Philadelphia rapper Schmidty (Steven Schmidt) joins The Jewish futurism Lab to talk about turning ancestral memory into modern sound. Grandson of four Holocaust survivors who escaped Poland through Siberia, he grew up between Brooklyn and Northeast Philly before building a career that fuses Klezmer, Shofar, and hip-hop into something distinctly his own.
The conversation covers his discography (Tradition, Kismet, and newest release Origin), his track “Never Again” honoring a Holocaust survivor and educator, and his board role with the Philadelphia Holocaust Museum of Awareness. He and Mike also dig into the wider Jewish hip-hop landscape, from Ofra Haza’s hidden influence on Eric B. & Rakim’s “Paid in Full” to why breakdancing and DJing might reach kids that Hebrew school worksheets can’t.
In this episode:
- Four grandparents, Poland, Siberia, and survival as his artistic root
- Writing “Never Again” and joining the Philadelphia Holocaust Museum board
- Blending Shofar, violin, and clarinet into contemporary beats
- The Ofra Haza sample hiding inside “Paid in Full”
- Using hip-hop to teach Jewish history and text to disengaged kids
