Channels

Photo: Or Barnea
Welcome
Photo: Or Barnea

Matisyahu: Next year in Jerusalem

Matisyahu has no problem singing with Sting about Roxanne the prostitute, and he is even willing to give up hockey for living in the Holy City

What do you think an internationally-acclaimed rapper does at the end of a show at a smokey rock club, just after entering the green room, dripping with sweat? Screws around with groupies? Downs some shots? Sniffs up some cocaine? The reality is much geekier as far as Hassidic rapper Matisyahu is concerned. 

 

At the end of his hit performance at the Barbie Club in Tel Aviv, the wildest thing he did was eat a glatt kosher salad out of a plastic box that was prepared in advance. 

 

According to Matisyahu, people want to turn him into a fantasy or a hero, but he's neither a superhero nor a rabbi. He is an ordinary, music-loving genuine person with a wife and kids. 

 

At the peak of his greatest international success he visited Israel again and was the warm-up artist for Sting at Ramat Gan Stadium, where he sang “Roxanne.” Even as someone who keeps the Jewish traditions, he had no problem performing a song written about a prostitute. 

 

According to Matisyahu, the classic song deals with much more than a prostitute: The idea behind the song is that every person can be a prostitute in a certain sense, and certainly the entire Jewish people can act like a prostitute and sell itself short. 

 

In his first album he mentioned the word “Mashiach” in Hebrew (Messiah), and on the second album, which came out on the Sony label, he preferred to use the word “redemption,” which appeals to a wide Christian audience. 

 

Jerusalem, here I come

 

In an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth Matisyahu mentioned that "It’s true that in the new album there isn’t a lot of Hebrew, unlike the first album. I actually wanted more Hebrew, but Sony was pressuring us to finish the album as fast as possible." 

 

When asked what’s the most surprising thing that people don’t know about him, Matisyahu answered that he enjoys hockey and even used to play. He insists that he will immigrate within a year or two, despite the fact that ice-hockey is almost non-existent in Israel. 

 

"If you hear of a nice house in Jerusalem, let me know," he told the reporter. "My move to Israel depends on a few things: If I make enough money to buy a good place to live in, if my family can come and visit me often and if it will work out as far as my career is concerned.”

 


פרסום ראשון: 07.04.06, 13:53
 new comment
Warning:
This will delete your current comment