2 Live Jews was a
comedy hip hop duo composed of MC Moisha (Eric Lambert) and Easy Irving (Joe Stone).
Its name is a parody of
2 Live Crew
2 Live Crew is an American hip hop group from Miami, Florida, which had its greatest commercial success from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. The group's most well-known line up was composed of Luke Campbell, Fresh Kid Ice, Mr. Mixx, and ...
.
The duo were known for songs that mixed and spoofed
hip hop culture and
Jewish American stereotypes; the members were purportedly two elderly Jewish men who had recently discovered their rhyming ability. In reality, Lambert and Stone were young men who were raised
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
.
Style
2 Live Jews' original rhyming style involved hip hop lyrics typical of the
golden age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...
hip hop of the early 1990s, but included sung and non-hip hop tunes. Its lyrics tended toward cliché or stereotypical
Ashkenazi Jewish topics. In keeping with Jewish stereotypes the duo's lyrics are full of
Yiddish words, often unknown to most non-Yiddish speakers. Despite Moisha and Irving's ages, they adopted haggard voices for effect.
History
2 Live Jews released its debut album, ''As Kosher as They Wanna Be'', in 1990.
The name of the group and the album were spoofs of
2 Live Crew
2 Live Crew is an American hip hop group from Miami, Florida, which had its greatest commercial success from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. The group's most well-known line up was composed of Luke Campbell, Fresh Kid Ice, Mr. Mixx, and ...
's 1989 hit album, ''
As Nasty as They Wanna Be''.
With songs such as "Oy! It's So Humid" (a parody of 2 Live Crew's hit "
Me So Horny"),
"Young Jews be Proud," and "Shake Your Tuchas"
(which borrowed liberally from
KC and the Sunshine Band's "
(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty"), the album was a success and launched 2 Live Jews into the spotlight.
''As Kosher as They Wanna Be'' was the duo's most successful and popular album.
2 Live Jews released four others. ''Fiddling With Tradition'' (1991), a hip-hop reworking of the 1964 musical, ''
Fiddler on the Roof;'' it got only minor attention and was not a successful. 2 Live Jews released ''Disco Jews'' in 1994, and ''Christmas Jews'' in 1998.
On
VH1, the duo guest-starred as talking heads for the special "40 Least Hip Hop Moments." In 2005, Moisha and Irving released a greatest-hits album, ''The Worst of 2 Live Jews...the Best of the Shticks''.
Discography
*''As Kosher As They Wanna Be'' (1990), Hot Productions
*''Fiddling With Tradition'' (1991), Hot Productions
*''Disco Jews'' (1994), Hot Productions
*''Christmas Jews'' (1998), Hot Productions
*''The Worst of 2 Live Jews...the Best of the Shticks'' (2005), Empire Musicwerks/
VI Music
VI Music is a Puerto Rican record label specializing in the reggaeton genre, founded by reggaeton producers Mario VI, Alex Gargolas and Juan Vidal. The record label came to prominence after securing a joint venture with Universal Latino and M ...
/Universal Records
References
External links
2 Live Jews biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:2 Live Jews
American parodists
Jewish American comedians
Jewish rappers
Jewish American musicians
Parody musicians
Jewish hip hop groups
Jewish comedy and humor