Israel Duo Representing Their Country to the Outside World (Andrea Ouazana, High School Intern)
Israeli music is extremely popular in today’s society, from worldwide hits such as “Tagidu La”from Dudu Aharon to “Tel Aviv” by Omer Adam, Israeli music has become integrated into today’s music whether you realize it or not. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Israeli music? Personally, my mind goes straight to a distinctive singing duo: Static and Ben El, as well as Israeli producer Prod by Jordi.
Static and Ben El have multiple hits that you’ve most likely heard, such as, “Silsulim,” “Tudo Bom,” and “Mili”. Before becoming world-renowned singers, the pair started off as two young teenagers singing on YouTube. Liraz Rousso, who is better known by his stage name, Static, started rapping back in high school with his band at the time. Ben El is the son of Shimri Tavori, another popular Israeli singer. Ben El grew up with music in his life and when the opportunity presented itself he chose to join Static and Jordi to form a band of brothers as well as singers.
As two of Israel’s best-known singers, Static and Ben El constantly represent Israel around the world. However, this global recognition comes with its fair share of responsibility as they are often looked upon when anything arises concerning Israel. People who have never met an Israeli look at Static and Ben El through the lens of their preexisting biases. The two singers have also had to deal with their music being upstaged by questions about Israel, and although it is a great thing that people want to learn more about Israel it can become hard and frustrating when your music, that you have put your blood, sweat, and tears into is, pushed aside because people are not well versed in your country of origin.
At the beginning of the year Static and Ben El released a song with Pitbull called “Further Up” which quickly topped the charts. The music video raked in over 29 million views! All three musicians were interviewed by Good Morning America, Z100 New York, IHeartRadio and Live with Kelly and Michael. When Static & Ben El were asked about their country, both singers had nothing but praise for Israel. They made Israelis and Jews worldwide – proud, but more importantly, they educated the rest of the world about the marvelous country that is Israel.
They recently released a song with Black Eyed Peas by the name of “Shake Ya.” The song has since gotten over 14 million views and 80 million streams and ranked first in the Latin billboards.
These two singers have reached extraordinary heights, musically and in terms of advocating for Israel. They do an amazing job at showing the world that there is a lot more to the small country of Israel than what initially meets the eye. Israel is definitely a country to keep an eye on in terms of innovation in many major fields and Static and Ben El made it known that music is another field to be added to the list. These two are the perfect people to represent Israelis on a worldwide stage, and to serve as role models to the young Israeli children who are also hoping to make it big and represent their country.
