Unorthodox? Not this reggae star
PREVIEW | Matisyahu expands sound
NEW YORK -- The world's first Hasidic reggae superstar is getting a little unorthodox.
Matisyahu Miller, known to his fans by his first name and to his friends simply as Matis, emerges this month with his first full-length album in three years -- and a sound more like Jersey than Jamaica.
Where: House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn
Tickets: $30 (800-745-3000 and ticketmaster.com)
He's added electronica, funky pop, straight-up guitar rock and even a touch of folk to his play list. Singing lessons have given his voice new depth and melody.
"It's not really any longer about me being the Hasidic reggae guy," he says. "I'm informed by Hasidism and Judaism and reggae music, but it's not that black and white, and it's not that simple."
The early reaction? Not always cheers in Crown Heights, the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn where he lives in a modest apartment with his wife and two young sons.
"Just yesterday I was walking down the street and some kid was walking by me. He's like, 'Matis, stick to the reggae!' I was like, 'Ahhgh!' " he recalls.
Matisyahu, 30, pays hecklers no heed. An underground curiosity-turned-mainstream star, he's not about to remain in his unusual genre of one.
"I think the vast majority of people that respect what I do are willing to move with me. I think it's not so much about genres or styles of music as it is about expressing the emotion or the idea," he says. "Whatever allows you to do that, whatever style, as long as it's authentic."
Matisyahu was initially seen as a musical oddity when he emerged five years ago, an Orthodox Jew in a flat-brim black hat and bushy beard who loved hip-hop beats and sang dancehall reggae in a Jamaican accent. Seeing him for the first time, you could be forgiven for thinking it was all a Sacha Baron Cohen skit.
His 2004 debut, "Shake Off the Dust ... Arise," and the subsequent CDs "Live at Stubb's" and "Youth" -- all featuring versions of his biggest single, "King Without a Crown" -- became a crossover hit. Not bad for a former Deadhead who, before his conversion, had followed Phish on tour, dabbled in drugs and grew up non-religious in White Plains, N.Y.
To support his new CD, "Light," Matisyahu is on the road, which presents a challenge for a devout Orthodox Jew: kosher food backstage, no Friday night shows, no physical contact with women not his wife.
Stage-diving -- something he abandoned for religious reasons -- is back. He says he has struggled with that interpretation of the rules.
There's another reason.
"It's such a fun thing to do," he says with a smile.
AP