Yuri Lane

Yuri Lane is a one man sound machine technique takes the audience on a hip hop journey through the lives of Amir and Khalid using only his mouth and a microphone. Amir is an Israeli dj and delivery boy from Tel Aviv. Khalid is an internet café ower from Ramallah. Their lives intertwine when they meet at a checkpoint in this modern retellingof Jacob and Esau. Set against the backdrop of ongoing violence in Israel, Lane’s piece asks for peace, understanding and coexistence in a unique beatbox style that has captivated thousands in New York, Detroit, San Francisco, Los Angeles and now in Chicago. Yuri also teaches biblio-drama, beatbox lessons and shows for young audiences on Jewish themes. An engaging entertainer for audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

Hear the music: Ladies and Gentlemen
Booking and performance inquiries: hebehop@j-arts.org

Kevin Coval

KEVIN COVAL is a poet and performance artist whose work looks critically at current cultural and political events via the lens of his Jewish identity. He uses hip-hop to wrestle, expose, and explore the impact of whiteness on himself and people of color. He has been featured in three seasons of the HBO Def Poetry Jam.

A Chicago Hip-Hop poet, Coval has performed on four continents in seven countries at universities, high schools, and conferences, including; The Parliament of the World’s Religions in Capetown, South Africa, African Hip-Hop Festival: Battle Cry, Poetry Society of London, Yale, Stanford and St. Xavier in Bombay, India. A member of the 2002 and 2003 National Poetry Slam Team-Chicago, His writing has appeared in The Spoken Word Revolution (Source Books), Awakening The Spirit (Skylight Paths), XCP: Cross-Cultural Poetics, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Reporter, Fly Paper and can be heard regularly on the WBEZ-FM program 848 on Chicago Public Radio.

Hear the poetry: Kevin's Spoken Word
Bookings and performance inquiries: dvarim@j-arts.org

Matthue Roth

Matthue Roth is an Orthodox paradox; a poet who davens three times a day, but riffs on the sex he hasn’t had, crushes on Orthodox girls, his lesbian best friends and other frustrations of being frum. Matthue has performed on HBO’s “Def Poetry Jam” series. On Friday nights he’s a regular at Chabad, but other nights he’s in front of the microphone. He has authored books, “Never Mind the Goldbergs” and “Yom Kippur A Go-Go.”

Hear the poetry: dreidel maven
Bookings and performance inquiries: dvarim@j-arts.org