Matisyahu vs. Dr. Dreidle

It’s time to set the record straight. I like Matisyahu. I really do, but I can’t help but harbor some angry feelings towards him. After all, the man stole my persona and turned it into millions of dollars. Halloween 2003, I introduced a Chassidic Jewish rapper to the world: Dr. Dreidle. His rhymes were a little unpolished and he lacked an accompanying band or DJ, but his reggae-infused hip hop was months ahead of Matisyahu. His first single, “I Turned In Your Savior, But I Did Not Nail Him To The Cross (That Was Pontius Pilate),” inspired by the Bob Marley tune, “I Shot The Sheriff,” killed at three Syracuse bars that night. And the ladies, they loved him, although some say it was because of the gigantic gold-plated “Chai” he wore on his chest.

Bling aside, Dr. Dreidle was a legit artist. In the summer of 2004, he teamed up with long time songwriter and bass player, 50 Shekels, and the two headlined the Camp Seneca Lake Campstock show. Their hit single, “In Da Shul,” delighted their fan base -- every Jewish kid between the ages of 8 and 16 in all of Penn Yan, New York. And it wasn't just teeny-boppers getting all hot and bothered by two fine looking Jews; their lyrics were something special:

“Go Dreidle, it’s your bar mitzvah. We gonna party like it’s your bar mitzvah. We gonna drink manishevitz like it’s your bar mitzvah. And you know we don’t give fuck because it’s not your bar mitzvah. We be in da shul, our talit looking cool. Look mamma, I got the bling, if you’re into diamond rings. I’m not into pork, unless you want to pork. So come give me a menorah if you want to learn about the torah….”

Unfortunately, a Rich Recht-like national Jewish camp tour was cut short after allegations of an incident involving several female junior counselors and a sheet with several holes cut in it, arose. That left door open for Matisyahu to corner the market.

And he did just that. A former Jewish Phishhead, influenced by hip hop and reggae (sound familiar) became a Chassidic Jewish rapper and his albums flew off the racks faster than fresh-baked homentoshen. Now, I like Matisyahu. I’ll begrudgingly admit that his rhymes are better than Dr. Dreidles, his message purer, and his reggae infused beats pretty fucking dope. If you haven’t heard him, check him out. His albums are really very good.

I don’t recommend seeing him in concert though. Not only is he unable to capture the energy of a Dr. Dreidle and 50 Shekels live performance, but he basically kind of sucks. Or at least the one live show that I listened to sucked. It was full of Matis’ yelling things like, “put your hands up, put your hands up,” “ohhhhh yeaaaah,” and various other high pitched, voice cracking, irritating vocal improvs that were just plain embarrassing. Imagine a twenty something Jewish Phishhead getting up on stage and trying to get a hip hop audience hyped. It’s not pretty.

As a kid, I dreamed of being a hype man. You know, the guys on stage at hip hop shows who get everyone in the crowd excited. But only certain kinds of people should be hype men. Cool people. Cool people with deep bass voices. Cool people with deep bass voices and street cred. Jewish Phishheads have no business getting anyone excited about anything, ever. I mean, I can’t speak for Matis’, but people in parallel lanes shoot me dirty looks when I try to sing driving on the 405. I, like Matisyahu, but he has no business trying to get people hyped. So buy his CD, enjoy it, but remember, your essentially listening to a Dr. Dreidle knock-off… for better or worse.