Thug Life Army

Miri Ben-Ari

Miri Ben-Ari, the internationally known Hip-Hop violinist and Grammy winner who’s talent graced albums of such Hip-Hop musical giants as Kanye West, Alicia Keyes and Twista will take center stage this Sunday March 13th at B.B King’s in New York with Israeli rap artist Subliminal and the TACT family .

Subliminal makes his U.S tour debut this month which started in Los Angeles March 2nd, and have moved on to San Francisco, Miami, Washington DC, Boston, Toronto, Montreal and finishing the tour in New York on March 13th.

Known as a right-wing Zionist, the hip-hop star – known for his controversial lyrics is excited to be on his first U.S tour. With him, Subliminal brings his sidekick, The Shadow and a crew of talented artists including SHI 360, Itzik Shamly, R&B soul child Sivan and  Gavriel Butler to name a few.

Their latest album TACT Allstars went gold on its first day in stores and shortly thereafter went platinum. The TACT family recently recorded with such artists as Wyclef Jean, Ashanti, Remedy, Killa Priest and Miri Ben-Ari for his fourth coming album.

For Subliminal and the TACT family, the music has generated tens of thousands of record sales. For Israeli teens, it has given voice to their outrage at the state of affairs in their country. Subliminal and TACT has had an unprecedented success with Hip-Hop music in Israel rapping with nationalist themes into chart-topping albums reaching gold in sales with their first album The Light from Zion and the second album Light and Shadow touching on double platinum. Their strong lyrics and messages has transformed the Star of David into a fashion statement and helped integrate the music of Urban America into the fold of Israeli pop.

Hip-Hop, a quintessentially American art form, is helping bolster national morale in a country bruised by years of fighting between Israelis and Palestinians. For most of the past decade, Israeli Hip-Hop artists operated on the margins of mainstream Israeli music, which has generally been a mix of Hebrew-language rock and Mediterranean crooning. Rappers such as Subliminal moved beyond schoolyard party lyrics to rail about the turbulence overwhelming their country.” In America, hip-hop is the fastest way to get rich, to talk about the ''bitches, cars and money,'' explains Shimoni. ”In Israel the words are very militant, like the situation we''re living in. You open the newspaper in the morning in Israel, and this is what you get."

3/2: Los Angeles, Canyon Club

3/3: San Francisco, Ruby Skye

3/5: Miami, Marco Polo Hotel

3/7: Washington, DC, 930 Club

3/9: Boston, Roxy

3/10: Toronto, Revival Club

3/12: Montreal, Metropolis

3/13: New York, B.B. King's