matisyahu

i'm kind of embarrassed that i drunkenly posted to this thread last night.

but thank you for that clarification jody--although i think that stuff all came out in your article, which i really liked.

I just listened to the whole album and yes it does suck. At times it actually made me wish i were listening to Sublime. haha xpost.

But I still think its really powerful (and not gimmicky) to see a Hasid who takes his faith and art seriously being MTV and popular radio.

we need to do a TS: Matisyahu's "Youth" VS. THIS RECORD.

The OTMest of the OTM.

"In January at the Sundance Film Festival, he said no when Eve wanted to jump up onstage -- Talmudic law restricts contact between the sexes and forbids women from singing in public. When Christian rockers P.O.D. invited him to sing on their new album, Testify, he had to vet the lyrics to make sure there was no mention of Jesus. Even at shows, he has to watch himself. "There's always one drunk girl who runs up to give me a hug," he says. "I have to pull away, and they just feel rejection.""

I thought he was an Ali G prank when I first saw him.

I didn't read the article, but a clarification on the above: Torah does not forbid women to sing in public, but men are forbidden to listen to women singing. Something about igniting the yetzer hora (evil inclination). Women can sing for all-female audiences all they want.

This is one reason I never went all the way with being a ba'al teshuvah awhile back. A majority of my record collection features female vocals or players. I knew I could never make that leap.

Most ba'al teshuvah I've met are wonderful, non-judgmental people. It tends to be the newest, most rapid converts who are the most intolerant and judgmental - they're quick to judge even if they don't have the basic halachah down yet.

Really? I hear jews talking shit about other groups of jews all the time! Maybe the Hasids are the one group jews are most united in thinking are batshit crazy, but that makes them no different from let's say certain Mormon or Quaker sects or whomever in just being a little too off for most "mainstream" members of their own religion.

What do you consider bashing? Treating with a great deal of skepticism and a fair amount of disbelief isn't the same as beating people senseless in bars.

My problem with labeling Matisyahu as a minstrel is not that Hasids should be above criticism, but rather than it seems like he is drawing criticism specifically because of his religion. If he were not Hasidic, I don't think he would be drawing the level of criticism about his "authenticity" that he seems to be drawing.

And I take particular exception to the specifically onerous bigots who cynically pick and choose their battles in the name of their faith (i.e. - "duet with Eve? She's a woman!" vs. "throw "King Without a Crown" video on "TRL"? Sure, why not! Preach!"

>>For Immediate Release
March 15, 2006

MATISYAHU DEBUTS AT #4 ON BILLBOARD 200
WITH NEW ALBUM ‘YOUTH'

With Sales Of 119,000, ‘Youth,' Finds Matisyahu The Only Artist With Two Albums Currently In The Billboard Top 40

‘Youth' Captures #1 Spots On Top Internet Albums Chart, Digital Albums Chart And Reggae Chart As ‘Live At Stubb's' Lands at #3 On Reggae Chart

my son (who is totally excited about being jewish) got the live album as a present, but hasn't listened to it yet. he prefers the four tops, the klezmatics, p.funk, and the hairspray soundtrack.

-- Haikunym (zinogu...), March 15th, 2006. (later)

Well, if you have a problem with Matisyahu because he is espousing Hasidic values which you disagree with, then I think that's a valid perspective. I don't agree with it, but at least it seems self-consistent. (Personally, I think he's entitled to his faith, and I don't think that refusing to dance with a woman on stage necessarily makes him a misogynist.) However, what I would object to is holding him up to a different standard than other performers just because he happens to be from a certain faith.

Wait you don't think he would taking flack about his authenticity if he wasn't Hasidic? I don't see any evidence of that at all

Well, I was specifically referring to arguments such as the one that Jody made in his piece and others have made on this thread that somehow Matisyahu is using his Hasidic identity to make inroads into Caribbean authenticity, or some such ploy. That's the part I'm skeptical of. I think people are smart enough to realize that a white man wearing Hasidic garb is not some authentic expression of Caribbean culture.

How is saying that it's not acceptable for a woman to sing in public anything by misognyist?

interestingly enough, some dudes in FOB used to be in RACE TRAITOR, an all-white, pro-black panther, marxist-leninist hardcore band.

The song I heard on the radio sounds like some established band ad-libbing a mediocre live cover of a crappy reggae song. The thing about a nice patois is it gives you technique to turn your words more creatively. This guy has all of the affect and none of the cadence.