Fire descends from on high in the shape of a lion
March 31, 2009 8:37 AM Subscribe

He's a Hasidic Jew, but that doesn't stop him from dropping mad raps over hot reggae beats. Did I mention he can beatbox like a mofo, too? He was born Matt Miller, but you can call him Ma tis ya hu.

Free live sets courtesy of the Internet Archive.

One pair of eyes
But see two different things
One person cries but the other one sings
You walk around like everybody owes ya something
Take what you got, thank God for all that life brings
The poor man has it all but not content with anything
While the rich man's hands are empty but he's sitting like a king
-Fire of Heaven/Altar of Earth

posted by baphomet (71 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite

Also see: Previously on MeFi. :)
posted by zarq at 8:44 AM on March 31, 2009 [1 favorite]

hahah
posted by ChickenringNYC at 8:47 AM on March 31, 2009 [2 favorites]

Wow - this is the first time he's been discussed on the blue? I heard him at Coachella Music and Arts Festival in 2006 (he was on the main stage, so you couldn't avoid hearing him), and I thought he was well-known by then.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:47 AM on March 31, 2009 [2 favorites]

Old news. He made #28 on the pop charts...
posted by LSK at 8:48 AM on March 31, 2009

non-preview: thanks zarq. Not to belittle the multitude of handy links from baphomet.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:48 AM on March 31, 2009

Hasidim, but I don't believe 'im!

sorry
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:52 AM on March 31, 2009 [5 favorites]

What a schtick.
posted by pianomover at 8:57 AM on March 31, 2009 [3 favorites]

Roots Tonic Meets Bill Laswell was okay.
posted by box at 8:59 AM on March 31, 2009

I liked him a lot for a while, then he never seemed to come back with anything. I loved his beatboxing for Saul Williams on Black Stacey, though he kind of jacked up the beat and Saul had to stutter step the lyrics. I got a heartbeat produced by Jah, and it sounds hard.

I hadn't seen any talk of Light at the blogs I read. I wonder if his new stuff is worth anything. It's Hip Hop, you're supposed to come back with some new mindblowing stuff and raise your game. Like Royce just turned into a beast, and DOOM is still on another level.
posted by cashman at 9:01 AM on March 31, 2009

I and I Name is Asher Lev?
posted by barrett caulk at 9:03 AM on March 31, 2009 [7 favorites]

DecemberBoy I understand where you're coming from, but yu're wrong. His parents are Jewish and in this video he talks about his parents faith, his interest in music, his conversion and there's even a picture of his bar mitzvah. He's a fairly non-religious Jew who got into Phish and then, unrelated, found Hasidic Judaism.

Fear not, ye Trustafarian Phish-fan whiteboys... Matisyahu is on Hasid you can believe in!
posted by xpermanentx at 9:09 AM on March 31, 2009 [3 favorites]

Even though I'm not much of a toker anymore, I was pretty disappointed that he didn't smoke the ganjah. I mean, come on. Suffer for your art a little.

Besides, is weed even proscribed within the Jewish faith?
posted by Sloop John B at 9:17 AM on March 31, 2009

Triple.
posted by Ironmouth at 9:24 AM on March 31, 2009 [1 favorite]

Old news. No staying power. The flow isn't that great, and the beats aren't that mad. He's gotten this far purely on the shtick.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

More power to him and all, but he's pretty far away from any kind of actual contribution to the genre. I'll leave this here with a heartfelt "meh".
posted by Aquaman at 9:24 AM on March 31, 2009 [2 favorites]

Sloop John B: "is weed even proscribed within the Jewish faith?"

it is a chronic leprosy on the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean; he shall not isolate him, for he is unclean. - Lev. 13:11
posted by Joe Beese at 9:26 AM on March 31, 2009

I was pretty disappointed that he didn't smoke the ganjah.

He's a fiend for the Manischewitz Concord Grape though.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 9:30 AM on March 31, 2009 [3 favorites]

Please, give me your analysis of Cat Steven's conversion to Islam.

