Kosha Dillz, in his own words
Israeli, first-generation American, Jew — and a rapper.
This is a story about a drug dealer turned rapper. Think you’ve heard it before? Think again. This is not the Jay Z story. Or the story of 50 Cent, Biggie, or Snoop Dogg. This is the story of Rami Matan Even-Esch, known to his fans as Kosha Dillz.
I first met Rami seven years ago when he emerged from the crowd to freestyle during a Q&A at a Matisyahu concert. Although I later learned that the two are friends and that this was a planned part of the concert, Rami undoubtedly stole the show with his surprise appearance. Once the concert ended, Rami came into the crowd to meet everyone and pass out stickers and flyers with the phrase “Kosha Dillz is everywhere” on them.
Since then, his career has moved exclusively in an upward trajectory. How, you may be asking, has this white, Jewish, Israeli, first-generation American rapper managed to perform with Snoop Dogg, Ghostface Killah, Aesop Rock, RZA, the Wu Tang Clan, Matisyahu, and Cage the Elephant, among others? The answer is simple: he embraces the hustle.
When I asked him for a single lesson he has learned from these famous friends, he had a clear answer — the importance of time.
“The most successful people in the world value time,” he explained, adding that “everything in this business is timing. If you go over your time, you won’t be given time in the future.”
Rami understands the value of time in ways which most don’t. His friendship with hip-hop legend RZA emanated from a single freestyle. By capitalizing on this opportunity, along with the ones that were to come, Rami ended up being selected to record a BET Hip Hop Award Cypher — on a RZA beat.
Rami does not take time and opportunities lightly. He’ll travel from Europe to the states for a three minute performance if it means getting his name out to a larger audience. If they won’t let him perform at the Grammy Awards, he’ll freestyle outside on the street. He has a hunger to simply be the best, a competitive spirit to win that you would not expect until you got to know the man behind Kosha.
Rami was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey to Israeli immigrant parents, spending childhood summers in Israel. Growing up in two distinct cultures forced him to adapt and blend to the environment around him. Rami’s experiences in these two distinct cultures taught him to “navigate through a world by creating sandlot friendships in the pre-internet era.”
This attitude, he explained, provided an early framework for his hip-hop maturation process. Rami first discovered rap music at Bar Mitzvahs, immediately becoming fixated with the sounds he heard. Soon after, he began freestyle rapping with his close circle of friends. He would try, as he put it, to “mimic the Wu Tang Clan” in his best attempts to impress his crew.
Like many aspiring musicians, Rami put his career on hold for ‘the real world’ — in this case, his education. Rami received a Division 1 wrestling scholarship from Rutgers. At Rutgers, however, he began having problems with the law, leading to him quitting the wrestling team, getting addicted to, and eventually dealing drugs. After numerous arrests, he went to jail for the first time.
When he came out of jail he went right back to dealing drugs, until he was incarcerated again. This last stint in jail was enough — as this time, Rami entered rehab, coming out refocused and ready to rap. The competitive drive he once had on the wrestling mat was thereby transferred to the music industry.
After working his way up through the independent ranks, Rami received a big break, as his song, “Cellular Phone” was featured in the #1 rated Super Bowl commercial of 2011. He has twice been featured as a playable character in the NBA 2k franchise, and became the first Jew to ever perform on BET. His most recent album What I Do All Day And Pickle hit 6 Billboard charts. He recently gave a TEDx talk on how Freestyle Rap changed his life. His accomplishments are remarkable, especially when you consider how unapologetically Jewish he is in a genre that is often directly in opposition to the tradition.
In 2014, ISIS hacked his website, as a result of his Judaism. His newest single, “Dodging Bullets,” is about the anti-semitic attacks that Jews face daily. Rami comes alive when discussing Israeli politics and the current plight of Jews all over the world. He finds it ironic that so much of our political perspective is based on exterior reporting — instead asking that before people decry a nation, they attempt to spend time there.
The best way to deal with anti-semitism, he explains, is to address it head on. There is “nothing more empowering than standing up for yourself,” he told me, adding that “if you are ever being intimidated by someone because of who you are, no matter what color or race, the best thing to do is stand up and fight for your right to be who you are.”
Kosha has been fighting his entire career. Fighting against his personal demons, fighting against those who said he couldn’t succeed, and fighting against anti-semitism. The drug dealer turned rapper story is definitely a part of his career — but he is so much more than a stereotypical rapper. Simply put, he, unapologetically does it his own way, and will continue to do so for the rest of his career.
