Orthodox Pop Music

Orthodox pop, sometimes called Hasidic pop, Hasidic rock, K-pop (Kosher pop), Haredi pop, and Ortho-pop, is a form of contemporary Jewish religious music popular among Orthodox Jews. It typically draws stylistically from contemporary genres like pop, rock, jazz, and dance music, while incorporating text from Jewish prayer, Torah, and Talmud as well as traditional Jewish songs and occasional original English lyrics with themes of faith and positivity. The genre was pioneered in the 1970s by artists like Mordechai Ben David and the Miami Boys Choir, who incorporated secular pop and dance influences into their music in contrast to the more traditional Jewish music of the time, and has had continued success in the modern era with singers like Yaakov Shwekey, Lipa Schmeltzer, Baruch Levine, and Benny Friedman.

Unlike other contemporary genres such as Jewish rock and Jewish hip hop, Orthodox pop is performed specifically by and for Orthodox Jews, reflects a distinctly Orthodox perspective, and abides by Orthodox halakha and cultural norms.

History

Origins

Orthodox pop has its roots in the 1950s and early 1960s, when traditional Hasidic nigunim began to be recorded for the first time, such as Ben Zion Shenker's recordings of Modzitz melodies and cantor David Werdyger's recordings of Ger and other Hasidic melodies. Kligman, Mark. �
Contemporary Jewish Music in America
” ''American Jewish Year Book'' 101 (2001): 88-141. Werdyger also founded the label Aderet Records in 1950, which was later inherited by his son Mendy Werdyger and which, along with its retail outlet Mostly Music, would become a major distributor of Orthodox music. Another influential figure around that time was Shlomo Carlebach, who pioneered the use of secular styles in Jewish religious music by combining Hasidic nigunim with a contemporary folk rock sound; artists like The Rabbis' Sons, Mark III, Ruach, Simchatone, and Abie Rotenberg's D'veykus followed in his style soon after, and many of Carlebach's compositions became standards and would be covered by countless Orthodox and non-Orthodox artists. Another development was the Hassidic Song Festival, begun in 1969 in Israel; winners included Nurit Hirsh's "Ose Shalom", Svika Pick's "Shema Yisrael", Carlebach's "Od Yishama" and "V'haer Enenu", and David Weinkranz's "Y'varech'cha", and these compositions were popularized in America via annual recordings and touring performances.

In the post-World War II generation of the 1960s, many Orthodox Jews were caught between the desire to maintain a traditional Orthodox way of life while also being "modern" and not living in the past, and from a musical standpoint this left a vacuum between the existing liturgical and cantorial music and more contemporary and secular styles. This led to the development of a new type of Jewish music that was not intended for the synagogue but instead for professional recording. According to historian Haym Soloveitchik:

Rock music sung with "kosher" lyrics was heard at the weddings of the most religious. There had been no "kosher" jazz or "kosher" swing, for music is evocative, and what was elicited by the contemporary beat was felt by the previous generation to be alien to a "Jewish rejoicing" (''yiddishe simche''). This was no longer the case. The body syncopated to the beat of rock, and the emotional receptivities that the contemporary rhythm engendered were now felt to be consonant with the spirit of "Jewish rejoicing." Indeed, "Hassidic" rock concerts, though decried, were not unheard of.

1970s and 1980s

An early influence on Orthodox pop was the 1971 album ''Or Chodosh'', the debut of an eponymous group created by Sh'or Yoshuv roommates Rabbi Shmuel Brazil, who would later create the group Regesh, and Yossi Toiv, later known as Country Yossi; the group performed at Brooklyn College with David Werdyger's son, the young Mordechai Ben David, opening for them. That same year, the group Clei Zemer, led by vocalist Noach Dear (later a State Supreme Court judge) and composer Abie Rotenberg, released the album ''Ki Lecho Tov Lehodos'', whose title track was one of Rotenberg's first and most enduring compositions. Rotenberg would later make his solo debut with his D'veykus project in 1973.

Perhaps the most substantial figure in the development of this new genre was David Werdyger's son Mordechai Werdyger, better known as Mordechai Ben David. His 1974 debut album ''Hineni'' broke conventions of Hasidic music by including professional arrangements with a full orchestra and English lyrics on several tracks, and his first three albums utilized a 1970s soft rock ballad style where the chorus is more energetic than the verses. In 1976, choir director Yerachmiel Begun formed the Miami Boys Choir, who inspired a trend of popular Orthodox boys choirs such as Yeshiva Boys Choir and several of whose members, including Yaakov Shwekey, Ari Goldwag, Shloime Dachs, and Mordechai Shapiro, would later become popular Orthodox singers in their own right. Another popular Orthodox singer, Avraham Fried, debuted in 1981 with his debut album ''No Jew Will Be Left Behind'', with a title track written by composer Yossi Green about the coming of moshiach. His albums in the late '80s and early '90s featured more non-English text with music combining cantorial ''nusach'', Hassidic ''niggun'', and passages with a soothing melodic line, all tied together by an orchestral accompaniment. Meanwhile, in Israel, the decade saw the premiere of popular Orthodox singers like Dudu Fisher, Yehuda Glantz, Chaim-Dovid Saracik, and Dedi Graucher (Graucher had previously performed backing vocals on two of Mordechai Ben David's albums alongside Avraham Fried), as well as artists like Diaspora Yeshiva Band, Yosi Piamenta, Isaac Bitton, and Tofa'ah who helped introduce Jewish rock sounds to Orthodox music; Piamenta in particular being credited with introducing the electric guitar into Jewish music.