He was converted by a big Muslim. (Big Muslim, big Muslim.)
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 9:35 AM on March 31, 2009 [7 favorites]

"is weed even proscribed within the Jewish faith?"

it is a chronic leprosy on the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean; he shall not isolate him, for he is unclean. - Lev. 13:11

So not related. Jews do, however, follow the laws of the land and consider it important to respect their bodies. So while I've met Orthodox Jews who smoke pot, I think most Hasidic Jews probably don't.

Furthermore, I see your Matisyahu and raise you Matthue Roth. He's a YA novelist who also performs spoken word poetry and generally kicks ass.

I'm a little biased there, though, I must admit.

Oh, but also: No one will ever kick as much ass as Chaim Potok when it comes to being Jewish-in-the-public-eye. I would have loved to have met that man.
posted by brina at 9:36 AM on March 31, 2009

He was converted by a big Muslim. (Big Muslim, big Muslim.)

Sung to the tune of "Moonshadow", for anyone out there who didn't get it.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:37 AM on March 31, 2009 [1 favorite]

Correction on that first link.
posted by brina at 9:38 AM on March 31, 2009

He's not an actual ethnic Jew.

Wow, you mean that Jewish lady who thinks he's his mother wasn't his real mother? That's kind of embarrassing, especially to the Jewish gentleman who is his father. You know, the parents who had him circumcised and sent to Hebrew school and gave him a bar mitzvah and all.

He was a Trustafarian Phish-fan whiteboy type

No, he is the son of upper-middle-class Reform Jews from White Plains who went on one of those Hasidic "free trip to Israel!" things and converted to Orthodoxy. Just like a bunch of people I went to college with.

You're right about the Phish bit, though.
posted by Sidhedevil at 9:39 AM on March 31, 2009 [3 favorites]

Well what can I say other than: See? Hip hop is the universal language.

Now all the haters and the hip hop police can take note - quit giving my Dirty South rappers such a bad time. This shit is world wide!
posted by Tena at 9:39 AM on March 31, 2009

Some call it Manischee,
Some call it the grape,
My jigga's drink the forty
It's a kosher form of escape

Criminalize it -- don't criticize it,
And I will advertise it,
Criminalize it -- don't criticize it,
And I will advertise it

Rebbe drink it,
And my ancient old Bubbe does too,
Criminalize it,
That's the very best thing you can do,

Doctors drink it
Especially passover time,
Judges and lawyers drink it,
It's the cheapest of all Kosher wine

Big ups to Peter Tosh --
Im love sup up a big chalice of de Manischewitz wine
posted by PeterMcDermott at 9:42 AM on March 31, 2009 [4 favorites]

I love the use of "mofo" in this post. It is ironic in at least two different contexts.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:43 AM on March 31, 2009

When I was a lad, we called it Hasiiid!
posted by biffa at 9:45 AM on March 31, 2009 [2 favorites]

Joe Beese: why are you referencing a passage concerning leprosy?

anyways, here's a few references on Judaism & marijuana

posted by jammy at 9:47 AM on March 31, 2009 [1 favorite]

Overrated novelty act. If you want to get your mind blown, though, there's this black guy who works at B&H now who is THE BOMB. He knows mad shit about cameras.
posted by snofoam at 9:50 AM on March 31, 2009 [4 favorites]

Didn't you people catch the "chronic" reference? Hmmm...makes me wonder what Leviticus 4:20 was all about....
posted by malocchio at 9:50 AM on March 31, 2009 [1 favorite]

Are there any Mormon rappers? Becuase I smell H-I-T!
posted by tkchrist at 9:50 AM on March 31, 2009

Dancing the Dutty Manischewitz Wine
posted by PeterMcDermott at 9:51 AM on March 31, 2009

How many schticks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsiepop?

3. It takes three schticks to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsiepop.

Sissies.
posted by humannaire at 9:52 AM on March 31, 2009 [1 favorite]

Yeah. Not to be all "been there"/"done that" cause that's not what this is... I mean the dude was one of the beard references in "Knocked Up." "King without a crown" was #27 and a top 40 hit for weeks for a whole bunch of weeks in 2006/07 and in 2005 he was popular enough to have appeared on Jimmy Kimmel. I've been listening to his stuff for a good four years and I'm definitely not in the minority.

