MUST LISTEN: Nissim Black's 'Keep Going' is simply stunning

In the vibrant world of Jewish music, few voices shine as uniquely as Nissim Black’s. An African American Ultra-Orthodox Jew, rapper, and Breslov chassid, Black has carved a singular path from the gritty streets of Seattle to the holy hills of Israel, blending hip-hop beats with spiritual depth. His latest offering, “Keep Going,” is more than a song—it’s a clarion call to persevere through adversity, rooted in the emunah (faith) that has guided him through a life of transformation. For a Jewish audience, this track is a gorgeous testament to the power of trusting in Hashem, no matter the odds.

Born Damian Jamohl Black on December 9, 1986, Nissim’s early years were steeped in chaos. Raised in Seattle’s Seward Park neighborhood, near a thriving Jewish community yet worlds apart in the drug-ravaged Rainier Valley, he grew up surrounded by hardship. His parents, Mia Black and James “Captain Crunch” Croone, were pioneers of Seattle’s hip-hop scene, but their home doubled as a hub for drug dealing. At age seven, Nissim witnessed an FBI raid that upended his family—his mother arrested, his grandfather imprisoned, and his childhood fractured. “The streets grew up in my house,” he once told the Jewish Journal, a haunting reflection on a youth where music became both refuge and rebellion.

That rebellion took shape as D. Black, a gangsta rapper whose early albums, The Cause & Effect (2006) and Ali’yah (2009), earned him a foothold in the hip-hop world. But beneath the bravado, a spiritual hunger gnawed at him. Raised Muslim by his grandfather, then drawn to Christianity as a teen, Nissim’s soul-searching eventually led him to Judaism. In 2013, alongside his wife Adina, he converted under Rabbi Simon Benzaquen at Seattle’s Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation, remarrying in a halachic ceremony that marked a new chapter. By 2016, the family—now with seven children—made aliyah, settling in Beit Shemesh after a stint in Mea Shearim, where they faced racial prejudice but refused to let it dim their light.

“Keep Going,” released as a standalone single, embodies this journey of resilience. From its opening lines—“You see your story is our story / The individual no matter how much they try can never separate themselves from the whole”—Nissim binds his personal struggles to the collective Jewish experience. It’s a nod to the unity of the Jewish people, where every soul’s battle echoes the nation’s enduring saga. “Adversity will be inevitable,” he raps, “but through it all you have to keep going.” For a people who’ve weathered exile, persecution, and rebirth, these words strike a deep chord.

The song pulses with raw honesty. “You’re gonna have to face some fears / And you may have to cry some tears / And you may have to change some peers,” Nissim acknowledges, his voice steady over a beat that melds hip-hop grit with a soulful lift. It’s a confession of his own nights spent wrestling with doubt—“I admit I have some things in life that keep me wide awake at night”—and a rallying cry to push forward. “I persist to keep the light on,” he declares, evoking the Jewish imperative to seek clarity and purpose, even in darkness. For Nissim, that light is Hashem’s presence: “I’m leaning on God ‘cuz He got me / And if they could then they would try to stop me / But they can’t ‘cuz I’m moving regardless.”

This isn’t just motivational rhetoric—it’s Torah-infused tenacity. Nissim’s Breslov influences shine through, echoing Rebbe Nachman’s teaching that despair is the enemy and persistence the antidote. “First things first keep going / Don’t never break they can never keep you down,” he urges, a mantra that could’ve been lifted from Likutei Moharan. It’s a message for every Jew facing their own battles—whether it’s the weight of personal loss, the sting of exclusion, or the grind of daily avodat Hashem (service to God). “Trust Him He will never let you down,” Nissim repeats, his faith unshakable, a reminder of Hashem’s promise to sustain us, from Egypt to Eretz Yisrael and beyond.

The song’s second verse turns reflective, confronting dreams deferred: “We done had some dreams that we didn’t have the time to spend / Running fast capturing them / Even turned our back on them.” It’s a universal ache—youthful aspirations sidelined by life’s demands—yet Nissim flips it into hope. “It’s never too late to get started / It only depends where your heart is,” he insists, a sentiment that resonates with the Jewish ethos of teshuva, the eternal chance to return and renew. “Younger but now that you’re older you’re smarter,” he adds, honoring growth through struggle—a theme as old as Yaakov’s wrestling with the angel, emerging limping but blessed.

What makes “Keep Going” so gorgeous isn’t just its lyrics but its sound—a fusion of Nissim’s rap roots with a melody that lifts the spirit. It’s not traditional Jewish music, and that’s its strength. Nissim has long defied the mold, as he told Mishpacha Magazine after surviving COVID-19 in 2020: “Rap is very far from a traditional Jewish sound, but my rav, Rav Shalom Arush, told me, ‘It’s your mission to reach the whole world.’” In “Keep Going,” he does just that, offering a bridge between his past and present, his Black identity and Jewish soul, his pain and his praise.

For a Jewish audience, this song is a gift—a modern psalm of perseverance that doesn’t shy away from life’s messiness. Nissim Black, once a gangsta rapper running from his demons, now stands as a proud Jew running toward his purpose. “Keep Going” isn’t just his story—it’s ours, a gorgeous reminder that with Hashem’s help, we can face the fears, cry the tears, and still rise. As he puts it, “Every day is an offer / And you gotta really be all in.” So turn up the volume, let the beat carry you, and keep going—because Nissim’s right: We’re never alone.