Matisyahu will be here in San Diego for one day. And that day is coming soon – Sunday, April 19 when he’ll be headlining the Shir Energy Music Festival at Temple Solel in Cardiff by the Sea. The acclaimed reggae star continues to peel back layers of identity, reflecting his evolution Jewishly, musically and personally. At 35, he’s attained wisdom as a father of four and managed to remain a sought-after recording artist.
Matisyahu has a hard-to-define, genre-jumping style all his own. He freestyles, beat-boxes and sings in English, Yiddish and Hebrew. His music melds dub and dance hall with traces of electronic, Middle Eastern and liturgical. At live performances, he reaches out and physically connects with audiences – dancing, crowd surfing and pulling fans up on stage. Somehow it all works. By mixing it up while keeping his music and message authentic, Matisyahu has earned two gold records, was named Billboard’s top reggae artist in 2006 and has about 1.75 million Twitter followers.
And then there’s the matter of his appearance. When Matisyahu’s first major album “Shake Off the Dust” was released in 2004, and with it the infectious single “King Without a Crown,” he was a practicing Hasidic Jew who joined the Lubavitch movement at age 19. He performed wearing a black hat and coat, fully bearded with tzizit and pais swaying to the beat. By 2009, when his second major album “Light” was released featuring his mega-hit “One Day,” he sported a more modern Hasidic look – the beard a little less bushy, the pais a little shorter and his facial features more discernible.
In December 2011, shortly after he and his family moved from Crown Heights, Brooklyn, to Los Angeles, he tweeted a picture of himself clean-shaven with a message that he would henceforth identify himself on his own terms. His 2012 music video “Sunshine” features him cavorting in the Israeli desert with short, lightened hair and a kipot. Which brings us to his current album “Akeda” released in 2014. In the video for the album’s hit song “Hard Way,” Matisyahu appears bare-chested with close-cropped gray hair. Again, his evolution works. He’s being true to himself and invites us along on his ride to spiritual self-discovery.
The chorus to “Hard Way” – “Who am I to say, I know nothing it seems, until it’s way too late. I’m learning this the hard way” – speaks to the universal quest to establish our unique identities. In February, he published a personal essay titled “Akeda, the Binding and Unbinding...the Long Walk Back” on Medium. The essay details his tough road to adulthood including an adolescent drug habit, a religious/spiritual identity crisis and a marriage ending in divorce. Clearly, he has learned things the hard way.
For the essay’s epigram, Matisyahu includes the final line from the song “Hard Way,” – “Who’s gonna make you happy when you’re your own worst enemy?” – an existential question sure to resonate with those who’ve battled personal demons. To start out the essay, he launches into his personal history with a hair-raising line for parents: “When I was 14 I started smoking pot and having sex.”
As an alienated, lonely teen, Matisyahu found solace in Bob Marley and his music. Marley’s words about Exodus and Zion inspired him to join a teen trip to Israel. Thus began a spiritual quest progressing from dropping acid at Phish concerts, to practicing Lubavitch Chasidic Judaism in Crown Heights, to self-discovery through music.
To prepare for his performance in San Diego, I interviewed Matisyahu about his journey. My questions and his condensed responses follow.
SDJJ: What struck me about your powerful essay is the painful, universal truth that we do have to learn things the hard way. Do you ever think about that in terms of your own kids? What are your hopes/dreams for them in light of your evolution as a musician/human being? Do you wish you could spare them some of the pain you experienced?
Matisyahu: Well, I have mixed feelings on this. I hope they can learn things in a more patient, balanced way – in a more mature way. On the other hand, there is definitely something exciting and sexy about extremes and pain and intensity – a certain soulfulness and character born out of struggle and pain. But I don’t wish that on anyone – certainly not my kids. My number one instinct as a parent is to spare my kids from pain and suffering. However, I know that I can’t control that. There is a letting go that needs to happen as a parent – a surrender.
I try and put my energy into being a loving and accepting father – a support for my children. To give them the space to go on their journey and offer love, support and wisdom where I can. I think parents’ number one mistake is thinking or spending too much time hoping their kid will be this or that.
SDJJ: What about music as a redemptive force in your own life?
Matisyahu: Music is the highest. It’s an amazing tool. In Kabbalah, its source exists in heaven next to the chamber of t’shuva (the return to G-d). The Jewish G-d is the G-d of freedom. Our coming together as a nation is entirely based on us being slaves who are led to freedom. So yes, I believe music and redemption can go hand in hand. At least in my life they have.
SDJJ: What do you have to say to those who are upset because they perceive you as having rejected your Judaism?
Matisyahu: I don’t have time or energy for it. These are very shallow people who in life just look at the surface and those are the type of people who were judging and creating heartache for me and people like me my whole life. They feel they know something and have the right to judge. Anyone who has listened to my latest music or knows me knows that is not the case. Judaism is more alive inside of me then ever.
SDJJ: Any words of wisdom for aspiring young Jewish musicians?
Matisyahu: Listen to Matisyahu. It’ll teach you something and if not it will at least make you feel better.
Matisyahu headlines the Shir Energy Music Festival on April 19, with more than eight other Jewish performers on the bill. Tickets are on sale now – $36 for adults, $15 for children aged 13-18, kids 12 and younger are free. Visit shirenergymusicfest.net.
