Hip-Hop Jewish Royalty Nissim Black and Kosha Dillz Remix Adam Sandler’s “Chanukah Song” on the Streets of New York

(JTA) – Two great Jewish hip-hop artists have adapted Adam Sandler’s hit “The Hanukah Song” for the moment.
Nissim Black and Kosha Dillz released the video for “The Hanukkah Song 2.0” just before the holiday start on Sunday night. It features musicians gallanting around New York City, taking the subway and hanging out with vendors on the sidewalks of Times Square.
The two are two of the most well-known Jewish rappers who make music today. Black is a black American and Hasidic Jew who moved to Israel in 2016, while Dillz is the stage name of Israeli-American rapper Rami Even-Esh.
Together, they borrow the worm melody from Sandler’s Hanukkah ears and their talent for making up words that rhyme with the name of the party. âAw man, yeah, Hanukkah,â they sing in the choir. “The flow is so iconikah.”
But where Sandler’s lyrics made a laundry list of notable Jews, from David Lee Roth to agent Tom Cruise, âThe Hanukkah Song 2.0â touches on bigger topics, including the miracles at the heart of the party and the role of God in protecting the Jews. people over time.
âYou know we fell, but we came back, they put their heads down and God brought us out,â Black sings at one point. “For eight nights we shed a great light and we show the world that we have won.”
The video begins with Black arriving at the airport, presumably from Israel, where he lives in a Haredi neighborhood he has described as unusually diverse and tolerant. Strains from Sandler’s original hit can be heard in the background.
The orthodox haredi musician then raps about the Hanukkah miracle and the power of God. But he refuses to name either the many people who tried to destroy the Jews or the feast day. (“I’m not saying it eight times, you’ll have to replay this,” he sings.)
Throughout Black’s solo performance, Dillz can be seen surrounding himself with a variety of menorahs. The couple meet in the subway, where Dillz begins his own solo. In the song’s final section, the duo dance on the steps of Penn Station as masked passers-by gawk at a (mock) poster in Times Square announcing their upcoming performance.
It’s a billboard for the couple’s shared âBright Lightsâ tour set to begin next week in New York City and tour the United States in December and January.
âThe Hanukkah Song 2.0â pays homage to its inspiration far more than its title and melody. Black and Dillz mention Sandler – who in the decades since the release of “The Chanukah Song” has pursued a critically acclaimed film career spanning all genres – in the lyrics. (Sandler is Gen Z’s favorite actor, according to a recent poll.)
âIf you see Adam Sandler on the street,â rapped Black, âtell him to put me in the movie!