KlezCalendar

The upcoming Los Angeles and San Diego concerts from Latino-Jewish urban music collective Hip Hop Hoodíos promise lots of booty-shaking and laughs alike. Comprised of bilingual musicians from Jewish/Latino backgrounds ("hoodÌo is a twist on the word "judio" - Spanish for "Jew"), the members of Hip Hop HoodÌos are linked by a common love for Latin alternative music, or rock and rap "en Espanol". But don't call these guys the Jewish answer to Tenacious D or the Latino respuesta to the Beastie Boys: Hip Hop Hoodíos are out to change the notions and preconceptions of Latin music entirely. Following the group’s recent standing room-only concerts in New York, Los Hoodios perform at the Conga Room in LA on Thursday, Jan. 29th, and also make their San Diego debut on Friday, Jan. 30th at Canes Bar & Grill.

NY Newsday calls the 'Raza Hoodia' album "an empowering fusion of New York urban cultures", while Volkswagen recently picked up Hoodios' new song 'Gorrito Cosmico' for a national ad campaign. Response to Hip Hop HoodÌos' musical mayhem has brought about national and international airplay for their video for "Ocho Kandelikas" (complete with Hoodia Honeys in bagel bras!), which has aired nationally on networks like MTV-Espanol, CNN, and Telemundo/Mun2. Hip Hop HoodÌos have also been the subject of two profile segments in the past six months on National Public Radio (NPR).

"Hoodios is a pun on the Spanish word for Jews, Judeos, and it's only the first bilingual twist for a band that sees the humor and the possibilities of stirring together Latin alternative rock, hip-hop and the members' Latin Jewish backgrounds. Latin alternative was already scrambling the definitions of musical categories, and Los Hoodios throw in humor and ethnicity for added confusion. THE JOKES ARE SMART AND THE MUSIC TAKES CHANCES." -Jon Pareles, NEW YORK TIMES

"Attention pop ethnomusicologists in search of dissertation topics: Hoodios in da house. A local Jewish/Latino hip hop crew that drops rhymes like "my sound is fresh/like a pound of flesh" over old-school beats and rock en Espanol guitars, these guys are funny, but only half-joking. They ain't 2 Live Jews, they for real." - THE VILLAGE VOICE

"Hip Hop Hoodios are a collective of Latino Jews and Jewish Latinofiles who are out to give the Beastie Boys and Tenacious D a run for their scratch. The result is a hilarious, if not inventive set of bilingual rap songs that mesh traditional Jewish tunes with popular Latin rhythms." - CMJ NEW MUSIC REPORT