MP3: Nissim – “World Heroes”

Nissim Challenges The Hip-Hop Scene With Latest Single Off Of Self-Titled Album

08.30.2013

The Song:

Seattle rapper Nissim, formerly known as D.Black before his recent conversion to Orthodox Judaism, kept getting the same feedback about today’s hip-hop: “I kept hearing from a lot of people, ‘I’m tired of rap’ or ‘I don’t even listen to music like that, I don’t want my kids hearing it’ and so on. It seemed like everyone was becoming more critical of the messages commonly pushed in music today. So as an artist I felt it appropriate to say that even as a consumer, ‘we are tired!'”

This inspired his new track “World Heroes,” the second single from his upcoming self-titled album, premiered today by OkayPlayer. Nissim produced the track himself and performed both the hook and the verses, but he did receive some help from Sam Anderson of the Seattle band Hey Marseilles, who laid down some strings for the song. The message he hopes to get across in “World Heroes” is that rap needs to “Step it up. This song isn’t addressing musical style, or whether or not people are actually talented. Its strictly about content. Think twice about what you say and the visuals you tag along with it.” Nissim admits that he’s been on the negative side of hip-hop, like in ’08 when he produced and sang on the hook of “Taped Conversations,” the 50 cent diss from Young Buck and The Game, but he has since moved to the positive end of the rap spectrum.

The rapper also recently stopped by the Rhapsody offices in downtown Seattle to give a live performance of “Miracles,” also off of his new album which drops on September 17th. Watch the performance below.

Listen to “World Heroes” here: https://soundcloud.com/nissim-music/world-heroes

OkayPlayer premiered the song: http://www.okayplayer.com/news/nissim-world-heroes-mp3.html

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/107986793%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-NXr0l” params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] [youtube]http://youtu.be/Vapjb4Oj7w0[/youtube]

Please contact Michelle or Dan if interested in talking with Nissim.

Nissim Background:

Nissim is a Seattle based recording artist/producer, who made his first impression nationally in 2008 as D.Black, on producer Jake One’s label, White Van Music, with the song “God Like”. While his earlier recordings were filled with tales of guns, drugs and violence, it was in 2009, with the release of Ali’ Yah that he quickly grabbed eardrums. The album was showered with accolades, landing the #12 spot on Amazon’s “Outstanding Album’s You Might Have Missed” list. It entered the CMJ Hip Hop Charts at #16, peaked at #4 for five weeks, and remained in the top 20 for nine weeks. The album’s first music video “Yesterday” entered rotation on multiple MTV networks. He performed at some of the countries most esteemed music festivals including; CMJ, SXSW, Capitol Hill Block Party, and Bumbershoot and shared the stage with NaS, Mos Def, Macklemore, Freeway, Rhymefest, Boot Camp Click and Bun B to name a few. As D.Black he teetered on the verge of becoming a household name in the underground, but something was missing, and the man who would become Nissim, found himself in the midst of a spiritual crisis. After a two-year hiatus and converting to Orthodox Judaism, Nissim dropped his former moniker and adopted a new name. He began a new journey, and in his own words aimed “to make music that inspires and elevates this world, to the world of spirituality and divine purpose.” Not your average MC, Nissim’s work is multidimensional, combining energy and passion, with a deep focus on personal growth through times of struggle.