1. Matisyahu was brought up a Reconstructionist Jew and attended Hebrew school at Bet Am Shalom, a synagogue in White Plains.
47 Facts About Matisyahu
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Matisyahu spent much of his childhood learning the tenets of Judaism, but by the time he was a teenager, Miller began to rebel against his upbringing.
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Matisyahu became more interested in Judaism and started to identify more as a Jew.
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Matisyahu started taking drugs and dropped out of White Plains Senior High School on the first day of his senior year, becoming a self-professed "Phish-head", taking hallucinogens and following the rock band Phish on tour.
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Matisyahu returned to New York, began taking classes on Jewish spirituality at The New School, and started developing his reggae style, spending hours in his room, writing and practicing to the accompaniment of hip-hop tapes.
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Matisyahu began attending religious services every Sabbath at the synagogue and started to wear a yarmulke and tzitzit.
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One morning after getting drunk the night before, Matisyahu encountered Rabbi Dave Korn of the Chabad House at NYU, later moving into Korn's house to study Torah all day.
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Matisyahu delved into Hasidus and removed himself from popular culture.
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Matisyahu opened for a few Dave Matthews Band shows during their mid-2006 tour, including guesting on the song "Everyday" at the June 14,2006, Darien Lake show.
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In 2005 and 2006, Matisyahu toured extensively in the US, Canada, and Europe.
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Matisyahu made a number of stops in Israel, including a performance as the supporting act for Sting in June 2006.
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In 2006, Matisyahu appeared at Bonnaroo, this time performing a solo set.
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Matisyahu has since been represented by former Capitol Records president Gary Gersh.
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At the 2007 Slamdance Film Festival, the film Unsettled, in which Matisyahu appears, won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature.
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Matisyahu recorded a Sephardic music-influenced hip hop song "Two Child One Drop" for Sephardic Music Festival, Vol.
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In March 2011, Matisyahu was featured on the DeScribe song, "Pure Soul".
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On July 17,2012, Matisyahu released his fourth studio album, Spark Seeker, which was produced by Kool Kojak and featured two collaborations with rapper Shyne.
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On June 3,2014, Matisyahu released Akeda, which is slightly different from his previous work.
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Matisyahu himself described it as a "stripped back sound" and in a style as he describes as "less is more".
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On October 10,2015, Matisyahu performed in Israel at the Sultan's Pool in Jerusalem against the backdrop of escalating stabbing attacks in the city.
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Matisyahu stated that it is important for "American Jews like [him]self to come to Israel no matter what's happening here".
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In 2016, Matisyahu went on a tour of 12 US college campuses as a response to being disinvited from the Rototom Sunsplash festival in 2015.
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On November 18,2016, Matisyahu released Release the Bound, a five-song digital EP featuring brand new music.
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Matisyahu released his sixth studio album, Undercurrent, on May 19,2017, via Fallen Spark and Thirty Tigers.
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Matisyahu followed that in January 2022 with the single "Keep Coming Back For More".
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Matisyahu recorded the song "One Day" along with Akon, who is Muslim.
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Matisyahu is featured on Trevor Hall's single "Unity" from his self-titled album.
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Matisyahu collaborated with Shyne on the song "Buffalo Soldier" from his 2012 release, Spark Seeker.
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Matisyahu collaborated with Infected Mushroom on the song "One Day", as well as during various live sets.
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Matisyahu collaborated with Moon Taxi on the song "Square Circles" off the band's 2012 release Cabaret.
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Matisyahu has collaborated with The Crystal Method in their single "Drown in the Now".
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Matisyahu is featured on Dirty Heads's album Cabin by the Sea on the single "Dance All Night".
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Matisyahu collaborated with Boston-based rapper Nosson Zand on his 2013 release, "Believers".
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Matisyahu is featured on the 19-track compilation album, Songs for a Healthier America, a collaborative project by the Partnership for a Healthier America, whose honorary chair First Lady Michelle Obama, and Hip Hop Public Health.
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In 2014, Matisyahu was featured on Cisco Adler's song "Hypnotize", which was included on his Coastin album.
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In 2015, Matisyahu collaborated with Avicii in his album "Stories", where he sang alongside Wyclef Jean in "Can't Catch Me".
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Matisyahu is featured on the Common Kings 2018 EP One Day for the song "Broken Crowns".
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Matisyahu met NYU film student Tahlia when she interviewed him for a documentary about men and women not touching each other.
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In 2014, Matisyahu confirmed that he had divorced his wife approximately two years before, but they remain on good terms and were sharing parenting responsibilities.
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Matisyahu has fathered his first daughter in 2014 with former girlfriend Toma Danley while he was on tour with Adel Tawil in Germany.
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Matisyahu became engaged to Talia Dressler on April 20,2019.
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Matisyahu's firstborn son Laivy Miller started his own music career in 2022.
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From 2001 through July 2007, Matisyahu was affiliated with the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic community in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York, whose rabbi officiated at his wedding in 2004.
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On December 13,2011, after a session with his therapist, Matisyahu walked into a Supercuts on the Upper West Side in Manhattan and shaved his beard.
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Matisyahu posted a beardless picture of himself on Twitter, explaining on his website:.
46.
Matisyahu explained the origin of his use of the name as follows: while he, like most Jewish boys, received a Hebrew name at his brit milah, when he was eight days old, Miller's family lost track of the names given.
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Matisyahu was advised by his rabbis to continue using the Hebrew name that he had grown up with.