How do you blend strong convictions and awesome music? How do you find a broad audience without watering down your message? I'd say Matisyahu is a good example.
Matisyahu is a great example of an artist who has a polarizing worldview and unabashedly shares it in his lyrics, but his musical prowess is such that folks will listen even if they may not agree with his strong opinions. Contrast this with some of the "Christian music industry", which are blatant rip-offs of whatever is popular at the moment, but aren't really very talented (let alone original). I'm not condemning that, because there are certainly enough examples of riding the wave of pop (Britney beget Christina beget Jessica beget Mandy and so on... blonde bubble gum pop must have been selling, eh? And for the record, despite her awful start with "I'm missing you like candy", Mandy Moore turned out to be IMHO the best of them all. I mean, she dated JD on Scrubs and Andy Roddick, not to mention the gem of a cover of Rihanna's "Umbrella", which reminds me that her cover of Switchfoot's "Only Hope" is also legit...)
But we're here to talk about Matisyahu. I love his style. It draws from many influences without taking too much from any one source, it's upbeat and danceable, and it stimulates positive reflection and actions. Here's a jam which is both a call to action and a reflection on Jewish history:
And while I'm not quite as big on this version, here's a somewhat reworked (I won't quite say remixed) version:
Babylon burning in the place, can't see through the haze..."
