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