Don't get me wrong I like matisyahu and posts about matisyahu interest me. It's just I kind of think the subject is beyond the "Meet Matisyahu!"era.

Do find the thread going into interesting chasidic stuff, so that's cool.
posted by Lacking Subtlety at 9:56 AM on March 31, 2009

OK, I was misinformed about him not being ethnically Jewish. I still think the "Hasidic dancehall DJ" act is a gimmick, though. Or a schtick, if you will.
posted by DecemberBoy at 10:05 AM on March 31, 2009

malocchio: "Didn't you people catch the "chronic" reference? Hmmm...makes me wonder what Leviticus 4:20 was all about...."

Lev. 4:26 does say "he shall offer up in smoke on the altar".

SMOKE! GET IT? LIKE MARIJUANA SMOKE!
posted by Joe Beese at 10:08 AM on March 31, 2009

His appeal is Subliminal...as in zombie voodoo,
Stealing dancehall cadences don't make your flow less doodoo.
Bet he's over, played out... in a year or two/ you
can catch him off miami slamming grannys on a jew cruise.
Truth, dude--faith dont make you into Bishop Tutu.
Less chocolate milk, too watered down, the Man Is Yoohoo.

Shalom to your bubbe.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:13 AM on March 31, 2009 [8 favorites]

With that intro, I was kind of expecting a "he fights crime!" at the end.
posted by tommasz at 10:16 AM on March 31, 2009 [1 favorite]

This guy has been around for about 5 years now and suddenly he's news?
posted by jon_hansen at 10:16 AM on March 31, 2009

oh and to elaborate on my initial hahaha comment, this guy fuckin sucks. hahahah again
posted by ChickenringNYC at 10:24 AM on March 31, 2009

Yeah, I saw the previous posts, but the most recent one was 4 years ago and the links therein are all broken now, so I thought it was worth revisiting.

With regards to his talent: Subjective. I admit I don't listen to a ton of hip hop, but I think he's got some pretty hot skills. Maybe I'm just a sucker for reggae.

Regarding his authenticity: I don't think it's really gimmicky at all. From the Wiki link: Matisyahu has stated that "All of my songs are influenced and inspired by the teachings that inspire me. I want my music to have meaning, to be able to touch people and make them think. Chasidism teaches that music is 'the quill of the soul.' Music taps into a very deep place and speaks to us in a way that regular words can't."

It seems to me that his initial devotion to music/counterculture was later synthesized with his conversion to create something really meaningful to him. It seems like a novelty simply because it's so novel, but when you look at the guy's life it makes perfect sense. All of his music is deeply religious, but not preachy-- though his tradition/faith is highly esoteric, the themes that recur in his lyrics (love, compassion, humility, peace) are universal, which is why I find his music highly appealing.
posted by baphomet at 10:24 AM on March 31, 2009 [2 favorites]

Oh, and I know Matisyahu has been around for a while, but apparently didn't get the memo that music posts on MetaFilter had to be completely obscure to make good posts.
posted by baphomet at 10:35 AM on March 31 [+] [!]

No, no. Don't get me wrong. I meant no ill will. I like matisyahu and like talking about his music/influence. It's just the tone of the post was the whole "meet matisyahu" thing I mentioned and I the truth is I can't think of a single person I know who hasn't heard of him. Heck my mom's heard of him. So I found the introductory nature of the post, you know, weird.
posted by Lacking Subtlety at 10:41 AM on March 31, 2009

Nice!

Two boys from my neighborhood represented in one MeFi thread, Matisyahu and Matthue.
posted by mhz at 10:41 AM on March 31, 2009

Thank goodness chickenring was here with those insightful comments.

