Kosha Dillz, a rapper with dual US/Israeli citizenship, explains the origins of his recent video, “No More War” (Drums of Peace), which was inspired by his take on the recent escalation of violence in Israel and Gaza.
“We just had a friend who sent us a video of a guy playing a beat on a tank and we made it into a beat and kind of a cool video,“ Kosha Dillz says during an interview with HipHopDX. “The guy who was on the tank said ‘no more war,’ so it’s called ‘No More War.’ It’s a quick song and we have a little video to go with it, too.”
The metallic tinge of the military tank-influenced beat produced by Diwon serves as an energetic canvas for Kosha’s pun-filled bars that blend English and Hebrew.
Kosha Dillz recorded “No More War” with Diwon, who is a Yemeni Jew, at Studio Bancs in Culver City, California. Dillz said they felt it necessary to explain the decades-long conflict from the Israeli perspective because the social media conversations often seemed one-sided. Rihanna recently made headlines when she tweeted then deleted “#FreePalestine.”
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“There are a lot of things like #FreePalestine which are popular in Hip Hop culture,” Kosha Dillz says. “Hip Hop came from being oppressed, but I think Hamas [a Palestinian Sunni Islamic organization] is the oppressor. People should look up ‘Free Palestine From Hamas.’ Free Palestine from Hamas leadership, which would give a chance for peace. I think what people need to differentiate is that there are Palestinian people and there is also people who support Hamas, which is an international terrorist organization.
“I think it is crucial to know that this isn’t a current war between Israel and Palestine,” he adds. “This is the war of Israel versus Hamas, and Hamas is not actually fighting to free Palestine, but to pursue their own causes of profiting from the war machine and continuing their crooked ideology. This is a war between the [Israeli Defense Forces] and Hamas, which is a self-seeking and death-seeking terrorist organization unfortunately leading the plight of the Palestinian people. Their goal is to wipe Israel off the map, kill Jews. I feel horrible for my family that lives in shelters but more so I feel for the Palestinian people who must suffer from deranged leadership, which is not progressive and incites more hatred throughout the world. My ultimate thought is to oust Hamas.”
In regards to the current armed conflict in Israel, he said that people must look past blame and toward healing.
“To truly understand this conflict can take many years, and not actually being part of it will continuously side a person to read news which is of two narratives, one from the Israeli side and one from the Palestinian side,” Dillz says. “People should try to look for ways to help the innocent people who are affected, if they choose to get involved in discussion, and not try to figure out who is right or wrong.”
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Kosha Dillz, whose latest album, Awkward In A Good Way, was released through Murs’ 316 imprint, says that his goal is to engage with people and inform them from his perspective.
“I’m not here to become a spokesperson,” Dillz says. “If people want to engage in conversation, then I am willing to engage. Not everyone is willing to engage on both sides. That’s what’s happening. Even Jewish people don’t want to talk about it.”
