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Matisyahu will perform at the Record Archive before a big...
If there were a ranking system for least-likely rock stars, the reggae-rap singer Matisyahu would no doubt be somewhere right near the top. The Pennsylvania native, who broke through in 2006 with the relentlessly funky single “King Without a Crown,” is a devout Hasidic Jew, complete with long beard, flowing robes, and lyrics that relate back to his heritage, both religious and cultural. Yet his music is a 100-percent klezmer-free mix of rock, hip-hop and Jamaican riddims, and his rapid-fire rhyming skills put most more conventional rappers to shame.
Since he started gaining attention, Matisyahu has appeared onstage with Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio, been lauded by Rolling Stone, and played every major festival from Lollapalooza to Coachella to Bonnaroo. But hadn't yet recorded a follow-up—until now. “Light” continues down the same path as his previous album, “Youth,” but with a slightly more diverse sound and lyrics that focus on the personal almost as much as the existential.
We caught up with Matisyahu (who performs at the Main Street Armory on Dec. 8) on the road, and talked to him about revisiting his favorite band as a successful musician himself—and why he owns a motorcycle helmet.
You're on the record as being a die-hard Phish fan. Have you gotten to see them since they reunited earlier this year?
I made it to their first shows back in Hampton, Virginia—I got to two of the three. I thought they were pretty great—they were holding it together—but it was a different experience for me, in terms of where I am in my life. I really love their music, but you have to be patient when you're listening to a band like that, for them to get to a certain place, into a groove…[then] you get totally absorbed. It was cool—I was at the shows, and enjoying it—but I was waiting for that moment. I was wondering if that was more a product of where I was at in my life when I was listening to them [back in the day]: I was a kid, and it was a whole new experience for me. In my life since then, I realized that I was going to have to get there without being dependent on a band or on anything besides my own soul power.
And you've grown up as a musician in that interim, too…
I've been doing the music a little longer—I'm much more confident trying out things I wanted to try out. I sing more, and was more comfortable working with different musicians, with different styles.
Do you feel like the media view of you—as the Hasidic Jewish Rapper Reggae Guy—is fair, or do you wish there was more a concentration on other sides of your personality?
I think that in some ways, that's oversimplifying a bit. That informs one part of who I am, and it's definitely a major part. My whole take on it is original—it's very different than what you'd find from a Hasidic guy in a religious neighborhood in Israel, or something like that. To sum it up and say “this Hasidic rapper, this reggae singer”…that doesn't really get at who I am. It represents something, but I don't know what that means to most people. It's one dimensional.
Let's get out of that dimension, then, and let people get to know you a bit more: What's your favorite movie?
“The Goonies.” I'm a child of the '80s. I love Cyndi Lauper. I love the theme song. I like the whole brat pack. There's another '80s movie that I love, “Legend.” That's a great movie, with Tom Cruise. They make fantasy movies differently now—like “Lord of the Rings.” It's so advanced, in terms of the technology. I tried to show “Legend” to some kids recently, and they were like, “This sucks—they're using paper mâché for the fairydust!” And “Goonies”: Everyone was trying to make booby traps and stuff like that! Everyone wanted to be Data.
It does seem like there's crazy '80s nostalgia going on right now. On one hand, it makes me feel old; on the other hand, I'm totally buying into it…
Yeah, it's that way with music too, with the whole electro sound; the whole '80s thing has become big. It's retro now. Certain aspects of it I like; it's like the music you listened to as a kid becomes a part of you. I also know that at the same time it's a bit of a passing fad.
What else would surprise people about you?
I ride a Harley-Davidson. I'm really into bikes. I love to ride. I haven't gone to rallies—it's just something I like to do: Take the day on a Sunday, and ride in upstate New York into the mountains. Being on a bike is a really, really great feeling. You can get out of the city, just take off—you get to cruise through little towns. It's a really cool thing.
I think people also think of you as pretty serious. What's the last joke that made you crack up?
I have a friend who's a comedian—this is one of his. He says: “If you ever did drugs, even after you've stopped for years, you're always nervous when you see the cops, no matter what. You can be driving in a minivan with a toddler and infant in the back, when you see the lights. ‘Oh, shit, kids, we're getting pulled over…is that a Cheerio? Either eat it, or hide it!’”
