JOB: The Hip-Hop Saga
Successfully uniting art forms in a political pop-cultural context

A previously unheard of joining of two worlds by this scribe, a marriage of sorts, has recently transpired; one that has garnered the attention of media across Canada and in New York, and no, I’m not referring to the nuptials of the celebrity couple of the minute. The effects of this marriage will be much further reaching, and hopefully longer lasting, than those of the aforementioned. It is the marriage between two passionate, yet previously unconnected, art forms: traditional theatre and hip-hop. With the opening of JOB: The Hip-Hop Musical at the 2002 Fringe Festival, written and performed by Montrealers Eli Batalion and Jerome Saibil, new ground was broken, and a new and promising genre emerged.

The duo of comedic talents had one apprehension before the show’s opening: would either theatergoers or hip-hop fans really be receptive to this curious amalgamation of forms? The response to this question was, as echoed by critics ubiquitously, an irrefutable yes.

“When we first started the show, we thought that it was going to bomb, and we thought that specifically for that reason. But it ended up being the exact opposite. People have told us the crowds we bring in are the most diverse age and race-wise that they’ve ever seen,” told 23-year old Saibil.

The first of two acts comprising what is now double-billed as JOB: The Hip-Hop Saga, JOB: The Hip-Hop Musical is a retelling of the biblical book of Job, using beats and rhymes as the storytelling medium. The main focus of JOB II: The Demon of the Eternal Recurrence (act two) is experimentation. It makes use of unusual time signatures on the beats, also created by Batalion and Saibil, whereas act one frequently samples classical music. It also moves away from the customary subject matter of hip-hop, focusing instead on the debate between gangster rap and conscious rap.

“What we’re trying to do with the play and the plot is expand people’s concept of what hip-hop is. By virtue of just having the play exist, we’re telling people that hip-hop can be used as a theatrical endeavour,” says Saibil.

Foque Dans La Tete Productions (FDLT), a company created by Batalion and Saibil in 1998, has produced seven plays, two musical groups and five videos to date. Among numerous awards to their credit “Critic’s Pick” (Show Business Weekly, New York), “Best New Play” (2002 Montreal English Critics Circle Award) and “Patron’s Pick” (2002 Toronto Fringe Festival’s Audience Choice Award), all for JOB.

Whether you’re a habitual theatre-goer or a hardcore hip-hop head, the innovative union of these two influential art forms unfolding in one compelling show is reason enough to check it out. Hopefully the two are in for many years of harmonious maturity.

— Theresa Micallef