Wardrobe magazine called him “the most honest Reggae in the world” and rightly so – there aren’t many twenty-something musicians who leave the dance scene because of their religious beliefs. And there is definitely a story there.
Born Matthew Paul Miller, Matisyahu is Hebrew and the stage name of one of the hottest artists in memory. Together with the band Iona David (drums), Aaron Dugan (guitar) and Josh Werner (bass / keyboards), Matisyahu brings a unique new world flavor to the diverse audience of reggae and hip-hop, and people listen. At Aspen Music Festival in Tennessee this past June they played to 80,000 and are featured in the Lollapalooza festival. created by front man Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction, in August.
Matisyahu’s path to musical acclaim is as interesting as the soul-bending sounds that characterize the band’s reggae-hiphop-rock style. The singer was born in West Chester, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia and then raised in White Plains, NY. He was brought up as a Reconstructionist Jew and early on he found a passion for music which he expressed in his teenage years under other names. “MC Veritas” for MC Mystic’s Soulfari band.
His affinity for music has led him to a freelance lifestyle (or what others call his odyssey) touring music festivals throughout Israel, Colorado, Oregon and more. He claims his first public performance was in a garage after a Phish concert. The visions and especially the sound that he experienced in his “hippie” days carry over into the lyrics and vibe of his albums. Matisyahu sound with the intent of the voice: a message of peace and unity.
In 2001, Matisyahu converted to Orthodox Judaism and became a member of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic community in Brooklyn, New York, one of the largest branches of Hasidic Judaism and one of the largest movements of Orthodox Jews worldwide. He studied Torah and began playing with the New York band Pey-Dalid. He released his first album while a student at Hadar Hatorah and together with Bob Marley and Phish, Matisyahu credits the lyrical inspiration for the album to a book by Rabbi Simon Jacobson, a Chabad teacher.
Matisyahu’s heavy lyrics and rhythm began to create local vocals around New York and beyond. In 2004, the band tied on the charts with Shake the Dust…Get Up! and experienced tremendous success with their 2005 release Live at Stubb’. Sophomore album Youth He was released on the 7th of March. Like Matisyahu himself, he is a mixture of the old and the new. It captures the free years of both the living and the influence of orthodox Judaism, who teach music as “the pen of the soul”. “It’s a mix of contemporary, original hip-hop sounds rooted in reggae and religion.
The band has been playing furiously to promote the new album and has received a huge response in the past months. Their video for “The King Without a Crown” saw a lot of airtime with its simple urban visual style and energetic message. In the the song on the top of modern Rock Top 10. New album Youth peaked at Billboard magazine’s #1 slot and is in the top 20 on iTunes. Wardrobe magazine named Matisyahu the 2006 Favorite Oddball with the Esky Music Award. It was a very good year.
Many fast rising stars would succumb to the spoils of fame and instant fortune. Matisyahu’s way is anything but cliché. In 2004, he married an NYU student and recently became a father. It is not improbable that he joins his family on the journey. He was held on the road with restaurants and a network of Chabad Rabbis. In the scene of the tribe, Matisyahu means that there is a restriction in his religion that men should not touch women other than their wives, mothers, daughters or grandmothers. The touch is holy and reverent. Although the scene is focused on videos, it is the director’s job to only see people on the ground.
They are not wild parties as Matisyahu and the team of the team that dig into the clash of the Globes admit. Their music seems like a religion practiced with clarity. Matisyahu’s community, Chabad is a Hebrew acronym that translates to “wisdom, intelligence, knowledge.” Through kinetic energy and just rapturous lyrics mixed with jam band sounds and a beatbox phenomenon, Matisyahu’s message comes through clear.
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- Hear what all the vocals are about visit www.matismusic.com
