Livingston, NJ -- Matisyahu's "Youth"

I'm down staffing a BBYO convention in NJ, and got hit by the flu yesterday, so I feel crappy.

I picked up Matisyahu's two albums on Friday, "Live at Stubbs" and his new one, "Youth." I wasn't particularly impressed, but then again, reggae isn't my thing.

Matisyahu has gained some pop-culture popularity -- his first single last year, "King Without a Crown," was very successful, and it appears that "Youth" will sell a couple million copies. He's playing the Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza festivals this year, and he has in fact gotten the attention of some of the less-affiliated young Jewish crowd that the Jewish philanthropic world had hoped he'd get. However, I'm pretty sure it's just a fad... I played the albums while driving down to Jersey on Friday with four of my BBYOers in the car (who are certainly part of Matisyahu's target audience), and they had no interest in listening. "Matisyahu? We're sick of him. He's gotten kind of annoying."

But who told you so? From an AP article from last year:

Aaron Bisman, 25, is among those leading the trend. He founded the Brooklyn-based record label and event production company JDub Records for Jews who weren't necessarily involved with a synagogue. He wanted to create something for people around his own age whose outlook differed from that of the more traditional Jewish organizations.

Bisman represents several musicians including Matisyahu, a Hasidic reggae star who has gained fans and attention for his blend of music and religion.
Matisyahu's first record, released in the fall of 2004, sold 20,000 copies in five months. His second album sold that many within six weeks.

Sara Joki, 23, of Saratoga Springs said Matisyahu and performers like him "make me proud of my generation."

"Religion is not the most popular thing in youth culture these days," said Joki, who is Jewish. "But people like Matisyahu going on Jimmy Kimmel and singing about God, and seeing people go wild for it, it's just amazing."

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Jason Brzoska, 25, director of learning communities and marketing (edit: now COO) for the Web site and organization, myjewishlearning.com, is among those who question whether buying the T-shirts or listening to the music helps build a solid religious identity.

"I don't know if it's really bringing disillusioned, disengaged Jews together," Brzoska said. "The problem with pop culture is that it's ephemeral."

He said young Jews may not necessarily make the connection between spirituality and culture, "but its emergence may be an indication that the Jewish community is stronger than we think."

In three years, will Matisyahu be relevant to anybody but reggae fans? Maybe he won't even be relevant to them... I don't know how his brand of reggae compares to, say, Bob Marley.

My guess is no, and it remains absurd to me that Jewish leadership is trying to push this sort of thing.

posted by jbrzoska @ 10:28 AM Trackback Link