BLP Kosher Interview: Viral Rise, Jewish Identity, Losing Jew Sheisty, More
Written by SOURCE on April 23, 2023
BLP Kosher stands out wherever he goes.
The South Florida rapper has an attention-grabbing hairstyle—two wicks stick straight out from the sides of his head—and he fills his songs with off-the-wall quotables, all while proudly representing his Jewish faith.
The originality is paying off, and he’s catching fire on social media this year, going viral for songs like “Mazel Tron” and “Jew on the Canoe.” At first glance, you might be skeptical that his aesthetic is a gimmick, but if you spend any amount of time with Kosher, you’ll realize there are deep, meaningful reasons behind everything he does.
Take his signature hairstyle, for example. Three years ago, Kosher was skating with his close friend Charmane, whose girlfriend had just passed away, and he wanted to help, so he said a special prayer “where the soul elevates to heaven.” Moved by the gesture, Charmane replied, “I want to do something for you now,” and gave Kosher a gift that would change everything.
At the time, Kosher had traditional payot curls on the sides of his head, so as a token of appreciation, Charmane used a crochet hook to turn the curls into two small wicks—a popular hairstyle in South Florida. It was an unusual look, but Kosher happily embraced it, and he started getting attention from strangers whenever he walked around town.
Back in those days, Kosher spent most of his time skateboarding and getting into trouble. He liked rapping along to his favorite songs (he’d even recorded a few of his own) but he never thought he had a real future in music. That is, until he met a new friend: Jew Sheisty. On a whim, the two made a rap song together and put it on SoundCloud one day. Kosher remembers doing it for fun, half-jokingly, but Sheisty saw something special in him, and convinced him to pursue rap more seriously.
Before long, they started going viral together, getting attention on the internet as two Florida rappers who proudly repped their Jewish identities in their music. Kosher’s hair helped him get attention, but it soon became clear that there was a lot more going on here than a simple shtick: He could also rap his ass off.
“I know why I’m doing it. It’s really all to make the world a better place in the future. I really want to bring the people that aren’t together, together.”
Florida rap is in BLP Kosher’s DNA (he cites Kodak Black, XXXTentacion, and 9lokkNine as influences) but he also pulls from artists like Eminem and Lil Wayne, peppering his songs with clever entendres and deep pop culture references. Some of the lyrics are funny, but Kosher takes the music itself seriously, as do his fans. Very quickly, his videos filled up with comments like “holy shit, he can really rap,” and a cult fanbase started spreading his name all over the internet.
Then tragedy struck. First, Charmane was shot and killed by police, followed not long after by the death of Jew Sheisty.
“Them jits were so good-hearted,” he says now, remembering his late friends. “Whenever I think about it, I’ll just be like, nah, I got to turn up.” So he did exactly that, throwing himself even further into his music in their honor. Pointing to his hair now, he says he still has the same locks that Charmane gave him on that fateful day, adding, “If this is what’s making people click on me, I almost feel like I got a responsibility to turn up for them boys.”
So far, 2023 has been a whirlwind, highlighted by a high-profile collaboration with BabyTron (aptly titled “Mazel Tron”) that was released in early April alongside a Lyrical Lemonade music video directed by Cole Bennett. His face is all over TikTok, and he’s intent on keeping his foot on the pedal, lining up festival dates and preparing the release of his next mixtape: Bars Mitzvah.
Now, he’s ready to talk about his origins, his viral rise, and what’s next. The interview, lightly edited for clarity, is below.
How’d you start rapping?
It started off during COVID when me and my boy Luhgary made a song called “Sweet Potato.” Then I met my boy Jew Sheisty and he was like, “I got to take you to the studio. You’ve got something different.” He embraced me and shit.
What’s the story behind your name?
Jew Sheisty gave me that name, and I gave him his. At first, my name was just BLP, and I was thinking of naming myself Luh Kosher, but he was like, “Keep the BLP,” so it became BLP Kosher. He was thinking [about naming himself] Young Dreidel, but when we came up with Jew Sheisty, I was like, “That’s you.”
Why was it important for you to make your Jewish identity a big part of your artistry?
We just embrace it. Everybody’s a walking contradiction, but when I was young, I would be out and about every day, and I wouldn’t really be Orthodox or observe Shabbat. I was just a typical jit from South Florida on his skateboard. That’s all I really cared about, but I would still pray and look out for little signs from God.
My boy Jew Sheisty, he would be in and out of jail, but he would still tell himself, “I want to get Bar Mitzvah.” Stuff like that is why I really represent it, because when you see a little sign from God, he might be telling you something. Like, you’re in a situation that should make you turn astray from it, but you’re still holding on. Keep that. Don’t turn away from that.
