LIVE in person – Nissim Black at the JCC Creve Coeur

Sunday, March 26, 2023   7 pm  (Doors open at 6 pm)
The concert is free; suggested donation $18 RSVP to 314-862-2474 or [email protected]

Sponsored by Michael Staenberg & JCC – Staenberg Family Complex,  and Weisman Family Foundation

This is Clean Speech St. Louis’s Celebration to thank our participating organizations and the greater St. Louis Jewish community for doing another 30-day Clean Speech Challenge during this month to show their commitment to using positive speech every day when speaking to others.  We hope these new tools and lessons will lead to kinder, less hurtful and offensive communications to dramatically improve our own lives and the lives of everyone around us.

Nissim Baruch Black (born Damian Jamohl Black; December 9, 1986) is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer.  Under the stage name D. Black, he released the albums The Cause & Effect (2006) and Ali’yah (2009) and was featured on producer Jake One‘s debut album White Van Music (2008).

He retired in 2011 to focus on his conversion to Orthodox Judaism, but soon returned under his new legal name Nissim Black and began focusing on Jewish hip hop. He appeared on Shtar‘s song “Rabbit Hole” (2012) and has since released the mixtapes Miracle Music (2013) and Love Notes (2020), as well as the studio albums Nissim (2013), Lemala (2017), and Gibor (2019).

“Motherland Bounce,” the name of one of Black’s recently released singles in 2020, tells the story of how he went from selling drugs in Seattle by age 12 to finding a spiritual home in Orthodox Judaism and moving to Jerusalem. In the song, he grapples with his many different identities and

is a confluence of everything he’s ever done, and everywhere he’s ever been. The vibe is old school, but the song is thoroughly fresh, pairing big beats with an African hook and a catchy chorus for a video that has already garnered

5 million views on YouTube.  

An interview or questions can be sent to his agent, Aaron Fogelson at [email protected].

With “Rerun” and other new tracks, Black has reset his sound to better reflect his past and his present. “‘RERUN’ is a song highlighting the struggle of constantly going through issues and now finally having the wherewithal to shake them off. ‘RERUN’, is an anthem, arousing people to ‘dust off’ the things that prevent one from advancing. It’s a stress relieving banger!”

Black and his wife Adina, with whom he has seven children, were initially married in 2008; they participated in an Orthodox Jewish marriage ceremony in 2013 at the Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation after both had converted. The marriage was a double ceremony shared with his childhood friend Yosef Brown and Yosef’s wife Chana, both fellow converts. Black and his family continued to live in Seward Park, the Seattle neighborhood where he grew up, until making aliyah to Israel in 2016 and settling in Jerusalem.

He self-identifies as a follower of Breslov Hasidism and makes pilgrimage to Uman every Rosh Hashanah.