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Jamey Roberti
Sasha Rogelberg | Staff Writer
Courtesy of Jamey Roberti
J amey Roberti spent much of his adoles-
cence on a skateboard, daydreaming that
OutKast, Jay-Z and MF Doom provided
the soundtrack to his choreography of ollies and
kickturns. Influenced by the rap and hip-hop music
popular in his Allentown hometown, Roberti,
35, fell in love with the genre and writing music.

After years of daydreaming, Roberti has the
opportunity to bring a fantasy to fruition. As a
2023 Tribe 12 fellow, the Point Breeze resident
is hoping to finish writing and produce his debut
hip-hop album, including songs detailing his
Jewish upbringing in a predominantly Christian
neighborhood. “The goal is A, to really just to show a rapper,
who is also Jewish, existing and existing proud,”
Roberti said. “But secondly, a couple of the
songs are more specifically about some things
that weigh on my heart, applying to Jewishness.”
The musician raps under his stage name
Numoon, an homage to the stage name conven-
tions of the late ‘90s, when artists took a fresh
take on an already existing name or idea. In some
ways, Roberti is trying to accomplish something
similar in his music.

One of Roberti’s songs, “Peace in Crown
Heights,” is about his reckoning of his love of
hip-hop with Ye’s, formerly Kanye West’s, outspo-
ken antisemitism in December. The title of the
song is a reference to the 1991 riots that took
place in the Brooklyn neighborhood between
Black and Jewish residents.

“Bridging the gap of understanding between
Jews and non-Jewish Black folk was something
weighing on my heart,” he said.

Roberti has, at times, had a fraught relationship
with his Jewish identity. Born to a Catholic father
and Israeli Jewish mother, he grew up culturally
Jewish with a strong connection to God but without
a formal Jewish education. When visiting Jewish
spaces like a Jewish day school, Roberti didn’t feel
Jewish enough, but among his friends, many of
whom were non-Jewish, Black or Latino, Roberti
encountered ignorance about his Jewish heritage.

“I was always the only Jew in the room,” he
said. “And a lot of times, sometimes the only
white person in the room, too.”
Roberti recalls “bittersweet memories”
growing up Jewish in Allentown. His father
introduced him to Weird Al Yankovic, the closest
Roberti had to a Jewish rap icon, and his mother
took him to Israel during some summers, where
Roberti was exposed to Israeli psychedelic rock,
which he hopes to incorporate into his music.

While Roberti didn’t try to escape his Jewish
identity, he didn’t walk into a synagogue on his
own volition until he was in his 30s.

With a bachelor’s degree in musicology from
Bucknell University and a master’s in higher
education administration, Roberti’s journey to
making music was also circuitous. He worked as
a music journalist and writing tutor, among other
jobs, before becoming a recruitment coordinator
at Starbucks last May. But despite professional
interests in other areas, life kept taking Roberti
back to music. After Roberti broke his ankle three
times while skateboarding, he began to write
music in high school. Three years ago, Roberti
created a YouTube channel, NumoonTalks, to
upload his works in progress.

As a member of Tribe 12’s newest fellowship
class, Roberti has once again been allowed to
not only focus on his music but to connect more
deeply with his Jewish roots.

Tribe 12 gave Roberti accountability to work
on his project, even when he feels drained
after a full day of work, as well as a coach to
help provide musical resources. But beyond
his creative endeavors, Roberti simply wants
to connect with a group of like-minded Jewish
people, some who share his love for hip-hop, and
others who had complex Jewish upbringings like
he did.

“I do want to get my message out there in my
venture, if I leave this with some Jewish friends,
I’m like, ‘OK, that’s good enough for me,’” Roberti
said. “It’s the first time in my life where I’ve been in a
community of Jewish peers,” he added. “And I’m
realizing the importance of that.” ■
srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
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