“Who?” was my first thought when my editor gave me this CD to review, I had never heard of Mitisyahu (in fact it took me a while to figure out that Matisyahu was his name and “Youth” was the title of the album), and I did think that the CD cover looked like something you’d find on sale on a table at the front of a Jewish synagogue, and yes I was wary… But then I did some research on the man with the beard….

Matisyahu is actually called Matthew Miller and he is indeed Jewish. After discovering his spirituality, Miller changed his name to Matisyahu (the Ashkenazi Hebrew and Yiddish pronunciation of the Biblical name Matthew according to my sources.). Although he was brought up a Reconstructionist Jew, and for some time during those years he played by the alias "MC Truth" for MC Mystic's Soulfari band, he eventually turned to Orthodox Judaism, becoming a baal teshuva around 2001 and began playing with the Jewish band Pey Dalid.

Matisyahu studied Torah seriously in Hadar Hatorah, a yeshiva for returnees to Orthodox Judaism, and he wrote and recorded his first album while still a student there. He counts among his musical inspirations Bob Marley, Phish, and Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, while giving credit to Rabbi Simon Jacobson's book Toward A Meaningful Life for the lyrical inspiration to the title song of his new album, Youth.

So, onto the CD itself… Now I have to say, I am incredibly wary of musicians that are so blatantly religious and have no problem incorporating those beliefs as the strongest influence in their music. Practically all Christian rock or rap music (with perhaps one or two exceptions) I've listened to is either overtly Jesuscentric and ultimately winds up alienating any non-Christians, or is so afraid of being identified as being religious in the first place that they hide behind lyrics full of weak metaphors.

So rare is it that you find a religious musician who does not preach on you his/her religion and how you should convert to his/her way of thinking. Matisyahu's lyrics manage not to alienate non-Jews and he calls for individuals to be kind and giving to their fellow human beings. He doesn't address the Divine by a certain name, but as God, which is a word that all people can identify with, whether or not they're a believer, without feeling as if they're somehow left out. God is universal, from Muslims to Jews, from Christians to Pagans.

Then of course we have the real quality that is present in the music itself. Matisyahu is truly talented and he really manages to break out of the reggae label, and traverse all kinds & types of music. Some of the beats, hooks, and melodies are practically on the same level as those you'd hear from Kanye West for example. Matisyahu's voice adds to this with it's pleasant deep tones, whether rapping or actually singing, which he does very well.

VERDICT:

All said and done, Youth is a good, solid album that is both refreshing from the norm and inspiring on several different levels... This kind of thing may not be to everyone's liking, but it's there for you to listen to, and you should give it a shot, no matter what your religious persuasion or what type of music you usually listen to. You might just find that you enjoy it!

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