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Nissim Black, formally known as D. Black is a Seattle based hip hop artist.

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  Nissim Smiling
• Nissim Recording Artist
  Nissim Recording Artist
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  Nissim Stare
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  RabbiBZQNissim
• Nissim SBH
  Nissim SBH

Nissim (born Damian Jamohl Black), formerly known as D. Black, is an American recording artist and producer. As D.Black, he was featured on producer Jake One's compilation album, White Van Music, with the song "God Like". In early 2008 Nissim and producer Yosef (formerly B.Brown) were enlisted to produce and co-write "Taped Conversations", a diss song addressed to 50 Cent by Young Buck and Interscope Records artist The Game, Black sang the chorus..

In 2009 he released His sophomore album “Ali’Yah”. The album received press from top hip hop magazines and websites such as Hip Hop DXand Okayplayer.com , it also landed the #12 spot on Amazon’s “Outstanding Albums You Might Have Missed” list. Ali'Yah peaked at #4 on the CMJ Hip Hop Charts for five weeks, and remained in the top 20 for nine weeks. The album’s first music video “Yesterday” made its debut on XXLmag.com and shortly thereafter entered rotation on MTV . Nissim has performed at some of the countries largest music festivals including: CMJ, SXSW , Capitol Hill Block Party, , Sasquatch,and Bumbershoot and has shared the stage with Nas, Mos Def, Macklemore, Blue Scholars, Freeway,Rhymefest, Boot Camp Click and Bun B.

Early years

Nissim grew up in the Seward Park neighborhood of Seattle. A literal son of Seattle Hip Hop, Black's father is Captain Crunch a member of the Emerald Street Boys, who are widely considered to be Seattle's first rap group. From an early age, he was exposed to the street life of drugs, gangs, and violence and his early music reflected his troubled upbringing. In 1995, the FBI raided Black's home and forcibly arrested his mother on drug trafficking charges in front of him, he was seven years old at the time. His mother passed away at the 37 years old in 2006.

As D.Black, he first began recording music at age thirteen under the tutelage of Seattle Hip Hop producer Vitamin D. In 2001, at the age of fourteen, he was signed to "Sportn’ Life Records", an independent Hip Hop record label in Seattle. Shortly there after, Nissim became part owner of Sportn' Life Records and released his first major album The Cause and Effect, in 2006.

Spiritual Evolution and Conversion to Judaism

In 2008 Black, newly married with an infant daughter, found himself at a crossroad following an altercation with another local rapper in a nightclub in downtown Seattle. Fearing for his family and uncertain of his future, Black cut ties with his past in order to reflect more deeply on his own life and to strive to make a positive change. Nissim began researching different religions, ultimately to find himself through Judaism.

At first, Black and his wife, Adina, were Torah observant Messianic Jews. Shortly after the the release of Ali'Yah, Black shifted his observance to Orthodox Judaism. By 2010, the couple -- with two young children -- had moved to an Orthodox enclave in Seattle’s Seward Park and began studying for conversion at Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation. Their official conversions were finalized in 2013. The couples were heavily influenced by the teachings of Rabbi Shalom Arush, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov and Rabbi Eli Mansour.

Discography

• Behind the Dirt (2005)
• The Cause and Effect (2006)
• Ali'Yah (2009)
• The Blackest Brown E.P. (2010)
• Miracle Music (2013)

Videography

• 2009: "Yesterday" (Official Music Video)
• 2013: "Chronicles" (Official Music Video)
• 2013: "Live For Now" (Official Music Video

External Links

• Official Website of Nissim
• Nissim's Twitter Page
• Nissim's Facebook Page