I think he's fun, and I appreciate your posting the live shows.
posted by Mister_A at 10:42 AM on March 31, 2009

I think Matisyahu is fun; chickenring - not so much.
posted by Mister_A at 10:42 AM on March 31, 2009

I think the Jewish/Rasta overlap is so fascinating. It's basically a cultural trope doubling back on itself: Rastafarian culture appropriates Judaic imagery (Zion, Babylon, etc.) filtered through the King James Bible, and applies it to Jamaica/Ethiopia. Religious Jews then appropriate Rasta imagery (Zion, Babylon etc.) and apply it back onto Israel/Judaism.

In then end, you get Matisyahu.
posted by awenner at 10:19 AM on March 31 [3 favorites -] Favorite added! [!]

Totally and completely seconded. This is really fantastic stuff. The first time everyone heard matisyahu and didn't see him, they assumed he was a rastaman. I couldn't believe that he was white, but I could TOTALLY believe he was orthodox chasidic. I live in an orthodox neighborhood and have been to various services and it was amazing how dead on the connection between the vocalization was. I hope people want to post more stuff on this. I love reading about the rasta/chasidic connections.
posted by Lacking Subtlety at 10:45 AM on March 31, 2009 [2 favorites]

It's just the tone of the post was the whole "meet matisyahu" thing I mentioned and I the truth is I can't think of a single person I know who hasn't heard of him. Heck my mom's heard of him. So I found the introductory nature of the post, you know, weird.

I take your point. I just figured it was as good an approach as any. I was sort of aping the style of Pastabagel's Buckethead post, which was made at a time when Buckethead was not even remotely obscure, though I had never heard of him, so the post actually made a good intro for me. I was hoping to introduce others to Matis (having recently been introduced myself), but apparently he's more well known than I'd realized. Thanks for the clarification, though.
posted by baphomet at 10:51 AM on March 31, 2009

He has a guest spot on the excellent Easy Star's Lonely Hearts Dub Band.
posted by mullingitover at 10:54 AM on March 31, 2009

Has anybody heard the new stuff?
posted by cashman at 10:55 AM on March 31, 2009

Baruch atah adonai, elohaynu melech ha'olam, boray pri ha'weed, amen!
posted by not_on_display at 11:20 AM on March 31, 2009 [1 favorite]

Has anybody heard the new stuff?
posted by cashman at 10:55 AM on March 31 [+] [!]

Seconded.

I take your ... , though.
posted by baphomet at 10:51 AM on March 31 [+] [!]

Yeah, once again, sorry I didn't mean to snippy or anything. I feel like Music is hard to talk and write/talk about, because it's just so damn huge that's it's pretty much impossible to deal with on a universal level. My dad still listens to chubby checker (awesome) but stop listening to new music at disco (also kind of awesome). Or it's like you're 26 and your friend gives you a mix and you suddenly realize you've never listened to Wynonie Harris before and you're epically worse for it.

As much as the mag goes down hill, I always try to use Rolling Stone as the gauge for how to talk in general about something. If Rolling Stone would be introductory in talking about an artist, I'd probably try to be introductory. If they've already reported, the subject would be available for some kind of shorthand or colloquialism in talking about them or what they're doing that's new.

Sorry for getting into music semantics but it's a weird, interesting thing to me.
posted by Lacking Subtlety at 11:26 AM on March 31, 2009

Oh its cool dude, I wasn't referring to you specifically, you were the most cool/least snippy of the people going OMG I'VE HEARD THIS BEFORE WHY IS THIS ON MEFI, which I appreciate.

That's a good point though, the Rolling Stone article I linked has some cursory introduction but is mostly familiar. I'll keep that in mind for future posts, that's a good guideline to use, thanks for the tip! BTW, can you recommend any artists similar to Matisyahu? Michael Franti & Spearhead and Wookiefoot are the only two I can think of.
posted by baphomet at 11:38 AM on March 31, 2009

(sorry, I realized I was putting words in your mouth there, that wasn't my intention but I think you know what I mean)
posted by baphomet at 11:39 AM on March 31, 2009