“Even before the rap stuff, people would take pictures. Like, ‘This jit got two wicks. Like, yo, what the f*ck? I’m a barber, let me take a selfie real quick.’”
There aren’t many rappers who have incorporated it into their music as much as you have. Did it make you nervous that people would reject it because you’re doing something new? Or was it always an easy decision to make?
Low key, I feel like that’s where growing up in Florida helps, because I never really cared what people thought. I was like, “You know what? The internet is going to be the internet, and they’re really not going to understand.” But I know what it means to me. So I was just like, “I might as well just be myself and include skateboarding and being Jewish.” Basically, being a Jew in areas where they’re just going to laugh at you for doing that. So it’s like, I’m going to rep that shit even harder and fly that flag, type shit.
Even if I’m aggressively proud of it, it’s like, I know deep down, when I’m being aggressively proud of that dreidel shit, it’s not against nobody else specific. Or actually, it is. Down there in Florida, there are people that specifically hate stuff like that, and they’re the ones that I’m talking about. I’m talking about them specifically. Nobody else. But a lot of people be showing love. They rock with the names and shit, and they’ll dap me up and salute.
I don’t really got nothing to prove, because I know my meaning for it and why I’m doing it. It’s really all to make the world a better place in the future. I really want to bring the people that aren’t together, together. That’s what I really want to do, in a way that doesn’t cause any more problems.
At the beginning of your song “Immune,” you say, “We’re all human. It’s OK to be different. Stick out like a sore thumb, so be it.” So it seems like it’s really important to you to just be yourself?
Damn, you’re a real one for recognizing that. Yeah. Me, being myself, I always stuck out crazy. So I was like fuck it. Sometimes you’ve just got to accept. I feel like if the world starts becoming more immune to stuff like that, it would be a better place, too. Like, if there is less shock. When it’s a good type of different, though, you feel me?
One of the first things people notice about you is your unique look. Tell me about the hairstyle.
Basically, you know about payos? Payot? I had real little ones. They were real small. I just had a small bukhari yamaka, and I remember I went to go skate that day with my boy Charmane, who rapped, too. He had the Star of David tatted on him, too, just like Jew [Sheisty]. He had a situation where his girlfriend passed, and I wanted to do something for him. There’s a prayer, where the soul elevates to heaven, and he was heartbroken by what happened to his girl, so I helped him do the prayer and he was like, “I want to do something for you now.” So he took out the crochet hook and he made the small regular payos I had into little mini wicks. They were half [as big] as they are now, hanging a little lower.
He ended up getting killed by the police, and when I heard about it, I was like, “I can’t ever cut them off. I’ve got to make sure I fly that shit for him.” That’s what these are. It’s just me keeping that shit. It was a gift. He was like, “You only want two?” I was like, “Yeah, just these little ones.” And he’s like, “That shit is hard. Fuck it.” He got me right. Right on this road called Power Line Road, right on the bus stop.
When you walk around, do you get a lot of reactions from people?
Hell yeah. Even before the rap stuff, people would take pictures. Like, “This jit got two wicks. Like, yo, what the fuck? I’m a barber, let me take a selfie real quick.” That stuff would happen even before I was a rapper.
How long ago did you get them?
Fuck, I can’t remember… I started rapping two years ago…
And this was like a little before that?
A little bit before that. Maybe a half of a year before that.
When you started rapping, how did you find your sound? Who were you influenced by?
I grew up listening to Kodak [Black] and X[XXTentacion]. 9lokkNine, I listen to him a lot still. Free 9lokkNine. I like Bankroll Fresh, too. I like Gang Starr, MC Guru. Lil Wayne. I like Eminem sometimes, too, and a lot of pop stuff. But mostly that Florida stuff is what I listen to every day.
In your music, you reference everyone from Green Day to Keri Hilson. Outside of rap, what else do you listen to?
I like Camila Cabello. I like Ariana Grande. She’s from the crib, too, matter of fact. She’s from Boca. I like old pop stuff, like from when you was a kid, watching Disney Channel. I like a lot of that type of stuff. And low key, the Jonas Brothers. Big shout out to the Jonas Brothers. Them boys be snapping. I fuck with them boys. That boy Nick Jonas snappin’.
On some of your songs, like “From a Far,” your vocals sound almost country. Do you listen to country music, too?
