Mac Miller and a generation of Jewish hip-hop

JEWISH JOURNAL
By Danielle Berren

Earlier this week, the 19-year-old “white Jewish rapper” known as Mac Miller reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts with his debut album,  “Blue Slide Park.” Miller was born Malcolm McCormick in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to a Christian father and Jewish mother, according to Wikipedia. Miller was reportedly raised Jewish, became a Bar Mitzvah and is chatty about his Jewish identity during interviews. he Jewish relationship to self-expression is complicated, since, for much of history Jews were safer if they hid or downplayed their identity. But for these young artists, Jewish identity is a source of pride (as Mac Miller raps in the video below, “I read the To-rah!”); its central focus is not on survival, but rather, flourishing in an age of unprecedented possibility. [link]

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