A considerable mainstream moment for the genre was a January 1988 concert at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, a benefit for the Hebrew Academy for Special Children (HASC), featuring Mordechai Ben David, Avraham Fried, and Sephardi singer Yoel Sharabi; while similar performances had previously been held at Brooklyn College and Queens College, this was the first to take place in Manhattan. Similar benefit concerts would later take place at Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, the Paramount Theater at Madison Square Garden, Nassau Coliseum, Westbury Music Fair, and the Metropolitan Opera House, as well as concerts throughout North America, Europe, and Israel.

1990s and 2000s

A younger generation of popular Orthodox singers arose throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s. The early 1990s saw the first solo albums of Mendy and Yeedle Werdyger, relatives of David Werdyger and Mordechai Ben David who had previously been featured on albums with them; British vocalist Shlomo Simcha, who collaborated with Abie Rotenberg for the ''Aish'' series of albums;Ami Magazine Cover Story – The Musical World of Shlomo Simcha
(November 1, 2016) and Shloime Dachs, who had performed as a child with Miami Boys Choir and on the '' 613 Torah Avenue'' series of children's albums.Ginsberg, Rachel. "Catch a Falling Star: How do former child stars navigate life after the glitz and glitter is gone?" ''Mishpacha'', April 9, 2014, pp. 160-162.

The latter part of the decade saw the arrival of Israeli artists Aharon Razel, Shuli Rand (who would gain fame starring in the 2004 film ''Ushpizin''), and Gad Elbaz and, in America, Lipa Schmeltzer, who would garner the nickname "the Lady Gaga of Hasidic music" for his eccentric persona, becoming a hugely popular yet controversial figure in the community. Simultaneously, Eli Gerstner released his debut solo album; in addition to his own albums he would become a prominent producer, working with popular groups like The Chevra and Yeshiva Boys Choir and producing the annual HASC ''A Time for Music'' concerts from 2016 onward. Other popular names during this time included Sandy Shmuely, Mendy Wald, Yisroel Williger, Yehuda!, and Michoel Streicher.

One of the biggest breakouts in the 2000s was Shwekey, a former Miami Boys Choir soloist who would become one of the most popular artists in the genre; his 2001 debut album, ''Shomati'', produced his most popular single "Racheim", and his albums ''We Are A Miracle'' (2016) and ''Musica'' (2018) would later peak on the ''Billboard'' Top World Albums chart at No. 4 and No. 3 respectively. Other new artists in the decade included Yosef Karduner, Ari Goldwag, Yeshiva Boys Choir, Ohad Moskowitz, Udi Davidi, Shlomo Katz, Baruch Levine, Yonatan Razel, Shloime Gertner, Yehuda Green, Beri Weber, and Benny Friedman. Additionally, Hasidic reggae artist Matisyahu found mainstream crossover success with his 2005 single " King Without a Crown", which became a Top 40 hit and reached No. 28 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 (although Matisyahu would later leave Orthodoxy in 2011).

During this period there also debuted a number of female Orthodox singer-songwriters, who recorded and performed for female-only audiences to accommodate the prohibition of ''kol isha'', following the lead of pre-existing Israeli band Tofa'ah. These included Ruthi Navon, Julia Blum, Dana Mase, Kineret, Miriam Sandler, Miriam Israeli (who also became an in-demand lyricist for Orthodox pop artists), Ashira, Rochel Miller, Susan Kates, and Shaindel Antelis.

2010s

The 2010s saw a considerable amount of mainstream viral and commercial success for Orthodox pop artists. An early success in the decade was the Yeshiva University-founded a cappella group The Maccabeats, whose 2010 single " Candlelight" (a Hanukkah-themed cover of Mike Tompkins' version of Taio Cruz's hit "Dynamite") achieved viral status on YouTube and reached No. 1 on ''Billboard'''s Comedy Digital Tracks chart, leading to performances at the White House in 2011 and 2015, a spin-off group StandFour in 2012, and numerous further viral videos throughout the decade.

Also in 2010, cantor Yaakov Lemmer, who had seen his own viral success in 2007 with a recorded performance at Temple Beth El of Borough Park and described YouTube as "the springboard" to his career, released his debut studio album, ''Vimaleh Mshaloseinu'', and would perform at the Boston Jewish Music Festival, multiple lightings of the National Menorah in Washington, D.C., at the Warsaw Ghetto alongside the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra to commemorate the uprising, and at the Jewish Culture Festival in Kraków and the Festival of Jewish Culture in Warsaw. Lemmer's brother, Shulem Lemmer, became a successful artist in his own right during this decade; after releasing a self-titled debut album in 2017, he became the first Hasidic-born artist to sign to a major label, the Universal Music Group classical imprint Decca Gold, who released his second album ''The Perfect Dream'' in 2019.

Elsewhere in the decade, the duo 8th Day, composed of two nephews of Avraham Fried, found viral success in 2011 with their single and music video "Ya'alili", while artists like Zusha

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