Get Yo’ Matzah at Paid Dues
Fresh off his song placement in this years Super Bowl, hustling Jersey bred MC Kosha Dillz is about to bring Passover to thousands of hip hop fans at one of the largest hip hop festivals in North America.
Kosha Dillz sat down with The Algemeiner to discuss how a Passover Seder will be received at this years’ Paid Dues festival.
SoCalled did the SoCalled Seder, which was a hip-hop take on the Passover Seder on CD; it was pretty cool and very Jewish. You are taking it to the next level by bringing the Seder to 20 to 30 thousand hip-hop festival goers with an actual live Seder at Paid Dues. How do you think this will be received? What sort of participation do you expect?
So far its been heavily publicized and we plan to do multiple Seders through out the night. I think the interest and association with me will be natural, plus I’m hoping a few hundred will be able to come by and at least get some food, grape juice, and know that they can still be Jewish at this festival. It serves as a reminder and a safe haven for the people there. Really exciting to me. I get to educate people while keeping the degree of my observance. I also give the opportunities to other Jews who want to make their efforts of observance. Mostly, I put the Jews in a “good light” and make Paid Dues look even more awesome than they already are. This is in my eyes one of the most prestigious festivals to play.
Will the festival night be called Paid Jews?
Ha. I guess so? Passover symbolizes the freedom from slavery, so its a good situation to be in. The actual name, Paid Dues, is very similar to the struggle of the Jewish people and the land of Israel. It takes a lot of knocking on doors for people to understand us over time.
How many of the artists who are scheduled to perform will actually be Jewish?
Well Alchemist is Jewish, Mac Miller and myself might be the only ones. I think K- Flay might also be Jewish. I’m not trying to push it on anyone though. I’m doing this for the people that can get attracted to it.
We know that Mac Miller is Jewish, will he be attending?
I think he would attend. The unfortunate thing is that he might get mauled by 3000 of his fans in public so he wont be able to attend. I totally be stoked if he attended. We have met before.
Do you feel like you are an ambassador of Judaism to the hip-hop community?
I think leadership comes naturally in my life. My goal is to bridge a lot of understanding of who I am and what I represent to the people who listen. Although I might not be the poster boy for shomer shabbat lifestyle, I can be the poster boy for how to culturally bridge people through good vibes, whether you are from the streets hustling to books studying.
What’s the reaction from hip-hop fans to such a Jewish name from such an incredible rapper such as yourself?
It’s an ambiguous name that pushes many boundaries. It’s Jewish but not Jewish like Matisyahu. It’s sexual but not too sexual. It crosses each boundary a little bit from serious to Jewish, from sexual to corny.
Do you ever experience anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism at these events when you are so publicly in support of Israel and Zionism?
Yeah sure all the time. The difference is I’m not sure how far anyone really wants to take it to me. I don’t think anyone has to courage to fight me for my beliefs and creed of who I am. This is truly in my heart. Sometimes people hate just to hate because they can. If it came down to a real fight, I am ready to fight everyone. That’s the difference between them and me. I recently experienced someone screaming at me from the crowd in San Antonio, and asked them questions from the stage. I told him if he wanted to fight I would. I stopped the entire show. Than I told him to shut the F up and let me rap because that’s what I came to do, and that’s what I’m good at, Rapping.
Originally posted in the Algemeiner
