reggae… it’s shuckle music.

Who is Shuckle? The article lists 12 Tribe Sound's biggest names starting with "Reggae’s reigning Semitic royal, Matisyahu" and goes on to include:

[A] Hasidic-heavy roster... Y-Love, a black convert who raps about God; Ta’Shma, a hip-hop twosome whose name means “Come, listen” in Aramaic; Merkavah, a Phish for the phylactery crowd, and The Admor, an honest-to-goodness Jamaican-born Breslov Hasid, dancehall emcee and martial arts master.

You may be wondering, why not refer to it as Jewish hip-hop or Jewish reggae? Seliger explains:

We’re not trying to take any of the cultural elements of hip-hop — the violence… We’re more interested in the raw elemental music sound. The medium of poetry over beats lends itself to communicating ideas more so than that with a singer/songwriter. Music should be about the boom of that bass drum, the kick of that snare. There shouldn’t be any negativity associated with it.

I would also add that describing, for example, Matisyahu as Jewish Reggae is inaccurate- he's no longer pure reggae and putting Jewish in front of the label doesn't do justice to his mainstream audience. Similarly, just as shiny-shoe music isn't adequately described with "contemporary ultra-orthodox music", Shuckle music isn't adequately defined as a Jewish version of some other musical genre. We're talking about a revolution, a totally new wave in Jewish music.

The author, Leah Hochbaum, made a few curious mistakes in the article. First, she titles the piece, "Shuckle Rock Puts the Pray". There is nothing Rock about Shuckle, so I don't know where that came from, and it's a little misleading. Second, Hochbaum incorrectly labels Alon Cohen "not observant," based on his comment "I have my own relationship with God.” (Halivay more frum people could say the same...) Besides for the obvious poor taste in judging people's religiosity based on an impression, it undermines the whole mission of Shuckle to claim its founders are not religious. Shuckle music is the unique combination of hip-hop and other urban (admittedly goyish) sounds with a heimish lifestyle and Torah-based ideas. It's a concept rooted deep in chassidic philosophy, of elevating the mundane and using everything the world has to offer for our purpose. My interpretation might be a bit over the top, but nonetheless, there needs to be a truly Jewish motivation for creating this kind of music, or it will be no different than the original. Obviously there are many producers and musicians who are not religious, and it's mostly irrelevant to the music; but the pioneers and people behind the innovation have to be for any of it to work.

Of course Shuckle doesn't come without controversy, which leads me to the next reason why using the term Shuckle vs. terms like Jewish hip-hop is so important. Most Jewish music is rooted in non-Jewish music. The reason parents and teachers don't ban early MBD records while they resist the likes of Matisyahu is that other types of music are better at hiding their questionable roots and insist on being referred to straight up as Jewish music. Many don't want kids listening to hip-hop or reggae, even after it's been modified to be Jewish; but if it were Shuckle, a distinctly Yiddishe genre of music that only incidentally shares musical elements with morally questionable sources, a genre that was created by frum Jews for frum Jews- maybe then it won't be seen as such a threat.

Shuckle is here to stay- it's the sound of the future- so let's start talking about it in the right terms. Spread the word. The word is Shuckle.