2 LIVE NEWS: It was only a matter of time before some enterprising
capitalist cashed in on the 2 Live Crew controversy with a goofball
novelty record (Billboard, Aug. 25). Enter rabbi MC Moisha and his Hebrew
friend Easy Irving. They are the 2 Live Jews, a pair of “aging kosher
rappers” whose “As Kosher As They Wanna Be” album was released
in August on Miami -based Kosher Records (305 -666-0445) and is distributed through Hot Productions. The first single, “Oui! It’s So Humid,”
is a Yiddish parody of the sexually explicit “Me So Horny” by Luther
Campbell & Co. The rest of the album pokes fun at the standard Jewish
stereotypes. The Jewish rappers’ alter egos are Eric Lambert and Joe Stone, a pair of twentysomething professional comedian/impressionists based in Miami. Stone’s father is Henry Stone, founder and president of Miami’s TK
Records and the brains behind Tone Distributors, which for years was
the leading indie distributor in the Southeast. Lambert and Stone are literally “two live Jews” and, according to Joe Stone, they are not worried about a backlash. “This is a comedy album; it’s not controversial or offensive,” Stone says. “There have always been comedians who do Jewish humor. Controversy seems to be the theme of 1990,” he says, taking on the Easy Irving persona. “It’s giving me gallbladder trouble.”