Yeah, I like Lil Nas X a lot. I don’t know if it’s country, but fuck, how that shit go? [Sings “Cruise” by Florida Georgia Line.] Oh, and “Life Is A Highway.” I don’t even know if that’s country, but that shit is fire. I ain’t going to lie.
Are there any other genres you want to dabble in?
I fuck with… What’s AC/DC’s genre? Rock and roll, metal? I fuck with AC/DC. I like Ghostemane. I like Sum 41.
When did you find your own sound? Was there a specific song where you found your unique pocket for the first time?
“Inferno,” because I went faster at the end and I realized that’s my favorite flow of mine. Just jumping from different directions with different flows and BPMs and shit, but all on the same beat. I like stuff like that, and also bouncy stuff. I like the shit you can play at the gym, on the treadmill and shit like that.
“I felt like I had a responsibility when Jew Sheisty passed, because I know that I would not be rapping if he didn’t embrace me.”
How did growing up in Florida shape you as a person and as an artist?
In Florida, everything’s so different. A wise man could play a fool, but a fool can’t play wise. There’s more of that in Florida. Shit might seem a certain way [and people might think a certain thing about you] but it’s actually the total opposite. Florida made me realize, like, “Fuck what these jits think. Fuck what the people think. I know what it is for real.”
I was young and I remember certain situations that happened. I had to accept that I’m not supposed to be dealing with certain things, and I’m not supposed to be proud of it, but I know what can happen. I know that anything can be taken away from you in a second. Even little stuff, like getting into an altercation on the bus or on the side of the road… In certain areas, there are people that don’t have anything to lose. Pride is something that’ll get you killed.
I feel like specifically, in North Broward, too, there’s a lot of ego. I love where I’m from, but there’s a lot of ego and you’ve just got to let people think what they want to think. Just do the best you can for the world. Do what God wants you to do.
You grew up skating, right?
Yeah. I started skating at 7, like playing with Tech Decks in second grade and shit. Then I really wanted to go pro in skating. I was going to skate parks, filming with friends. I was getting flow, like skate shop flow from Habitat, and I got some Huff shoes and shit, but I was never pro or nothing like that. Kind of just underground.
I noticed you like to drop a lot of skate references in your lyrics.
Yeah, I would rap about skate bars, just because that’s how I was living before. I was m skating, taking buses in the streets, just going around Broward and Boca and Palm Beach. I wanted to mix them—like, skate in music videos—but I haven’t done it yet. But I was like, “I’m going to just rap about my skate shit, too.” In the future, I want to drop a skate video and mix it properly with a different genre of music type shit, not just rap.
What else do you remember from those days, growing up?
A lot of good stuff and bad stuff. [Skating] helped me learn how to not give up. When you get broke off on a trick, it’s kind of like a life lesson, too. You can’t give up. I remember getting kicked out, and it helped me learn how to deal with people. When you want a trick so bad, but you know they’re going to kick you out, fight you, and call the police, it teaches you a finesse mindset. Like, I know I can’t even argue with them, so I’ve got to leave and come back and just focus on the trick. I won’t even talk to them. I feel like skateboarding taught me how to deal with attitudes. You can use that in life.
I ain’t going to lie. Skateboarding saved me in a lot of ways. If you’re getting into a dark thought or plotting or some shit, just hop on your board and block everything out. Go get right, learn a new trick. Learning new tricks gives you dopamine and that shit can really help you a lot, type shit.
In your BTS Lyrical Lemonade video, you mentioned that there are some haters back home. Do you think some of that hate came because you were being yourself and doing something different that surprised people?
Yeah, sadly. But God bless them. God bless them boys for sure. Deep down, when there’s stuff like that, there’s got to be some sort of good in them. Even the worst people, there’s got to be some sort of little good deep down. People just cut themselves off when there’s competitive stuff down there in Florida. I literally be praying for the ops.
How do you write your songs?
I’m very hard on myself when it comes to the music. I don’t read dictionaries or anything like that. I literally just put myself in the positions that I was in when I started coming up with more entendres and stuff like that. I was driving in my car and something would pop in my head and I started reconstructing words. I didn’t even know what it was called. I didn’t even know what an entendre was, but I was doing them. But I feel like that was like the chemical in your brain when you’re driving. I would just be coming up with a whole bunch of shit and I’d whip out my phone and tell Siri, like, “Set an alarm for this.” And I’d be like, “Oh yeah, that’s a bar. Let me write that.” Just shit like that.
Your music is full of clever wordplay. Have you always been good with words?
I always laughed at certain words that I would hear. Like, my mom would say some shit, and I’d be like, “Man, what the fuck does that mean?” Just like a weird word. Like, something very sophisticated that professional people use. I would be just intrigued by stuff like that.
