The strength of Generation Y(id) and an update from Mattisyahu

Local Big young Yid, J.J. Flotkin had some interesting words culminating in, "Generational silence will only force the “more experienced" leaders of today to build our future for us." Isn't this why we write?

A recent article by J.J. Flotkin entitled, "A Call for Young Leadership" puts up a pretty good defense to those that would call our generation lazy, uninterested, or unengaged.

His call to action includes the sentence, "It is our job as young leaders to find passion in our community."

Should we tell him? I mean, organizational skills, we may not have. Grammar abilities, neither. But passion! Passion we have.

We might not know what to do with it, how how to use it efficiently, but we have it.

On another note, everyone's favorite Hassidic Reggae Superstar, Matisyahu, was interviewed over at Rolling Stone, and was pretty talkative. Except that he really didn't say a whole lot.

He did say that, "Music and Politics is two different things". Which, according to the article, is a big deal.

Gotta cut this one short, its almost time for Shabbat, and we are packed this time around, we even had to tell guests to bring their own chairs.
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Review of Matisyahu’s performance at the Pageant

The last time I saw Matisyahu in St. Louis, he attracted what must have been half of the religious community in St. Louis; the young, the old, and everyone in between had come to see this ‘hassidic reggae superstar’. I suppose at the time I wasn’t as surprised by the number of orthodox Jews there as I was the number of non-Jews in the audience. I figured, here is a guy with a gimmick that wouldn’t really appeal to anyone outside of the Jewish community. Time has proven me quite wrong.

When Matisyahu first emerged on the scene, his music was most easily classified as pop-reggae, with influences from Bob Marley, whom he shouts out in ‘Close My Eyes’ as well as jam band Phish, whose tours he followed in his pre-hassid days. His Jamaican-style raps, or ‘toasts’ have made their way into American pop music through the likes of Sean Paul, and add a melodic quality to otherwise rhythm-based rapping.
In a near-capacity show at the Pageant on a Wednesday night, Matisyahu brought his blend of Phish-style jam-rock, reggae, and beat-boxing to the masses. This time around, crowd reflected the diverse population of St. Louis. This is not to say that there weren’t large numbers of MOTs in attendance, but rather that Matis’ appeal has clearly transcended the ethno-cultural-religious line.
The Pageant’s dance floor was packed so tight, it was more constricting than a bar-mitzvah boy’s necktie, but that didn’t stop the mostly high-school-aged attendees from jumping around in enthusiastic appreciation of Matisyahu’s mix of Jewish themes, Hassidic melodies and niggunim with rock, reggae, and hip hop musical sensibilities.
The highpoint of every Matisyahu show occurs as the band’s energy swells and Matis belts out the Shema, hashem substitutions included. As the set wound down, Matisyahu began pulling people from the crowd onto the stage, until the stage overflowed with dancing bodies. He might not be Shomer Negiyah any more, but he can still draw a crowd and rock a show.
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Interview with Mattisyahu - as promised

On a humid night a few summers ago, I had the chance to interview Matisyahu, who may be past the peak of his interesting rise to pop consciousness, but his story (and the fact that he is playing a gig in STL at the end of June) make him relevant to this blog.

Matisyahu
by Tom Bombadil --originally from Hip Hop Congress
An Album Review, Show Review, and Interview

--My sound man, Marcus Black, and I were taken outback of the venue on a fire escape overlooking the Mississippi River. Fitting that the venue was Mississippi Nights. As we settled into our ten minute allotment, we jumped right in asking about his choice in reggae as opposed to rock or hip hop.

Matisyahu spoke about the universal qualities of all human beings, and how reggae spoke to that inside each of us. "There are twelve vessels when this world was created, and one of them is Victory, or overcoming. People have a need to overcome and feel success, feel victory, and reggae has always and will always speak to that inside each of us."

Matisyahu said that he was well-received by all types of fans, regardless of their religion. "People come for genuine music, and that is what we want to deliver."

