hip hop

‘Can You Dig It?’: New podcast traces how a Puerto Rican-Jewish gang leader helped create hip-hop in the Bronx

Benjamin “Yellow Benjy” Melendez and the Ghetto Brothers brokered a truce among 50 gangs that led to safer streets, a flourishing of public art and, ultimately, the birth of hip-hop.

By Andrew Esensten September 1, 2023 4:22 pm

The Jewish writer and actor who’s ‘the voice of black America’

(JTA) — Danny Strong is probably most recognizable as being “that Jewish guy” on TV — he played eager adman wannabe Danny Siegel on “Mad Men” and the nerdy, perennial victim Jonathan Levinson on “Buffy: The Vampire Slayer.” But, among those in the know, Strong may be best known as the “voice of black America,” as […]

September 11, 2015 2:04 pm