There are lots of funny lines in your music, and you have fun with your cover art and everything. But the music itself isn’t a joke. You want to be taken seriously as a legitimate artist, right?
Yeah. That’s real. I definitely do. I don’t expect a lot of it to be taken seriously, just because I already know how the world perceives things. I don’t blame certain people for hating, either. I be nice to some of the haters. Sometimes they be coming back around and rocking with it. At the end of the day, when I first started rapping, I cringed at my own shit when I watched. I’m like, man, what am I doing, bro? Am I really about to do this? But I knew I could get to a point where I am now. I had to archive some shit. I was like, “Bro, that’s not me to my fullest.” Those bars could be better. So some of the old stuff, I don’t expect people to rock with that shit. I don’t even rock with a lot of my own shit. I’m my biggest critic. I’m very picky and shit.
At first, I had more hate than love, but I knew I’d convert it all because I know what I’m doing is real and this is me and this is who I am. But if I make a song that’s ass, I know that’s not me, you feel me? But if I make some fine shit and I know that’s me to my fullest, I’m like, “That’s me. I’m going to just do it.” But I don’t expect everybody to like it.
I do want to be taken seriously sometimes, but I don’t get mad when I’m not, because at the end of the day, that’s just the lane I’m in. It’s hip-hop, you feel me? I’ve got to accept it. That’s what makes you grow, too, is when people look at you crazy. You get good reactions from fans and that shit helps, too. So I never tripped out about it.
You’ve had a lot of success these past few months. What do you think you’re bringing to the table as an artist that people are gravitating towards?
I don’t like to be self-righteous or whatever it’s called. I try to stay humble. But somebody told me, “Oh, you’re bringing fun [back]. Your music is fun.” But I feel like there’s a lot of other artists that are bringing that fun back, too. I feel like a lot of stuff should be serious, too, because obviously you’ve got to pay respect to the originators and shit, too.
Having fun is cool, but I’m not going to sit here and make that my biggest thing. I do like to cater to the fans, though, but I just like a good balance. I’ve got to make sure this shit is serious but also fun. And what I mean by fun is: where people re-listen to it a couple times and then they realize, “Oh, that had a double meaning or a triple meaning.” Or like, “That’s what he meant when he said this,” and then they break it down and come up with it for themselves. I feel like that’s a good type of fun.
What was the first moment when you realized your music was really getting traction?
I posted this freestyle on Instagram of just me rapping, sitting in the car with the beat. And shout out to Kreayshawn, she reposted me. After that there were a couple Instagram Reels that I did, and then my song “The Nac,” Druski put it on Coulda Been Records. It was more like a joke, because of the hair and stuff. It was funny. It did get me a lot of real fans, though.
My boy called me. He’s like, “Bro, don’t even trip. You’re going to beat the internet. Look how many real fans you got from a joke.” But at the end of the day, I fuck with him for that because I appreciate it even if it was a joke. He probably knew real people were going to come from that, too. He was probably trying to look out, deep down.
Another big moment was your BabyTron collab “Mazel Tron” with the Cole Bennett music video. I know each of your fans were commenting on your pages beforehand. How did that come together?
Yeah. The fans would comment under my profile and I was like, “Damn, I’ve got to do a song with him one day because they want it so bad.” Then he hit me up, and he was saying he’d seen my name under his comments. We exchanged text messages: “We got to do a song.” And I was just thinking, “Whenever it happens, it happens.”
But then Cole also reached out. He said, “What you on? What we doing this week, man?” I was like “Damn.” He was like, “You got anything unreleased?” I sent him a couple things and he was like, “Did any big artists reach out to you?” And I was like, “Low key, BabyTron.” He set it up dumb quick, got us on a group, and then a couple days later, we shot that shit right away.
Shout out to my boy, Lucas. He’s a big BabyTron fan, and he was like, “If you ever do a song with BabyTron, name that shit ‘Mazel Tron.’” I told them boys about it and they were like, “That’s the name,” right off the bat. Them boys geniuses over there, Cole and them boys. Shout out to them.
All of a sudden, you were in a big studio with BabyTron, and shooting a music video with big-ass cameras and shit. After doing everything DIY, what was that adjustment like?
Low key, brother, it felt great. I went to Cali and we shot with Cole and DotComNirvan, and I was so stoked about both of those. I felt so grateful, because all my friends are big fans as directors and shit. That was big. I was hyped.
That was the first time you’ve been to LA, and now you’re in New York for the first time. What has this whole experience been like?
