Blood of Abraham

Blood of Abraham was an American hip-hop duo composed of Benyad (Benjamin Mor) and Mazik (David Saevitz). A key characteristic of the group was their unapologetic Jewish identity. They debuted in 1993 with the release of the LP Future Profits on Ruthless Records. Blood of Abraham fell into anonymity; their status worsened in 1995 with the death of Eazy-E and the folding of the Ruthless and Relativity Records labels. Mazik and Benyad then went on hiatus until 2000, which saw the unofficial release of the LP Eyedollartree on Mastergrip Records, which folded shortly thereafter. Eyedollartree featured guest appearances from rappers Kool Keith and Divine Styler, as well as production from will.i.am, Cyrus Melchor and Motiv8.

Quotes

• Brian Cross: Let's talk about the name, Blood of Abraham, what does it mean?
  Benyad: Blood of Abraham, very simple. Father of many nations. We believe that Christianity, Judaism, Islam, all see Abraham as a prophet, from him stems Ishmael, which became Islam. Jesus traces lineage to Abraham. Abraham also being the first Jew so therefore everybody has got a little blood of Abraham in them unless they're atheist or somethin'. So Blood of Abraham is a universal name.
  • Cross, Brian (1994). It's Not about a Salary--: Rap, Race, and Resistance in Los Angeles. Verso. p. 253. ISBN 978-0-86091-445-7. 

Song lyrics

Future Profits

Written by Benjamin Mor

• By the way, the God you pray to
  is a black Jew, is a black Jew.
  • Southern Comfort

• You can't tell me who to hang with,
  or kick my raps with,
  or even make my snaps with,
  'cause I'm full-grown and I got a full-grown mind,
  so mother-fuck sticking with my own kind!
  • Stick to Your Own Kind

• Stabbed by the steeple,
  scalped by the chapel,
  the choir's got my tongue,
  and the preacher's got my Adam's apple.
  • Stabbed By The Steeple

Eyedollartree

• But tell me:
  what you're gonna do,
  when you don't have your crew?
  You're lookin' in the mirror,
  but yourself you never knew.
  I don't really care if you're a Gentile or a Jew.
  When you come to me, you better speak upon the true.
  • Only the Wise

• It's amazing when you stop and think about the times we're living in.
  The government should hand out free shampoo with their conditioning.
  They're callin all the master plans to hook their lines and sinkers.
  They captured all the fools and now they're lookin for the thinkers.
  • Paranoia is Awareness

• Watch your back, be careful don't be careless.
  In this day and age your paranoia is awareness.
  • Paranoia is Awareness

• Velvet Glove,
  that you love, obey, and trust,
  then an Iron Fist
  comes along and then you're crushed
  into reality.
  Why's it you felt deceived?
  That they got you – spiritually, mentally, and physically.
  • Velvet Glove, Iron Fist

• If you want to understand things, you focus and you see the strings
  attached to everything, behind the scenes are meanings
  that begin to tell a story hotter than a purgatory hell.
  Can't you tell when someone's telling you the truth?
  Don't you realize the dangers when you're lying to the youth
  You seem to be quite lost right in the sauce.
  But tell me why is Exxon and Nabisco throwing up a double-cross?
  The power to decipher a disguisе is for the wise.
  The Shеll logo is nothing but a sunrise.
  It's all perception and the way you look at things.
  You see flowers, I see bees.
  You look at books and I see trees.
  • Rosetta Stone

• Keep your eye on the dollar
  Falling from my tree
  Subconscious, subliminal, idolatry
  • Eyedollartree

• Walk, walk tall (Walk, walk tall)
  Bring in the day
  Open up your Eyedollartree.
  • Eyedollartree

• Focus on the bird in the park that can't fly.
  Focus on the truth, never focus on the lie.
  Look at all the shit in your town and ask why.
  Focus on the camera hanging from the sky.
  From beginning to the end, by myself and all alone.
  Well in my head is the place I call my home.
  By the time you figure out what the hell is going on.
  Little bit too late, you're extinct like mastodon.
  • Eyedollartree

Quotes about Blood of Abraham

• Although short lived, Blood of Abraham offered a self-consciously Jewish alternative in rap that emerged from and addressed the greater hip-hop scene. Benyad and Mazik operated and performed entirely outside the Jewish communal realm, incorporating their own diverse Jewish experiences and backgrounds into tracks exploring more expansive rap discourses.
  • Frühauf, Tina (2018-06-13) (in en). Experiencing Jewish Music in America: A Listener's Companion. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. p. 153. ISBN 978-1-4422-5840-2.