Listen to this
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
In January of 2004 at my cousin's orthodox Jewish wedding in Queens I first saw Matisyahu perform. He was a surprise to the wedding as he was a big underground star among the Orthodox community.From the second he got on stage I knew he was a star. In fact, I snapped this picture of him along with a short video, which I accidentally deleted on the airplane home.
Immediately this "Jewish Bob Marley" made an impression on me. I remember unsuccessfully e-mailing my cousin right after the wedding and asking for this guy's name. I wanted to learn more and buy a CD. Close your eyes and he's Bob Marley. Open them and he's a Hasidic Orthodox Jew complete with tophat and long beard.
Fast forward to summer 2005 and my mom sees him on CNN and gets his website info for me. Ever since then, I have seen him three times on national TV on MTV's 10 Spot, CBS' Late Late Show, and on VH1's Jewtastic.
He is on the verge of becoming mainstream. If he becomes big-time it will have been cool to see him in his early days. I'm almost guaranteeing he'll become huge in the next year. Right when you see and hear him you can just tell.
Watch this video of his single, King Without a Crown. It's hott with two T's.
posted by Michael Tavani @ 6:56 PM |
