“…The whole point of the Olympics is everybody comes together” says Matisyahu to Fanhouse slight seemingly somewhat semi-silent seconds before bursting beat boxes amalgamated with bumping bass lines delivered from his critically acclaimed Billboard basher, “One Day,” at Vancouver’s 21st Winter Olympic games. Matisyahu continues to say, “These people unite from countries that might otherwise be squabbling for a higher purpose.”
NBC commercials made “One Day” the soundtrack for the 2010 winter games and remind us there is no race but the human race. So the only race noticed in Canada are the races with finish lines at the end and the only colors that separate these competitors are not worn on their skin but on the bronze, silver, and gold medals dangling from the ribbons they triumphantly wear.
Matisyahu’s revamp of reggae, rock, and rap generates a genre so new it makes all other categories so outdated that it’s like comparing the iPhone to Alexander Graham Bells prototypes. He’s so ahead of his time it’s as if he’s recording MP3s pre-Marconi Era. Music without Matisyahu is a windmill churning butter away from being Amish. He winds the modern sound from a BC era to the digital age with a fail swoop of his tunes of the Torah.
Matisyahu spits hot fire like the dragons mouth mounted on the back exhaust wedged between the black winged tips of the bat-mobile. His rhymes are faster than the road runner chased by Wylie Coyote and straight to the point as if it’s the ear tips of Spock. Words reach a fan base wider than Jared’s waistline before the subway diet, twirling platinum records will be found on jukeboxes like Fonzie’s leather jacket.
Matisyahu’s Hasidic appearance juxtaposed to his hardcore appeal causes people to say the phrase, “What? I’m confused…” more than Palin during a game of Trivial Pursuit. His ZZ-Top length beard makes Rapunzel on Rogaine look like Lex Luther after a Brazilian body wax. He has the Sasquatch shaving kit complete with the Chewbacca triple blade razor. Imagine if Cousin It was Jewish and rapped reggae.
Subsequently Gandhi asserted that the illusion of separation begat all hatred and hatred begat nothing but more hatred. Matisyahu’s messages mix motifs of unity, peace, and understanding meld with the overall theme of the winter games. The lyrics of “One Day” profoundly philosophize and prophesize ‘one day’ in the future without war, hatred, or illusion of separation. Let’s make “One Day” seem more like today, tomorrow, and every day.
