a spiritual encounter ignites combination of reggae, hip-hop

DAINA HAVENS ASST PERSPECTIVES EDITOR DMH724@CABRINI EDU

From the fresh beat-boxing, to the refreshing reggae rhythms of worship, Matisyahu Miller has captivated audiences across America with his Hasadic songs. Tune into MTV, visit his Myspace website or Google search his top-song, “King Without ACrown,” and you will catch glimpse of a 27-year-old Jewish, law-abiding, energetic man with a full-grown beard and top-hat, rocking out to the rhythms and crowd surfing in the name of faith.

A 14-year-old budding up in New York, Matthew Miller was just the average laid-back teenage dead-head, who played the bongos, and had the dreadlocks and the Birkenstocks to prove it. Today, Miller has released two thriving CDs, “Shake Off the Dust…Arise,” and “Live at Stubb’s,” and is already getting psyched for his second tour, which is scheduled to kick-off on Feb. 4 in Phoenix.

“Torah food for my brain let it rain ‘till I drown, Thunder! let the blessings come down!” says Miller, as he busts out an inspirational line from “King Without a Crown” on the CD, “Live at Stubb’s.”

“His music sounds like Bob Marley,” freshman liberal arts major Deborah Goinden said, as she enjoyed music from “Live at Stubb’s” for the first time.

Junior graphic design major Jeff Batt has heard of Miller’s music and said, “its not my style, but it’s interesting and sounds ethnic.”

Miller grew up attending Hebrew school but still felt spiritually unfulfilled. He journeyed to the vast and inspiring Rocky Mountains in Colorado, where he was able to realize the void in his life; God.

He then made a pilgrimage to Israel and became deeply rooted in Judaism, only to return home and drop out of high school to follow the band Phish. Little did Miller know that one day he would be the opening act for former Phish member Trey Anastasio, according to LiveDaily.

When he hit rock-bottom, Miller found refuge at a wilderness school in Oregon where his artistic abilities were encouraged, and he began to gain confidence in the same musical talents he toyed with as a child. Because of this new artistic outlet, Miller began to configure his original converged style of reggae and hip-hop, and made it unique with the extra addition of belief, faith and purpose.

Achance meeting with a Lubavitch rabbi in a park triggered the deep-rooted faith that had been bubbling-up within

Miller, waiting for a true understanding and a form of expression to transform into what has become a fresh genre of today’s music culture.

“If you never heard his music before, and you like reggae and rap, you may like his music,” Batt said.

Concert

Beats

Friday, Feb. 17

In Flames with Trivium, Devil Driver, and Zao at 8 p.m. at The Theatre of Living Arts

INXS at 8:00 p.m. at The Tower Theater

Saturday, Feb. 18

Henry Rollins (Spoken Word) at 8:30 p.m at The Electric Factory

Pepper’s Ghost and Jealousy Curve with Pawn Shop Roses at 9 p.m. at The Theatre of Living Arts

Sunday, Feb. 19

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