Rabbi Darkside - NYC

His movements aim to incite empathy and empowerment through social justice education and creative freedom, seen and heard in his teaching work, musical recordings and live shows.

His prowess as a multi-elemental artist has led to 14 international tours, landed his latest album atop the CMJ Hip Hop charts and found him on MTV’s “Made,” Okayplayer, New York Times, the Today Show, CBS Early Show, HipHopDX, 2DopeBoyz and the Village Voice. Darkside blurs the line between Hip Hop, Jazz, Folk, Poetry and Progressive Soul, facilitated by his mastery of improvisation, elastic collaborative abilities and ever-expanding musical repertoire.

He’s won nearly every MC competition in NYC (18-time Freestyle Mondays “Off the Head Gameshow” Champion, 2010 End of the Weak MC Challenge Challenge of Champs Co-Champ, 2-time “Whose Rhyme Is It Anyway Champ, 2-time “A-Z Emcee Champ,” “Supreme Bars” Champ, Kool Mixx Battle National Finalist) and is responsible for bringing the Hip Hop Subway Series to Europe. Darkside is the co-founder of the Hip Hop Re:Education Project, a Hip Hop Education Fellow at the H2ED Hip Hop Ed Center at NYU and the artistic creator of NYS Regents test prep program "Fresh Prep."

In June 2015, Rabbi Darkside was deployed to Uganda as a Hip Hop Cultural Diplomat/Citizen Ambassador with the Next Level Initiative, a collaboration between the U.S. State Dept of Cultural Affairs and UNC-Chapel Hill Music Dept, and in Fall 2015 will be a part-time professor at The New School (NYC), teaching a seminar of his own design entitled "Hip Hop Pedagogy & Practice." On his mission to build global community through Hip Hop culture, he has shared stages and studios with Afrika Bambaataa, Aloe Blacc, Antibalas, Black Sheep, Blue Man Group, Common, Da Beatminerz, DJ Rob Swift, Eklips, Fishbone, Homeboy Sandman, J-Live, Prince Paul, Rahzel, Robert Glasper, Rosie Perez, Sadat X, Slick Rick, Soulive, Talib Kweli and The Coup, among many others.

He is also a secular ordained minister and recently presided over his 6th wedding.