I found him to be very humble, yet completely confident. His offstage personality might seem stand-offish, but when I asked him about his fears, I think his true self came through.

"I fear that I want to progress. That I want to move forward. In terms of my skill, my singing, all that. Relating with my band, and the audience and the main fear is more of a subconscious fear is that I won't be able to do that. I'm not so afraid of the lifestyle or that type of thing. No person should be so sure of themself until their dying day, but I don't have an outright fear of the drugs, and that type of stuff, because I feel like I have such a strong foundation in religion. I have a wife and a child on the way. When you get to a certain point and you're making the right decisions, and you have been making the right decisions for awhile, it is hard to imagine yourself slipping."

I had heard many people posit that Matisyahu had made this move to become more religious as a marketing technique. They said it was purely gimmick, a career move. I didn't believe it, but I had to ask, "What do you say to people who think this is a gimmick?"

He didn't wait even one second to respond: "It's obviously not a gimmick. It's my life. My life's not a gimmick." What came next was an invitation: "For people who say that, they probably have never seen the music, and I don't blame them. I would probably think it was a gimmick too. 'Here's some Hassidic guy doing reggae, it sounds like 2 Live Jew.' It doesn't make sense. But when it is a spoof, it is like ripping off both cultures. People that know my story and my music, and know my life, know that this is just the way it has gone."

Finally, after witnessing what seemed like an audience-gone-to-synagogue/church, I brought up Jimi Hendrix's concept of "The Electric Church." Hendrix wanted to take this spiritual, musical experience from place to place. Was Matisyahu's reggae a religious, spiritual, and prayer-like experience? "You're not supposed to say God's name in vain. You can only say God's name in a prayer. But tonight, when I said the Shema (the cornerstone of Jewish prayer) I said God's name fully. I made a decision that when I say that, it's not just a song, it is a prayer. It really is a prayer. Just the fact there is music in the background, doesn't mean it is not a prayer. It is a prayer when I say it."

While I had trouble enjoying "Live at Stubb's" I think that is more out of disappointment that anything else. Matisyahu demonstrated his unique ability to blend many cultures and music, while at the same time maintaining his own religious beliefs in an attempt to elevate all of his audience members. A recent appearance with Trey Anastasio at Bonnaroo cemented a relationship that now has Trey and Matisyahu currently touring together. The upside is tremendous, and I fully recommend checking him out.

For more information on Matisyahu, check out his website hassidicreggae.com.
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Pre Shabbat Fix

As a PSA that I can agree with, JFedSTL has arranged for 15 front row seats to Matisyahu, the hippy turned frum Yid whose reaggae style arrangements and Yeshivish toasting has made him a household name. To throw your name in the hat, click here

From Jewishinstlouis --

Matisyahu Raffle

On Wednesday, June 25th, world famous Heeb-hopper Matisyahu returns to St. Louis for another unforgettable concert. jewishinstlouis.org has ten tickets for the show. Doors open - 7pm. Concert begins - 8pm.--

I, with the help of Hershey, uncovered this recording of Matis playing at Wash U a few years ago before anyone knew who he was. I had the pleasure of attending this concert and dancing my @$$ off. Because this recording was done before he really had press coverage, its a good idea of what he actually sounds like. Props to AWien for recording thing.

G and I interviewed Matis a few years back, really at the height of his career in many ways. He played, at the now closed down Mississippi Nights, to a sold out crowd that consisted of half frum Yids and half regular kids.

I caught up with him after the show, and although clearly exhausted, and with a raspy voice, he explained to us why he is more than a gimmick, and why he chose to say the uncensored Sh'ma prayer as part of his set that night. "That's the first time I've ever done that," he said, barely louder than a whisper.

To summarize, he said, that they say you shouldn't profane God's name if you aren't really saying the prayer, or if it is sung as part of a song, but he doesn't see how it is any less of a prayer if he's singing it, and in fact, he thinks it makes it that much more powerful.


I'll keep searching the interwebs for this interview, as it might be of interest to some. Read More......