Rapping duo July 56 and Westside Gravy share a powerful message of unity, rapping against xenophobia, racism and anti-semitism.
South Africa (06 April 2023) – Don’t just speak the truth, rap it! It’s this thinking that has inspired two renowned rap artistes, July 56 (Tanaka Jura) and Westside Gravy (Noah Shufutinsky) to collaborate to create a song speaking against xenophobia, racism and anti-semitism.
Their song was recently recorded in a local studio and will soon be launched to the public.
The artistes said they met through their managers from across the globe, using Zoom, and realising they had a message to share and much in common, decided to collaborate to create music which doesn’t just sound good, but which addresses important societal issues.
Shufutinksy recently visited South Africa from Israel as part of a Stand With Us delegation to meet with the local Jewish community. While here, he found himself in the recording studio, together with Jura. The artistes were able to perform in a nightclub in Rosebank, for the first time during the visit.
Born in Southern California, Shufutinsky is the son of an African American mother and a Russian Jewish father. He explained that his ancestors from both his mother and father’s side had been forcibly displaced from their homes – Mississippi and the Soviet Union.
“I have been writing poetry and music since I was a child. It is the way I have learned to tell my story and the way I express my identity as a black Jewish man,” he explained.
While Jura was born in South Africa, he had Zimbabwean heritage, so he could identify with the challenges of xenophobia and could relate to those at the receiving end of anti-semitic gestures.
He said he believed music had the ability to transcend boundaries and bring people together, and spoke about how he and Shufutinsky had been able to traverse distances to create their song – which was a message in and of itself of the unifying power of music.
He said of their collaboration: “We bring our unique stories and sounds together – I have African sounds and afro-beats. Noah brings his culture into the mix and raps in Hebrew.”
One of the highlights of Shufutinsky’s visits was a visit to the Sharpeville Memorial site on Human Rights Day on Tuesday, 21 March. The two musos joined a group headed by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD), including representatives of the South African Jewish Union of Students (SAJUS) and the Zionist Federation. Each rap artist lay down a wreath in memory of the 69 people killed in the brutal killings of the Sharpeville Massacre – 21 March, 1960.
“This has definitely been a special moment for me. I am still trying to process it all,” said Shufutinsky after placing his wreath before a memorial plaque.
“We need to each do our bit in protecting our democracy and part of this is remembering the roots of where we came from as a Rainbow Nation,” said Jura. “The Sharpeville Massacre was the beginning of the end of the apartheid regime. We hope our music will remind audiences of the importance of unity and equal rights for all.”
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