May 15, 2008
Israeli rapper Subliminal has built a music empire
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The song's infectious chorus can be heard all over Israel -- playing in stores and on the radio, accompanied by Subliminal's smooth rhymes:"When the wind blows my love grows/Want to grow up in a country that overcomes/All its difficulties, in all ways/That cares for her children and her founders..."
"This track has hit Israel like nothing else I've ever done," said Subliminal, who admitted to being stunned at the single's overwhelming popularity. "Seventy-year-olds are bumping my track in their cars! It's incredible that a song can touch people in kindergarten and in nursing homes."
Subliminal will be performing "Bat 60" at the Israeli Independence Day Festival in the San Fernando Valley's Woodley Park, where he will also be singing with Shlomi Shabbat, an Israeli icon famous for his love ballads.
"We sat down to discuss the headliners for Israel at 60 months ago," said Guy Kochlani, entertainment director for the Israeli festival. "Subliminal's name came up right away."
Wanting to draw teens and young adults to the traditionally family-orientated annual celebration, Kochlani couldn't think of a more ideal performer.
"He has a huge following on the college scene and with the Birthright generation," he said. "And, he recorded the official song for Israel at 60. That's quite a big deal."
For a hip-hop artist to be selected to create a national anthem is no minor achievement, but considering Subliminal's atypical rapping career, it's not much of a surprise either. He was made a goodwill ambassador by the Israeli Ministry of Education, honored by the prime minister's office, been actively involved with the Taglit-Birthright Israel organization, including a recent tour of the United States, and has campaigned against drunk driving, drugs, violence and crime.
In Subliminal's reinvented world of hip-hop, there are no red carpets, no scantily-clad women, no gang activity, no drugs and no bitter rivalries as publicity stunts.
It's not what you would expect from a hip-hop star.
But Subliminal has single-handedly changed the nature of hip-hop, in Israel at least. As one of the first and biggest stars of the genre, he set the tone for what mainstream Israeli hip-hop could be, and everyone else has followed.
"I don't know if I'm the savior of hip- hop or the end of hip-hop," said Subliminal, "but I am who I am. I'm a good person."
For more information on Subliminal, visit http://www.TACT-Records.com
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