Cleveland sticks out for rapper Matisyahu

By John Benson

His long-awaited new CD, 'Light,' will be released in March.

Hasidic reggae performer Matisyahu remembers Cleveland well.

It was a few years ago when the Brooklyn-born rapper-alternative singer came to town on a Friday – the Jewish Shabbat – and soon discovered the gray area that exists between celebrity and religion.

“I spent Shabbat there with a couple of families that I sort of know and I remember one time in particular where I was staying with these people who wanted me to stay up and hang out and talk,” said Matisyahu (born Matthew Paul Miller) calling from Louisville, Ky.

“I kept telling them I was getting sick, and I said, ‘I can’t do it.’ But I did and the next night I had a show and my voice was really messy. And the day after that I had to cancel my only show ever in Columbus.”

Thankfully, Matisyahu, who gained mainstream attention and critical acclaim with his 2005 concert release “Live at Stubb’s,” doesn’t hold a grudge. In fact, he said a show during a summer 2007 311-Matisyahu tour at Time Warner Cable Amphitheater at Tower City stands out for being a memorable gig along the banks of the Cuyahoga River.

Even though the touring combination with rock ’n’ rap act 311 may have seemed odd at the time, the 29-year-old said it served its purpose of exposing his music to larger audiences.

The next step for Matisyahu is releasing his long-awaited new CD “Light,” which is due out in March and is the follow-up to 2006’s “Youth.”

“It definitely goes further into the hip-hop thing and the rock thing than reggae,” Matisyahu said.

“There are many moments on the album where I try out different things. I’ve done a lot more singing and rapping and a lot more moments where I have more dynamics vocally, where I drop the reggae accent. So that will be either a shocker or different for people, but I feel I’m a relatively new artist, and I’m still finding my own true voice.”

Among the new songs Matisyahu is playing in his set are the hip-hop sounding “Thunder,” the rock jam “Nature” and the reggae influenced “Struggla.”

Fans attending the eclectic artist’s show Sunday at the House of Blues can expect to hear extended and reworked versions of the new album tunes.

In fact, the Big Apple performer hints a live-in-studio album featuring reinterpreted versions of “Light” material will be released around the same time the conventional album hits the streets.

As for his upcoming visit to Northeast Ohio, we suggest Matisyahu not stay with the same families he did a few years ago.

“I’ll be on my bus this time because we won’t be there over Shabbat,” Matisyahu laughed.

“And that changed my whole attitude. After that happened, I was like I can’t be influenced by people anymore. You know how some people meet a star and say, ‘They’re stuck-up or weird,’ but basically people demand things of you and you have to realize you have to do whatever works for you even if people don’t understand it.

“So after that happened, it was like a blessing. I was able to figure out in my life how to tell people no and how to tell people to screw off, basically. It’s all a tricky business, this life thing.”