Baruch "Baba" Israel and Yako 440 represent NYC. Baba (born in 1974) is an emcee, beatboxer, didgeridoo player, and a spoken word artist. Yako (born in 1981) is a musician, producer, beatboxer and graffiti artist. Yako's instrumental skills include bass guitar, keys, and percussion. Together they formed a duo with a wide range of skills that combine to produce quality hip hop. Rewind to about 1999 or 2000, where they met through DJ Center at a loft party in Brooklyn, NYC.
Rewind to about 1999 or 2000, where they met through DJ Center at a loft party in Brooklyn, NYC. Baba was rhyming on the mic, Yako hopped on every instrument there, and they've been making music together ever since. They've played in colleges and clubs across USA, Europe, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia with artists such as Afrika Bambaataa, Aesop Rock, Mr. Lif, etc.
In 2006, they released their first album as a duo titled, "Beatbox Dub Poetics". It's a great mix of soulful, classic boom bap. The album reflects over a year of hard work and a collaboration with some of NYC's finest emcees, beatboxers, and musicians. In 2007, they were featured in URB Magazine's next 1000.
Baba and Yako are both arts educators. They co-created Open Thought Productions, which is a production company that creates music for artists, theater, film, and TV. They have conducted workshops in Hip Hop Poetry, Improvisational Theater, and Music Production across the US and overseas. Yako teaches percussion and visual art workshops.