13 Rappers Performing at Bar and Bat Mitzvahs
In traditional Jewish culture, a bar mitzvah is a coming-of-age celebration for 13-year-old boy while a bat mitzvah is the same for a 12-year-old girl in the community. It's a time marker of their ascent into woman and manhood and on the part of the teen, it's a full commitment to the faith and acknowledgement that you're generally not a kid anymore.
Of course, with this centuries-old tradition comes a party. And in the modern world, the party has become the focal point of the moment. So what's a party without a surprise performance? With hip-hop infiltrating all sectors of pop culture, big-name rap stars get tapped perform at the tween's and teen's big day.
In recent years, Nicki Minaj, Drake and Fetty Wap have all performed at either a bar or bat mitzvah performance for the kids of millionaire parents. With Drizzy being one of the "chosen people" himself, he's actually modeled one of his music videos after his own bar mitzvah. And while these private performances usually come with big price tags, Fat Joe recently made headlines for performing at a bat mitzvah for free. Joey Crack showed up to the party for the son of famed bail bondsman Ira Judelson and did a surprise performance for about two hours.
There's no doubt that you're the coolest kid in school the day after a rapper shows up as a surprise at your birthday. Check out which rappers have performed for some privileged kids over the years. Mazel tov.
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Drake
2011Drizzy spit hits from Take Care to celebrate Andrew Zucker's big day.
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A.P.
2008The French rapper surprised the New Haven, Conn. crowd at this 13-year-old's bat mitzvah back in 2008.
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Ja Rule
2005Ja Rule and Ashanti performed a slew of their hits like "Livin' It Up" and "Always on Time" at this Willy Wonka-themed bat mitzvah for Amber Ridinger.
Gustavo Caballero, Getty ImagesGustavo Caballero, Getty Images - 4
Flo Rida
2011The "Get Low" star went to Canada to perform at a bar mitzvah in 2011.
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Snoop Dogg
2007Uncle Snoop rocked the house at what he said was his "first bar mitzvah." The Doggfather performed for Mark Chaplin and his friends in Miami back in 2007. The Miami Herald reported that although Snoop made sure to perform the clean version of his songs, the kids and parents definitely weren't bothered by the adult content, his lyrics or his arrest record.
Bryan Bedder, Getty ImagesBryan Bedder, Getty Images - 6
D12
2001The Detroit clique made a special appearance at Ethan Weisman's bar mitzvah in 2001. Though they didn't perform, the group (sans Eminem) showed up, shook hands, took pics and gave out autographs to the room of 13-year-olds. "It was a wish come true" Ethan told MTV News.
TimWestwoodTvTimWestwoodTv - 7
Nicki Minaj
2015Nicki served up her signature sex appeal in a little black dress while performing at Matt Murstein's bar mitzvah in New York in 2015. In addition to performing "Anaconda" and "Super Bass," Nicki also schooled the kids with some life advice about staying in school.
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Fetty Wap
2015Fetty Wap made it rain at a bar mitzvah while in Queens, N.Y. The rapper even gave the birthday guy Dave a full rack of $100 bills to make it rain during the set.
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Drake
2016Champagne Papi performed "Hotline Bling" and "Summer Sixteen" to toast the 12th birthday of the girl in the sparkling silver dress. You can see her wildin' out in the video below.
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Iggy Azalea
2014Iggy performed songs like "Fancy" and "Booty" for the daughter of MGM mogul Kirk Kerkorian’s bat mitzvah. Iggy was actually shakin' it so hard that she split her pants during the performance.
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Fat Joe
2016Joey Crack turned up at the bar mitzvah of the son of famed bail bondsman Ira Judelson.
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T.I.
2009Tip performed at the bar mitzvah of the son of Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert in 2009. The theme of the party was the 13/13 Club, inspired by Jay Z's 40/40 Club.
Rick Diamond, Getty ImagesRick Diamond, Getty Images - 13
50 Cent
2005Fif performed hits like "In Da Club" while taking over The Rainbow Room for the bat mitzvah of Elizabeth Brooks, the daughter of warfare salesman David H. Brooks.
Kevin Winter, Getty ImagesKevin Winter, Getty Images - 14
21 Savage
201721 Savage performed at a co-ed b’nai mitzvah for Jake and Sydney Steinger at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Fla. 21 kept it PG13, “It’s a lot of cuss words. We had to cut ’em out for y’all. We finna get turnt though,” he said before performing the hit track, "X."