Amid his fourth album and fall tour, reggae artist Matisyahu will stop by Syracuse University on Oct. 9 for the One World Concert featuring His Holiness the Dalai Lama at 7 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. The Jewish, beat-boxing, reggae-spitting singer spoke with The Daily Orange about how he touches the world with his music, faith and thoughts on peace.

The Daily Orange: What are some of the things you use for inspiration to make music?

Matisyahu: The things that feed music are emotions. So, in your life experience, when you’re having emotional experiences or times — sometimes turbulent or joyous or love or broken-heartedness, or whatever it is — that’s what leads to the inspiration to want to even write a song or to listen to a song. It’s all centered around feelings and emotions, and when people want to feel something, they listen to music, and the people who are creating music are creating through emotion, through their own emotion or their own need to express it.

The D.O.: A lot of people know you as a popular Jewish performer. Do you feel that you’ve found a niche in that community as one of the most popular Jewish performers around and, if so, how do you feel about that?

Matisyahu: When I was a kid, I always tended to gear toward any music that was spiritually inclined and had a direct inspiration from the Old Testament. Like in Wu-Tang Clan, there’s a rapper called Killah Priest, and he had a song called “View from Masada.” That was a record that was inspirational to me. Also, Bob Marley or Sizzla’s conscious records and all of that stuff were rooted in the Old Testament. So what I did was instead of just studying about things in the book and singing about them, I immersed myself completely in Jewish spirituality and lifestyle. I took what I knew from music and I was able to bring those two worlds together in a way that the world has never seen those two things come together. That’s what I stand for, and what a lot of people take away is the merging of worlds and the “one-ness,” and finding the connection between cultures and music and things that you wouldn’t typically see together. So it’s more than just being a popular Jewish singer, it’s bringing the two worlds together.

The D.O.: Are there any specific peace issues that you feel passionate about?

Matisyahu: The issue is peace. Every situation is different, but the bigger issue is peace at the end of the day. That’s what it comes down to. Are you willing to kill or hurt for your beliefs? And in my life, my peace issue is: Is there ever a time for that? I don’t know if there is. If there’s ever a time to do that, I don’t know. That’s a question that I don’t have an answer to. I certainly have an idea of peace. In Hebrew, shalom means complete or full, and I try to create that in my music and in my life as much as possible.

The D.O.: Can you tell us a little about what we can expect from your set? Maybe some new selections from your latest album?

Matisyahu: Well, I’m only going to perform one song, and right now, we’re deciding what it’s going to be. But I’m hoping that it’s going to be a song off of my new record. But I have a song that’s very much connected to peace called “One Day,” and that song is certainly relevant to this concert in particular.

Published on October 8, 2012 at 5:00 am

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