They began experimenting with hip-hop music when they were very young. When they were 16 years old they wrote a song in memory of a soldier. The Israeli telecommunications companyCellcom liked the song and sent them to a recording studio, where Sahalu said they met "some bearded musician who explained to us that this thing has rules. That it's a matter of quarters, a certain beat. We started writing according to that logic, and things really did improve." They were introduced to Israeli musicians, did a rapcover for one singer, and shot a music video of it. Before becoming a rap star, Sahalu was a First Lieutenant, platoon commander, and combat officer in the Nahal Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces. He served his last six months on the Home Front Command, at the Central Command headquarters in Jerusalem. They went on three performance tours in the United States over three years. Sahalu recalled: "We... performed in Cincinnati... and there were 800 people in the audience, most of them black. We sang in Hebrew and they screened an English translation. People were surprised. They didn’t even know there are blacks in Israel." The duo then began to record at a recording studio in Hadera. They have now performed in over 20 countries. The two perform every weekend, and earn enough money to get by doing what discharged Israeli soldiers typically do: working as security guards, and in construction. In July 2015, American R&B singer Chris Brown chose the duo to open a concert of his in Rishon LeZion, Israel. That same month, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, invited the duo to perform on the Fourth of July at the official residence of the Ambassador. The duo were a nominee for the 2015 MTV Europe Music Awards Best Israeli Act award.
Music and lyrics
The duo's music has been described as "very melodic and fairly soft rap, with clear signs of pop, but... still a hip-hop band in every way." Their sources of inspiration are Americans Tupac Shakur, Nas, Kendrick Lamar, and LL Cool J, and other Ethiopian-Israeli artists such as the Axum rap ensemble and singer Esther Rada. Though they grew up in a difficult neighborhood, the two say that their music does not speak to the difficulties of growing up in a tough, neglected neighborhood. Elman said: "There always was and always will be racism. The question is whether to sit and cry about it all day long." Sahalu noted: "The first thing that happens when people see Ethiopians singing is that they expect us to say that things are hard for us. But life is beautiful sometimes." One of the duo's hit songs is "Ihiye Beseder". A more recent release of theirs is "Hineh, Zeh Koreh". "Rak La'alot" received 634,000 YouTube views within a few weeks. "Sofshavua" had 389,000 YouTube views in six months. "The Way You Move" with Israeli rapper Soulja had 545,000 YouTube views in just over three months.
