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Itzchak Nissim Mechaly was born on July 24 th 1980 in Montreal, Canada and lived his first ten years in Gaithersburg, Maryland. In 1991, his parents divorced and Itzchak returned with his mother and sister to Montreal.
Imbued with a sense of musical appreciation, Itzchak had a passion for performance at an early age and a dream to let his tuneful talents make it to the wave stream. There was nothing more exciting for him than to turn any event or moment into a song and this excitement carried his dream into reality. With the help of teacher and mentor, Eliyahou Haviv, and inspiration of Rebbe Nachman, Itzchak used his love for music to express his inner transformations.
At the age of 19, Itzchak began to reconnect with his Judaism by attending classes at his local synagogue. The inspiring lessons mainly based on the teachings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslev, slowly brought about continuous changes to his daily life and got him involved in the community. With his unique personality, charisma and eagerness, Itzchak invited his surrounding friends to the classes and eventually began running after many others, filling his limited hours with the most Torah possible. And so was he with any interest in his life: very devoted and fully involved. As the weeks turned into months and the months into years, his physical and spiritual evolution intensified. Previous pastimes and pursuits, like any ordinary teenager, were now directed towards living a more meaningful life. A major turning point that deeply affected him as well as his music was the passing of his father on December 27 th 2003. His year of mourning served as a time to reconnect to his lost father whom he never truly got to know and also a period of self introspection. From that moment on, Itzchak was a lot more determined about the way he wanted to conduct his life: a way of Torah.
However, Itzchak never chose to leave behind any of his creativity or talents; instead, decided to apply them to his spiritual growth, yet still striving to remain faithful to his true self. This is apparent in his unique choice of beats, harmonies and lyrics. For the most part of his teenage years, Itzchak enjoyed the sound of rap artist Tupac Shakur as well as the sweet harmonies of R&B. It wasn’t so much the lyrics that caught his interest, but more the beats, to the point of creating his own based on these influences. For hours on end, Itzchak spent his time on the computer, familiarizing himself with beat making software and producing original sounds and catchy melodies. Yet, his beat making talent remained no more than a passionate habit. In late Feburary 2005, Itzchak discovered Jordan Cohen a.k.a Haviv through a good friend, Rabbi Snir Bitton. Their similar personalities and tastes in music led them to get together and exchange musical talents. Together they combine voice and melody like never before. Their joint talents brought about the creation of Chouva Rap Vol. 1: “Son of a Believer”, which was released on May 26 th 2005, the hilloula of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. |
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