This shit is lit. I love New York. It feel like one big amusement park. You’ve got a little mini Korea, a mini Italy. Just one big city with little places. I fuck with it.
I ain’t going to lie. It’s a crazy transition because in 2022, I had like 14 jobs. Not at once, obviously, but I had 14 jobs in 2022, and I got fired from all of them except for like three type shit. And then we was doing Uber Eats and stuff. Then, three months later, we’re over here. So it definitely make me feel grateful as fuck. I need to be grateful and shit. That shit got me trippin’.
What were some of the jobs?
Umm, the biggest ones… I got fired from Cheesecake Factory, UPS. Shout out to Mia from UPS, though. She’s the only reason why I stayed a while. Damn, there’s so many, bro.
Did you just get fired for not showing up on time and shit, or…?
I just stood up for myself in a way. Anybody would’ve done what I did. I ain’t do nothing too crazy.
I can tell you’re a positive guy, but in your music, I like how you aren’t afraid to talk a little shit and tell people they’re trash. [Laughs.] Where does that come from?
I’m humble, but I feel like everybody that I had problems with are cocky. These jits just be getting out of their element, so I was like, “I’m going to put these jits in their place in my music sometimes.” But that’s not my favorite thing to do. I be feeling bad sometimes. But it’s like, bro, a lot of people are ass. And I feel like those be the biggest haters. They shouldn’t even be having that type of place to talk. The craft got to speak for itself, one thing about it.
I don’t talk about it in-person. Music is different, but I’m not going to gas myself up in my music and be self-righteous. But I’ll just be like, “Them boys ass,” or some shit in my music. I don’t won’t want to hurt nobody’s feelings and shit, but when people got no love for me and hate on me, I’ll just be like, man, I’ll just spit some quick shit. I’m doing them a favor, so they don’t waste more time. I’ll be saying shit, too, like, “Y’all boys might as well go and write some shit. Like, go practice some shit.” Maybe it’ll motivate them boys and have them jits be like, “Oh, I need to get on my shit now.” That might help them.
Low key, my boy Santiago, he was that type of friend who would be straight up with me. I remember I had this song, but the bars were whatever when I first started. I put it on in the car and this jit was just like, “That shit was ass.” I was like, “For sure.” And then I started snapping.
What’s the biggest misconception about you? What do people get wrong?
There’s a lot of false info, but I like to let people believe that stuff. Some of it be helping you out in a way, too. But if somebody wants to believe something, they’re fake for believing that anyways. If this jit wants to say something about me that’s literally the total opposite [of reality], they’re just fake for believing that type of shit. So I’ll just be like whatever, fuck them boys.
On “Inferno 2,” you mention the loss of your “twin.” I’m assuming you mean Jew Sheisty?
Yeah.
Does an experience like that, especially at a time like now, motivate you to go even harder?
Yeah, for sure. Right when he passed, stuff started happening. I was real bummed, because he was the one that I wanted to show the most. He’s the reason why I started rapping. Before, I was just like, “I’m trying to skate. I’ve got to hustle and skate shit.” I was kind of fucking up and getting into bullshit. Then, it was just kind of a joke, that song that we dropped on SoundCloud after I met him. But he was like, “You spit, bro,” and he really embraced it. So I felt like I had a responsibility when he passed, because I know that I would not be rapping if he didn’t embrace me. He’s a Jewish rapper, too, so he could’ve been competitive and shit. But he was actually like, “I’m going to focus on this jit and motivate him.”
I feel like that death shit, too… Even with Charmane, before the police killed him, this is the same lock that he did [points to hair]. So I was like, “If this is what’s making people click on me, I almost feel like I got a responsibility to turn up for them boys.” Them jits were so good-hearted, too. So I went dumb hard. Whenever I think about it, I’ll just be like, nah, I got to turn up and shit. For sure.
What do you have planned for the rest of the year?
We’ve got a show on May 12 at Revolution Live in downtown, and the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash, too. Bars Mitzvah, the mixtape, we’re going to rock that shit soon. I’m just taking the time and getting it right. I’ll probably put out a couple singles before.
What are some of your goals moving forward?
I want to get a hit single that goes worldwide. That’ll be like a dream come true, on some crazy shit. Like one of them radio hits or some shit. I want to make a blowout hit, because everything has been so cult fan base originated. I love that, but I’m trying to see if I can push my limits and get myself to make something universal… It don’t even got to be rap, because I’ve got a lot of other stuff, too. But if it could be rap, that’ll make me feel accomplished.
