Matisyahu

I know a lot of people have been talking about him lately and as a fan I will too. The first time I heard "King without a Crown" I was blown away. First of all I didn't know how to pronounce his name, second I thought he was from the Caribbean, he's from Brooklyn. When you first see him you kinda shrug because you don't know what to make of it (he has a full beard and wears clothes that are typically worn by Hasidic Jews.) At least that was my reaction. I wasn't sure I had the right person til I read on a bit. I think he's absolutely fantastic. From what I've been reading about him, a lot of people at first think he's a little gimmicky. I mean when you think about it it makes sense but he's the real thing. He blends reggae music with rock and hip-hop influences and lyrics that have a spiritual message. His faith does influence his work but it doesn't force it on the listener. It's just really really good. I would recommend it to anyone who likes Bob Marley and the Wailers. I've even got my stepdad to listen to him and he likes it. He was in town a couple weeks ago and the show was sold out. I really wanted to go. "Live at Stubb's", the first album I heard was amazing...I just wish I could have heard him live. You can hear the people in the audience cheering him on having a good time and it's just great. I like that someone has come along and has transcended musical boundaries and made it cool to sing music about faith. A lot of people don't like to hear stuff like that in their music but I think that maybe this guy could change it. I hope he's around for years to come. His new album "Youth" was released a little while ago and I've heard a couple songs off of it. It's just as good as "Live at Stubb's" and definitely worth the listen to. You can go to his myspace page here and listen to "King without a Crown" as well as "Youth" and watch the videos for both. I'm hoping that he comes back around because I definitely want to catch his show. If anyone has the chance to check him out live the should.