The self-proclaimed Hasidic Reggae Superstar got his big media break on Jimmy Kimmel live a couple years back. Many people caught his more recent performance on the show last month and have acknowledged it as AWFUL. But some of us have been saying that for some time. Many people I’ve talked to who’s seen him live have been disappointed and its no surprise.
Matis continues to display most of the issues he’s faced from his critics from the outset; serious pitch problems, less than solid vocal performance and a lack of stage presence.
In this instance, a boring cover of a song with which he brought nothing new. He sang the Police song “Message in a Bottle” as though he were a college cover band. There was nothing interesting about it, though his band is solid. It was visually a lackluster performance with zero intensity or showmanship, and the song itself was really not was served.
Everyone is so floored by the idea of Matisyahu and so badly wants him to be their musical Moshiach that they overlook how craptastic he usually is in delivery and that he’s really the Music Indstry Shill Machine’s Shabbatai Tzvi. I’ve long felt he was an overblown novelty act, a media sensation with mediocre beatbox skills. But now I don’t feel so lonely. Mobius has taken to trashing Matisyahu with abandon and the Anarchist Rabbi has been at it front the outset. Now, online musical tastemaker Pitchfork has thrashed his new album with a 4.1 of 10 rating.
Matisyahu’s moment, his 15 minutes, are nearly over. Baruch HaShem.
i forgave matis for his performance shortcomings because i thought he was on a righteous path. when i saw that was no longer the case, he no longer had my sympathy and patience.
my whole little rant there about dicking over jdub — had matis stayed with jdub, they would have helped him develop his talent. they had hired him a voice coach, they were working on his stage show, all that sort of stuff. guys like gary gersh? they don’t care about artist development. they want you to be a cash cow, and if you don’t deliver, you’re dead as a doornail. look at kurt cobain and courtney love– they were gersh’s big break. look where they are now. does he care? he’s still making bank off them both.
See, I feel that acts that are pretty much staying within the Jewish world have asome leeway. You can say, ‘they’re good for a Jewish act’ knowing full well they’d never have a chance in the mainstream world. Seenig the room for crossover with specific acts and knowing how to execute that bridge process is where I see Aaron’s vision really at its peak.
But in that process, when you expose yourself to the general public, scrutinity heightens. In general you have to be pretty good to get gigs. It has to be quality on some level regardless of your specific musical or ethnic intersts. And somehow Matisyahu got a free pass on some of those fundamentals. I never overlooked them, cuz, are you kidding me, you can’t go half a note sharp in front of 1000 ppl paying $20. And if you can’t bring something new to a song, don’t cover it. I”m surprised jdub didn’t cover off the vocal coaching and stage presence earlier on. You can’t let that slide.
So when yes, you dump your manager who would have looked out for you, turn to the dark side of professional music and STILL don’t get a handle on some of those things, yes, you better deliver. And to extent, he has but mys sense is that none of it really has to do with talent but image driven sales. “Im not sure that jdub could have taken him to the same level of financial or crossover success on their own, at least not as quickly, but they would have steered him and helped him keep some soul.
As for gersh, when the quality ends and sales fall off as a result… You’re right, but I doubt Matis would revert to the excesses of his youth. He’d just start doing Bar Mitzvahs and weddings again.. We’ll see what happens at the Grammy’s. I don’t think its that worthy, and that’s just because there are other more talented acts in the universe.