Orthodox Jewish rapper Yitzchak Jordan, known to his fans as Y-Love, has released his album "This is Babylon."

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NEW YORK — Walking through Brooklyn's Borough Park neighborhood, one of the largest Orthodox Jewish communities outside Israel, Yitzchak Jordan immediately stands out. Aside from the traditional beard and long side curls tucked behind his ears, there's nothing distinctively Jewish or Orthodox about Jordan's appearance.

Where the Hasidic passersby wear tall hats and long jackets, Jordan, a devout Jew, sports a beret and an untucked jersey. But what really distinguishes Jordan from others in the Jewish community is the fact that he is a black rapper known to his fans as Y-Love. His first album, "This Is Babylon," already for sale online, will hit stores in late April.

Y-Love is part of a new school of hip-hop revolutionaries who are trying to raise social consciousness and spirituality through their music. Even so, he may be the rap scene's most unconventional act. Substituting profanity with religious rhymes in Yiddish, Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin and Arabic, Y-Love takes hip-hop away from the thug culture and into a spiritual realm. He describes his style as "global hip-hop" that aims to promote unity and tear down social boundaries.

"I'm using the holy languages to show that anybody who is on a spiritual level, wherever they are in the world, chances are they're going to be on relatively the same page," Y-Love said. "Hip-hop is some type of music that brings people together."

But Y-Love doesn't just rap about breaking social boundaries, he does it. As a black convert to Judaism, the 29-year-old computer programmer epitomizes the cross-cultural. His music reflects his religious conversion, which started 22 years ago.

Growing up with his Ethiopian father and Puerto Rican mother in Baltimore, Md., Jordan occasionally attended Baptist church. At age 7, however, he developed an interest in Judaism after watching a "Happy Passover" television commercial. He doesn't remember why the ad intrigued him, but soon after seeing it Jordan began trading his lunch money for Hebrew lessons from a Jewish classmate. His curiosity grew into faith, and at age 14 he began attending synagogue at Johns Hopkins University. Much against his Roman Catholic mother's will, at the same time he approached the rabbi with plans to convert. He was turned down because of his age.

"I knew I wanted to be Jewish ever since I was a little kid," Y-Love said. "Through a lot of time, I was just waiting to convert."

While his family suggested he would never be accepted in the Jewish community, Jordan remained determined. His conversion finally began when he moved to New York City at age 21. Thirteen months later, Jordan traveled to Jerusalem to attend Ohr Somayach, a yeshiva catering to converts and Jews with little religious background. His learning partner there, David Singer, happened to be a Jewish emcee known as Cels-I. The two discovered that rapping the Hebrew words helped them memorize Jewish scripture. Thus, Jordan's approach to hip-hop was born.

"When we first started rhyming in yeshiva, people were like, 'Why would you bring such a non-Jewish type of music into a holy place,'" Y-Love said. "But I can still open up a Gemara to the cases we learned in 2001 and remember what was going on." The Gemara is a part of the Talmud, a book of rabbinic commentaries.

At the yeshiva, Jordan also met Erez Safar, who later founded the Jewish music Web site Shemspeed and the Modular Moods Records label. Back in New York, Safar, also known as DJ Erez Handler, became Y-Love's manager. He produced "This Is Babylon."

"He's a genius as an individual, an incredible intellectual and a diverse person," DJ Handler said. "He's just a great rapper. With that sort of brain and voice, I thought he had the whole package."