ePRHYME (pronounced E-prime) is a Brooklyn-based Emcee, Author and Educator with deep roots in the west coast underground. As a prolific recording artist, dynamic performer and visionary creative director, ePRHYME has made a name for himself by combining cutting edge cultural expression with iconoclastic and consciousness expanding contemporary Jewish self-expression.

Whether rhyming about current events or personal struggles, riffing on a text or reinterpreting tradition, ePRHYME's "rapid-fire word salads are a humanist vision of...radical pluralism, pantheism, religious consciousness fused with social action, and an uncompromising and unimpressed blend of urban forms and neo-Hasidic spirituality" (The Forward).

ePRHYME's solo debut 'Waywordwonderwill' was released in 2009 by Brooklyn based Jewish and World music label Shemspeed. The album itself was an around the world audio tour of the Jewish Diaspora, as well as an in-depth exploration of Contemprary Jewish American experience and identity. Both fans and critics worldwide were impressed and inspired by "ePRHYME's witty wordplay and barrier-breaking idealism" as well as the "top-notch production by Smoke of Oldominion whose beats blend rubbery basslines with traditional Yiddish klezmer riffs and Middle Eastern chants" (Wire Tap).

Dopestylevsky, ePRHYME's sophomore solo album, was released on the legendary indie label K Records in April 2011. ePRHYME's signature blend of universal poetics and personalized rap polemics were again paired up with an epic electronic orchestra conducted by Smoke of Oldominion and a host of live musicians to create an album of bold new music that is both thought provoking and body rocking.

Lost Tapes and Found Sounds, ePRHYME's third solo album, was released by K Records in 2013 for digital download as well as on limited edition cassette tape. The album is composed of half new tracks produced by Smoke of Oldominion and half unreleased and remixed tracks from the vaults, giving it that classic old-school mix-tape feel. 

Aside from ePRHYME's solo work, he is and has been an integral part of various collaborative projects including The Darshan Project with Reb Shir Yaakov and Basya Schechter (Pharaoh's Daughter), the Saints of Everyday Failures with D-Scribe, Tha Goonie, MC Contradiction and My Left Foot, and THEE XNTRX with Smoke M2D6.

Most recently, ePRHYME and Smoke M2D6 (THEE XNTRX), in collaboration with Calvin Johnson of K Records, released ALL YOUR FRIEND'S FRIENDS — a NW Hip Hop Compilation Album produced almost entirely off of samples from the K Records catalog. This seminal album and accompanying documentary features over 30 of the most unique Emcess from the region and has received a steady stream of positive reviews and press.

Currently, ePRHYME and Reb Shir Yaakov are finishing up production on a new full length Darshan album (produced by Jazz/Metal/Dub Heavyweight Jamie Saft), set to be released in the Fall of 2015.

Also forthcoming is a brand new solo project produced by DJ/Producer polymath Pickster One (Broadway Slim), and another Darshan album featuring the frighteningly talented Basya Schechter.

Stay tuned!

Press

The Forward, by Jay Michaelson

Here’s what it’s not about: cute Yiddish puns, bar mitzvah kitsch, Manischewitz cocktails, or the novelty of a Jewish “insert unexpected form” (rap, reggae, whatever) star. Here’s what it does seem to be about: post-sacred-cow radical pluralism, pantheism, religious consciousness fused with social action, and an uncompromising and unimpressed blend of urban forms and neo-Hasidic spirituality.

WireTap Magazine, by Geoffrey Dobbins

Eprhyme's lyrics span religious imagery, fist-pumping demands for social justice and other personal perspectives. His rhetoric, which bounces between poetic praise to "G-d" and critiques of capitalist empires, serve as a ready reminder that the political right wing has no monopoly on faith.

Skyscraper Magazine, by John Book

Eprhyme is a nice breath of clarity that isn’t the exception to any specific rule, just hip-hop music at its best.

Tiny Mix Tapes, by J. Monk

[ePRHYME} has important things to say about being a follower of both religion and music, and he’s adamant that there shouldn’t be any conflict between the two...Dopestylevsky (ePRHYME's second album) is all about moving hip-hop to both an academic level of fixation and an inspirational (yes, it had to be said) level of enthusiasm. This makes it a solid album of consciousness-raising Jewish hip-hop, not an exercise in genre-bending.

Mudkiss Fanzine, by Tim V.

Dopestylevsky (ePRHYME's second album) is an imaginative look forward into the future of hip hop, filled with positive messages and a healthy dose of spiritual awakening, while employing the best aspects of the genre’s past in the album’s delicious production.

The Guardian, by Hugh Muir

The critics say nice things about Eprhyme, a "radical Jewish renaissance rapper" with the rapid-fire delivery of Eminem, augmented by beats and snatches of sound from the Middle East.

Haaretz, by David Sheen

Rapper Eprhyme combines traditional Jewish music with lyrical skills and hip-hop credibility.

The Jewish Chronicle

"I happen to be a Jewish rapper but if you are not good, it doesn't matter what your niche market is."

Tablet Magazine, by Matthue Roth

Eprhyme (who was known in a previous life as Eden Pearlstein) writes lyrics peppered with bits of Jewish mysticism and philosophy that fit indy label K Records' iconoclastic bent...It’s a far cry from the bagels-and-lox Judaism of many Jewish hip-hop acts today, and it’s a welcome breath of fresh air.

The Forward, by Jay Michaelson

This indicates a welcome erosion of the so-called ghetto walls...Rather than Eprhyme bringing rap to the Jews, he’s bringing Jewishness to rap.

YNet

Article in Hebrew.