"We all have times when we feel we’re stuck, we’re pulled down by our environment, we get left with feeling ‘we can’t’. But if you don’t give up, you can’. You’re too good to fail."

What would a Black History Month series be without a post about Nissim Black? Born Damian Jamohl Black, Nissim Black retired for a year in 2011 to focus on his conversion to Orthodox Judaism. The rapper and producer then began focusing on writing music from a religious standpoint.

Black was raised a Sunni Muslim but was non-practicing, and converted to Christianity at age 14 after attending an Evangelical summer camp. He renounced his belief in Christianity in 2016, and began his journey with Judaism. He subsequently refused to accept any profits from his previous albums relating to Christianity, and wouldn’t perform on Shabbat.

The rapper has since written several more albums and featured on other singles, including his hit song “Hashem Melech 2.0” with Gad Elbaz.