Matthew Paul Miller (born June 30th, 1979 in West Chester, Pennsylvania), better known by his stage name Matisyahu (which means “Gift of God” in Yiddish), is an American rapper and reggae musician.
It’s no coincidence whatsoever that Miller actively chooses to go by a name that very clearly references his Jewish upbringing and faith; his early life, prior to his breakthrough as a musician, is defined initially by the strictness with which he was brought up to adhere to his religion, and then just how spectacularly he managed to break away from it in his teens, when he dropped out of high school, began taking drugs and spent as much time as he could following the band Phish around as they toured. Once he managed to put that behind him, though, he aligned himself with a Hasidic community in New York and began to make music, releasing his first record “Shake Off the Dust...Arise” on a label specifically designed to help promote Jewish musicians.
Since then, he’s become popular in circles much wider than the niche area of the music industry that he began in, and his third record, “Youth”, was enough to see him named Best Reggae Musician by Billboard in 2006. He’s carved out something of a cult fanbase, based in part purely on his irrepressibly charismatic personality, and further boosts to his career like the scooping of the Best Documentary Feature at the 2007 Slamdance Film Festival for the movie Unsettled, in which he’s featured heavily, as well as having his track “One Day” featured in NBC advertising for the Olympic Games, have ensured that his star remains on the rise; his newest record, “Akeda”, has seen him strip back his sound to rave reviews.
Erin McKeown
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