Latino Rappers ... With Yarmulkes?

NEW YORK, Aug. 14, 2006 -- -- "I am a Jew for Allah, a Jew for Jesus," screams a rapper for the group Hip Hop Hoodios.

The Hip Hop Hoodios, based in New York and Los Angeles, blend rap, Latin, and yes, even Jewish influences, in an irreverent, often hilarious style.

The group might be one of the most unconventional examples of multicultural fusion in today's hip-hop genre.

The Hoodios -- from the Spanish word for Jews, "Judios" -- defines itself as a "Latino-Jewish urban music collective" -- a rather lengthy way of saying "something you've probably never heard before."

The group's frontmen are lawyer-by-day Josue Noriega, 30, whose real name is Josh Norek and who is Jewish, and Abraham Velez, 29, a Puerto Rican Jew.

Together they decided to take a chance and fuse everything from Cumbia, a form of Latin American music with roots to African slavery, to Klezmer, Jewish music, to "B-boy" rap music.

Surprisingly, it worked.

In a crowded auditorium in New York's Spanish Harlem recently, a diverse collection of music lovers gathered to hear the group perform as part of the Latin Alternative Music Conference.

Norek said that ever since his college days, he had envisioned a hybrid rap sound that combined two of his favorite acts: The Beastie Boys, a Jewish band, and Cypress Hill, a Latino ensemble.

"It wasn't until years later that I met my co-conspirator Abraham Velez … that I realized we could actually pull off a group that reflects our bicultural identity, oddball humor, and liberal political agenda. Though we actually enjoy 'offending' people of all backgrounds, creeds, political persuasions, etc.," he said.

During the performance at the music conference, the Hoodios rocked the audience with a lengthy set, complete with a six-piece band and dancer.

The band called its set "Barriomitzvah."

The sound combines bass-heavy beats, saxophones, flutes, congas, cowbells, guitars, and a seemingly electric-powered dancer whose gyrating almost stole the show.

Unlike many other rappers, the Hoodios lets its band play.

There was time for melodic interludes with noted saxophonist/flutist Paul Shapiro, and a workout with percussionist or "congero" Neil Ochoa of the group "Si Se."