Hazakim (pronounced "ha-zah-keem", Hebrew for "strong ones") consists of emcees/producers, Michael and Tony Wray, who also happen to be blood brothers. Michael and Tony spent much of their young lives in the Columbus Ohio area where they were introduced to hip-hop culture at very young ages.  Michael recalls, "I remember my cousin playing Rakim's "Paid In Full" album at a family gathering...I had never heard anything like it before.  The way Rakim was able to construct his words over the beat just really grabbed me.  It was then that I acquired an appreciation for hip-hop culture and the art of emceeing (rapping)"   While hip-hop culture was an influence in many ways, Hazakim's faith became the driving force of their lives to the extent that even their "hip-hop-ness" was being filtered through a Biblical worldview   Their formative years were spent in the growing Messianic Jewish movement, a sect of Judaism that believes in the Messiahship of Yeshua (Jesus) and accepts the writings of the New Covenant as authoritative.  

 

In the mid 90's, Anthony, the younger of the two, attempted to make his mark in music as a member of "Showcase Emcees", a group which included Gotee Records recording artist John Reuben.  Eventually the group disbanded and John Reuben was signed.   "Hazakim was really birthed out of a challenge to our faith", explains Anthony.  "Mike and I were sitting in a co-worker's car during a lunch break.  This guy was somewhat skeptical of our faith and was always trying to trap us with difficult questions. He told us tha he had something he wanted us to hear.  So he plays a song by Los Angeles rapper Ras Kass, which basically made a lot of claims about the validity of scripture and the historical Jesus.  Back then a lot of hip-hop was socially and religiously conscious but very biased against belief in Jesus and the Bible....So after hearing like 4 minutes of this and getting heated because we knew the answers to Ras's arguments, Mike was was like, "OK, let me respond to this".  And so he wrote our first song, "Liar, Lunatic, Lord or Legend".  The track created some buzz and the rest is history."

 

Fusing their Messianic faith with hip-hop poetry, Hazakim released their first album, "Hip-Hologetics: A Defense of the Faith Through the Medium of Hip-Hop Culture" in 2001.  As an independent effort, the album garnered substantial support from fans of underground Christian music.  After relocating to Central Florida in 2003, the pair began working on a sophomore project entitled "Theophanies", which addresses the issue of the "deity of the Messiah"; a hot topic in theological discourse.  In late 2007, Philly based Lamp Mode Recordings signed the group and acquired the upcoming album after hearing bits and pieces of the project over the Internet.  "It's a perfect match, really", says Mike, "their niche is our niche...underground style hip-hop with an emphasis on God and Biblical theology." 

 

Hazakim is poising to release Theophanies on June 23rd, 2009 on Lamp Mode Recordings.  Theophanies will be distributed through Infinity Music Distribution and will be available at various web-sites including iTunes and Amazon.  This album arrives on the heels of Hazakim's fellow label mate Shai Linne's successful Storiez album, which climbed to #10 on the iTunes hip-hop/rap chart.  Tony cautions, "We don't have any expectations other than to glorify God and see lives changed.  If we can accomplish this with His help, the album will have been a success!"  And so we shall see what God has in store for the anomalous duo known as Hazakim.