As mentioned earlier in the thread the overlap between Rastafarianism and Judaism is fairly interesting. Rastafarianism as a form of Christianity hearkens back to a very Judaic form of Christianity. The symbolism, the mythology, all of it is steeped in Judaic cosmology. Haile Selassie is supposedly descended from the House of David. He is considered the Lion of Judah. The Star of David is a very prominent symbol. Rastafarians tend to follow a dietary stricture (ital) that likely has some roots in kosher laws. I always found Matisyahu's use of Jewish themes in his music very similar to roots artists' use of Rasta themes in their music.
posted by anansi at 11:45 AM on March 31, 2009 [1 favorite]

I think the Jewish/Rasta overlap is so fascinating. It's basically a cultural trope doubling back on itself: Rastafarian culture appropriates Judaic imagery (Zion, Babylon, etc.) filtered through the King James Bible, and applies it to Jamaica/Ethiopia. Religious Jews then appropriate Rasta imagery (Zion, Babylon etc.) and apply it back onto Israel/Judaism.

I actually tried to point this out to some students last week, coincidentally. I played them Matisyahu's "Jerusalem," which explicitly refers to Psalm 137 ("Jerusalem, if I forget you, let my right hand forget what it's supposed to do"), and then I played them the Melodians' classic reggae song "By the Rivers of Babylon," which sets the first part of the psalm to music. I think that he's referring not just to the source material, but also to the Rastafarian appropriation of the source material. It's not just that he wants young Jews to adhere to the vision of the psalm and look towards Jerusalem. It's also that he sees Rastafarianism as a model for diasporic spiritual engagement with the "promised land." My students totally didn't buy it, but I think that's where he's coming from.

To me, this is bullshit, and his music is crap. But it's interesting bullshit.
posted by craichead at 11:50 AM on March 31, 2009 [2 favorites]

Yeah, I saw the previous posts, but the most recent one was 4 years ago and the links therein are all broken now, so I thought it was worth revisiting.

To clarify, my links to them weren't meant to be critical of this post, which is excellent. (My apologies baphomet, if you felt I was implying otherwise.) I thought those other comment threads might be helpful to folks who wanted to know more about the artist and his background.
posted by zarq at 12:04 PM on March 31, 2009

Has anyone mentioned Awake Zion?

Awake Zion is a documentary that explores the connections between reggae culture and Judaism. Through the themes of music, roots and culture, it aims to expose the senselessness of hate or intolerance by highlighting kinship as opposed to difference.

Matisyahu (Matthew Miller) is in this film.
posted by JamesMCS at 12:38 PM on March 31, 2009 [2 favorites]

If you want to get your mind blown, though, there's this black guy who works at B&H now who is THE BOMB. He knows mad shit about cameras.

I'm a big fan of Matisyahu, but I still couldn't favorite this comment hard enough. Let the music stand or fall on its own merits, the "OMG a Jewish reggae artist!" hype is exactly that - hype. The same thing happened with Gentleman and every other dancehall artist who is anything other than Jamaican born and raised.
posted by Bango Skank at 1:01 PM on March 31, 2009

Do you know whether Matisyahu is a willing participant in this kind of hype, Bango?
posted by box at 1:07 PM on March 31, 2009

My students totally didn't buy it

I completely agree with your last paragraph, craichead, but I'm damned if I can work out exactly what kind of subject you're teaching that lets you engage students in some kind of cultural and religious exegisis of the work of the orthodox jewish dancehall artist?

Also, I'd never heard of him prior to this post, and while I also think he sucks, I agree that it's very interesting crap so thanks for posting it baphomet.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 1:12 PM on March 31, 2009

I completely agree with your last paragraph, craichead, but I'm damned if I can work out exactly what kind of subject you're teaching that lets you engage students in some kind of cultural and religious exegisis of the work of the orthodox jewish dancehall artist?

