MaATISYAHU - KEEPING IT KOSHER

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Melding Matzo with Marley, Matisyahu maybe the worlds first ever reggae singing Hasidic Jew.

The fact that the shower runs constantly (“I like the humidity”) is the first sign that this isn’t going to be an ordinary interview. Add in the polite request to refrain from shaking hands upon introduction (“unless they are married or close family members, men and women shouldn’t touch”) and it’s obvious that this tall man with ringlets spiralling round the nape of his neck isn’t your average artist. But then, how many beat-boxing, reggae singing Hasidic Jews have you seen rocking up in the pages of Rolling Stone?

Yet despite the skull-cap and ever-present Torah, the fly-as-fuck limited edition Nikes are just one clue that Matisyahu ain’t your average Orthodox. “I have two sides to me,” nods the man who likes his hotels hot and sticky and his women hands-off. “A light and dark. Before I became religious, I often felt that the dark was prevailing and when I think back, if I hadn’t made that change, I’d still be in a struggle.”

Before he began hanging with his homeboy G-D, Matthew Miller was your below-average American teen. A high school dropout with a penchant for puff, the dreadlocked stoner spent his teenage years in White Plains, New York banging on bongos and beat-boxing at the back of the class. While music filled a gap, Miller was increasingly searching for more; eventually, it was the man upstairs who helped him to find a purpose in life. “It was a process. I was about 21 and exploring the world, looking into different aspects of Judaism. I really felt I came to a place in my life where I let go and asked God to help me,” he remembers of his transition from standard Sabbath-on-a-Friday Jew into a fully-fledged Lubavitch Hasidic don’t-shake-hands-with-ladies Orthodox. Beginning on a camping trip in Colorado and concluding four years later with a chance meeting with a Rabbi in Washington Square Park, the transformation from Matthew to Matisyahu was a long-time coming, but a wait that was worthwhile. “When I got to that point in my life, so many channels started opening up, musically and with my religion,” he says.

Unable to leave the sounds of secular sonics completely behind though, Matisyahu decided to combine the two loves of his life. “I grew up listening to reggae. That’s the music I enjoyed from before I was religious, so that was naturally the music I started singing.” Melding sub-sonic bass with a spine-tingling vocal, his forthcoming album, Youth is a seriously good listen. His roots-styled reggae sound has arrived with perfect timing, just as Damien Marley, I-Wayne and Don Corleone pave the way for more one-drop based beats and lyrics that venture beyond the batty - the only difference between the two is that Matisyahu is on the Judaism tip as opposed to Jah.

“Sometimes people say ‘Why are you making music that’s not Jewish’ or ‘Why are you making Black music?’ But usually that’s coming from people that don’t really understand, like old timers,” he shrugs. “Generally, the Jewish community is pretty supportive of what I’m doing ‘cause I’m trying to make a name for Jews, and the reggae community is cool because they see how the music has spread and become so universal. I feel a big part of what I’m doing is bringing all types of different people together; Jews, Blacks, Non-Jews, all types of people.”

Mindful though that music and religion doesn’t always mix, Matisyahu isn’t some zealot on a mission to change the lives of infidels. “I hope that the music will bring people out of their box, in terms of how they think about other people and people that are not like them. I hope it leaves them with something to chew on.”

Besides, he realises no one is perfect. Considering an up-coming tour with Damien Marley, the 26-year-old wonders whether the temptation to puff-puff-pass may return in the presence of so much sticky-icky. “When I smell it, or see it I’m like ‘Oh, I love this stuff’, but I can’t let myself fall into that,” he grins a glimmer of Matthew shining through the seriousness. “There’s a certain part of me that’s obviously the same person, and that’s important ‘cause you can’t lose yourself. But when I became religious I pulled myself out of the world completely and went to a whole different world, a different culture. So I’m very careful,” he says touching his Torah. “I don’t wanna slip at all.” Mazel Tof to that.