If you’ve ever listened to Yiddish rap, you know that Jewish music has come a long way over the past few hundred years.
Just how far?
The Y-Studs A Capella group, based at Yeshiva University, has just released a new five-minute music video detailing the “Evolution of Jewish Music.” The journey includes everything from 17th century Ladino tunes to Naomi Shemer’s 1967 “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav” and reggae singer Matisyahu’s 2009 hit “One Day.” There’s even a few bars of Adam Sandler’s Saturday Night Live 1994 jingle “The Hanukkah Song.”
The all-male 13-member Y-Studs partnered up with Ben Bram, the producer for the popular A Capella group Pentatonix, which is famous for its similar arrangements and videos. Pentatonix’s 2013 video Evolution of Music has been viewed more than 108 million times, and the group has won three Grammy awards.
Sine the Y-Studs Evolution of Jewish Music was posted just a week ago, it has garnered 25,000 views on YouTube and another more than 320,000 views on Facebook.
In July, hassidic Internet personality Meir Kay released his own 8-minute “Evolution of Jewish Music,” complete with costume changes and dance moves – and instruments. That version has been viewed more than 400,000 times across social media platforms.