I'm teaching a class for high school students that's basically "if we do fun stuff and there's no homework, will you pretty-please with sugar on top not totally drop out of the Jewish community now that you've had your Bar and Bat Mitzvahs and don't need to go to Hebrew school anymore?". It's fun, but I think the whole enterprise would work better if my students weren't convinced I was a total dork.
posted by craichead at 1:27 PM on March 31, 2009 [1 favorite]

First I've ever heard of him and I'm devouring it now and sharing it with friends. Thanks for posting, you've joined the club of people in my life that somewhere, some time introduced me to a new music I love.
posted by vito90 at 1:39 PM on March 31, 2009 [1 favorite]

then I played them the Melodians' classic reggae song "By the Rivers of Babylon,"

Now that's a fantastic song.
posted by Bookhouse at 2:22 PM on March 31, 2009

He's not an actual ethnic Jew. He was a Trustafarian Phish-fan whiteboy type who converted. He affects Orthodox Judaism the way most of his ilk affect Rastafarianism. Well, maybe that's a bit harsh, he does seem to be at least a little more sincere about Judaism than whiteboy Rastas are about Rastafarianism, but it's the same kind of thing.
posted by DecemberBoy at 8:56 AM on March 31 [2 favorites +] [!]

I went to Hebrew School with Matt back in the day at Bet Am Shalom. You're right about the Phish fandom, but wrong about the other thing. I'm not friends with him, nor was I back then, but people I know who know him now have said he's entirely sincere in his faith. FWIW.
posted by ben242 at 2:55 PM on March 31, 2009 [2 favorites]

He's not an actual ethnic Jew. He was a Trustafarian Phish-fan whiteboy type who converted. He affects Orthodox Judaism the way most of his ilk affect Rastafarianism. Well, maybe that's a bit harsh, he does seem to be at least a little more sincere about Judaism than whiteboy Rastas are about Rastafarianism, but it's the same kind of thing.

Horseshit. Matis is a friend. The one thing that I wouldn't ever consider doubting about him is his religiosity---wherever he came from, and this has been dealt with rather definitively above--is the sincerity of his commitment to Judaism. He is a fiercely religious person. And hasn't touched drugs in many many years.

Also, if you're interested, please watch Awake Zion, referenced by JamesMCS above.

Also, and for what it's worth, adherents of Rastafari, Rastas, really don't like being called "Rastafarians".
posted by kosem at 3:14 PM on March 31, 2009 [2 favorites]

And all the goyim say he's pretty fly (for a rabbi)
posted by kyrademon at 4:22 PM on March 31, 2009

And all the goyim say he's pretty fly (for a rabbi)

that made me laugh out loud

thanks for posting this baphomet!

i like Matisyahu quite a bit (especially Close My Eyes - beautiful song) - and yeah, he;s not the newest thing in the world but so what? ignore all the haterade - this thread has produced some great material that i never encountered before (like the NYRB piece and Awake Zion which i'm going to go watch now)
posted by jammy at 5:47 AM on April 1, 2009

Do you know whether Matisyahu is a willing participant in this kind of hype, Bango?

I don't know conclusively one way or the other, and the answer doesn't change my response. Obviously Matisyahu's religion is his most defining characteristic to most people, and certainly to himself whether he actively trades on this novelty is irrelevant to whether he makes music I want to listen to.
posted by Bango Skank at 5:55 AM on April 1, 2009

I took that class, Craichead. We studied all kinds of weird stuff. (Gotta love the Lesbian-Feminist Jews of the Bay Area for continuing quasi-religious education.) Studying Matisyahu would not have been out of character for us at the time. Personally, I think he's alright... not really my thing, but he is one of the few outwardly religious Jewish people in the public eye.

Just to comment, though, briefly on the whole Jews 'n' weed thing -- I've known tons of Orthodox Jews who smoke dope, although, presumably, not on the Sabbath. Dunno exactly what the deal is there, but I'll be darned if I can remember any religious instruction from my youth railing against the danger of drugs and/or their value in the eyes of G-d. In a general sense, I guess the idea is that you should take care of yourself, but there are certain days where The Lord instructs his people to get all fucked up. (I'm looking at you, Purim.)
posted by ph00dz at 7:45 AM on April 1, 2009

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Fire descends from on high in the shape of a lion March 31, 2009 8:37 AM Subscribe

Fire descends from on high in the shape of a lion
March 31, 2009 8:37 AM Subscribe