I grew up in the suburbs of New York, so I grew up listening to Wu Tang Clan, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and all that type of music...and I got into Phish...when I was in college I got into Dance Hall reggae"
Matisyahu

"No doubt the Hasidic thing has helped, in two senses, In one sense it's the gimmick thing�it helps with publicity. But the truth behind the Hasidic thing, I believe, is that I gave myself to God. I told God, if you want, I won't do music. I'll do whatever you want me to do. And then the music thing happened. I don't think I'd be successful without God." 
Matisyahu

I went to Israel when I was 16. Around that time I was really searching and just discovering myself and spirituality. 
Matisyahu

�King Without A Crown��basically the idea being that at the end of the day, a person knows that they have faults, no matter what a person pretends or acts like. When they get down to their core, they realize they�re just human and therefore, they�re shaky. It�s like your whole ideology, your philosophy, could be wrong. Who knows what�s what?
Matisyahu

There are twelve vessels when this world was created, and one of them is Victory, or overcoming. People have a need to overcome and feel success, feel victory, and reggae has always and will always speak to that inside each of us."
Matisyahu

" I fear that I want to progress. That I want to move forward. In terms of my skill, my singing, all that. Relating with my band, and the audience and the main fear is more of a subconscious fear is that I won't be able to do that. I'm not so afraid of the lifestyle or that type of thing. No person should be so sure of themself until their dying day, but I don't have an outright fear of the drugs, and that type of stuff, because I feel like I have such a strong foundation in religion. I have a wife and a child on the way. When you get to a certain point and you're making the right decisions, and you have been making the right decisions for awhile, it is hard to imagine yourself slipping."
Matisyahu

Verified Contributions by: Maverick