Mix reggae with hip-hop with nu-metal with Hasidic Jewish doctrine, what do you get? The US's fastest-rising reggae star. Kevin Courtney asks Matisyahu how he got there
IT'S hard work being a strict Hasidic Jewish pop star. You've got to go easy on the sex and drugs and all the other rock'n'roll stuff. You can't be going around worshipping Satan or biting the heads off bats. On a day-to-day level, you have to make sure the backstage rider is kosher and you have be careful what receptacles you eat and drink from - quaffing champagne out of Jessica Simpson's cowboy boots is right off the menu. And you can't play any gigs on the Sabbath, which starts at sundown on Friday, so that's your big money night gone. It just doesn't sound very rock'n'roll, does it?
For Matthew "Matisyahu" Miller, however, his orthodox Jewish beliefs are not at odds with the rock'n'roll life - in fact, they're central to his pop star persona, and central to the message on his new album, Youth, a call to arms to young people everywhere to fight for their right to join the world party. Miller has managed to reconcile the tenets of his religion with the demands of the music business, and deftly straddles both worlds without diluting his commitment to either. Sure, he misses out on making a few bob on a Friday night, and he has to forgo the groupies and cocaine, but if it means he can get his message across to more people, then it's a small price to pay.
Matisyahu is reclining in his hotel suite, dressed in conservative grey gaberdine and yarmulke, his long, rabbinical beard curling down over his upper torso. You'd peg him as a religious student; you'd never believe in a million years that this was America's fastest-rising young reggae star, outselling the likes of Sean Paul and packing in audiences with his fast, fiery and furious blend of reggae, hip-hop, rock and ragamuffin. He's here to play a concert in the Temple Bar Music Centre, but first he will observe the Sabbath, spending it at the Rathfarnham home of Dublin's Chalad Jewish rabbi, Zalman Lent.
"Always on the Sabbath I'll go stay with the rabbi. Because basically you have to be near the synagogue so you can go pray. You don't drive, so you have to be within walking distance of the synagogue." What the Rabbi will think of his young charge's chosen profession is anyone's guess.
It's been a strange path that has led him from growing up an ordinary Jewish boy in Westchester, Philadelphia, to becoming the worlds biggest (and perhaps only) orthodox Jewish reggae star. "This was my goal, my dream, so it's not like it's taking me off guard. But I think for any person it's very important to be constantly reflecting and trying to look at their position in this world, and looking at what's important and how to hold on to those things. Certainly the whirlwind that I'm in right now is easy to get swept up in, but I try to make a point of staying grounded."
It wasn't always strict observance of the Sabbath for young Matthew, nor was he particularly interested in giving over his spare time to studying the Torah or performing the mitzvahs (rules). Music was Miller's religion, Bob Marley was his deity, and concert halls were the church where he regularly enjoyed transcendental experiences, usually aided by some illegal substance or other.
"For me, I guess, growing up a secular Jew, without a strong connection to the religion, to the roots, I was looking for my identity and trying to figure out my take on the world, and my take on myself. I wanted to know, is Judaism just some sort of irrelevant thing in my life or is it actually a core part of who I am? Is it in my make-up, something deep within me? And I think I was searching for that core part of myself, that deep part. At a certain point I realised I couldn't ignore this Jewish part of myself, so I had to explore what it was about, and in my exploration it made sense to me that I was on the right path."
Matisyahu's debut album, Shake off the Dust. . . Arise, came out in 2004, and was followed by last year's acclaimed Live at Stubbs, recorded in Austin, Texas. The new album, Youth, is co-written with his band, Roots Tonic, and while its mix of reggae, hip-hop, nu-metal and Hasidic Jewish doctrine isn't all that revolutionary, it certainly adds some interesting strands to modern music's ever-richening tapestry.
Reggae carries with it the eternal promise of reaching Zion, but in the real world, things are a little more complex. The Lubavich Hasidic sect, to which Matisyahu has aligned himself, is overtly Messianic, that is dedicated to the return of a Jewish messiah to Israel, and Matisyahu has been accused of promulgating inflammatory politics in the lyrics of Jerusalem ("Rebuild the temple and the crown of glory") and in Fire of Heaven/Altar of Earth ("Burn the sacrifice of Pride/And ride on to Mount Zion"). His appropriation of Jamaican dancehall reggae has been written off as a sinister political ploy. There have been calls for a boycott of Matisyahu's music, but that hasn't stopped the new album from entering the Billboard charts at number 4. However, it's unlikely that this rappin' rabbi will find an eager audience among people who feel strongly about the plight of Palestinians in the West Bank.
Matisyahu insists, however, that his music promotes inclusion, and that his lyrics preach peace and tolerance. He believes that Jews need to halt the distillation of their culture, but must also integrate and interact with the world at large.
"That, I think, is what I'm representing. A lot of Jews are seeing that, they're getting it and realising it. That's the time that we live in. This is a special time, where people are seeing that it doesn't have to be one way or the other, it's all about blending these things together. And that's the revolution within Judaism, within the world."
Youth is out now on Epic Records
