Matisyahu continued....

[The Bastard]

still misisng it, i take it

its REGGAE.

that ACCENT is CENTRAL to the reggae sound

it isnt reggae OTHERWISE

how hard is that to grasp

now if he were trying to talk that way, thats one thing. if he was up in his interviews like,

"yeh we run tings rude bwoy"

then i could see your point...

so if i did a reggae song with the reggae accent, that would make me a poser since im not jamaican, right?

so if thats the case, then you ARE SAYING that non-jamaicans shouldnt do reggae.

ok,lets say i made crunk music. now im from boston, but for sum reason in my crunk songs im rappin with a ATL accent,and in interviews im talkin wit my boston accent, you dont see anything wrong with that? maybe im wrong but i just really consider that being fake and disrespectful to say the least. numerous amounts of east coast rappers were on southern crunk style rap songs, but they keep their own east coast accent, it has nuthin to do with what kind of music it is . Matisyahu just saw a unique gimmack he could use to get famous.

 

[JP hardboiled]

im not sayin he or any other white person cant do raggae,just use yur own fuckin voice and yur own way of speech and your own vocabulary and your own accent, him talking like hes from somwhere else is EXACTLY like as if it was me talking like im from new york. same thing goes for hip hop as far as im concerned, why change yur voice to sound like sumthin yur not,bring your own voice and yur own culture into hip hop,fuck u need to imitate sum1 for. hip hop has many accents in it ,why cant raggae,why this dude gutta front. its not the fact that i aint feelin his music that i want him to be beat up (which i was bein scarcastic about anyway) but the fact that hes a poser and makin a living off it.

I think that you have to use an accent in whatever music you do. Rappings like singing.. you don't just go up there and speak... You ALTER your voice and sing... Also, singers add accents for the specific kinds of music they create, especially if they're in plays... In my case... My singing voice would sound different in operatic mode vs. punk mode vs rock mode to fit the music better... I think the same thing happens when you do different styles of hip hop... Plus, its just fun to try different voices...

It seems most people who bash him are jealous that he is not the stereotypical rapper and he is having success. Music is art, its open to interpretation and you don't have to be any certain color/area code to make it. Really, shouldn't we be proud that a diverse amount of people like to make hip hop? That's one of the reasons I like hip hop... Though maybe I'll have to wait til all the bigots are gone or the whole genepool is mixed for everyone to be accepted in just making hip hop.

I recently read "Skinhead" a poem by Patricia Smith... Where she portrays a white supremacist and writes ideas/speaks like a skinhead would... oh yeah, she's African American... Is that wrong? Smith is the National poetry slam Champ., and many people enjoy her poems... even when she isn't using her "own" voice... However, you want to define "own" voice usage in art...

 

[MarkN]

I think that you have to use an accent in whatever music you do. Rappings like singing.. you don't just go up there and speak... You ALTER your voice and sing... Also, singers add accents for the specific kinds of music they create, especially if they're in plays... In my case... My singing voice would sound different in operatic mode vs. punk mode vs rock mode to fit the music better... I think the same thing happens when you do different styles of hip hop... Plus, its just fun to try different voices...

It seems most people who bash him are jealous that he is not the stereotypical rapper and he is having success. Music is art, its open to interpretation and you don't have to be any certain color/area code to make it. Really, shouldn't we be proud that a diverse amount of people like to make hip hop? That's one of the reasons I like hip hop... Though maybe I'll have to wait til all the bigots are gone or the whole genepool is mixed for everyone to be accepted in just making hip hop.

I recently read "Skinhead" a poem by Patricia Smith... Where she portrays a white supremacist and writes ideas/speaks like a skinhead would... oh yeah, she's African American... Is that wrong? Smith is the National poetry slam Champ., and many people enjoy her poems... even when she isn't using her "own" voice... However, you want to define "own" voice usage in art...

IMO thats a bit different its writing a piece from another perspective that has nothing to do with using a different accent in your music !
of course you can write pieces from other peoples perspective but thats not i assume what this guy is doing hes just faking a jamaican accent to fit in . its like a lot of uk rappers used to rap in american accent and they got slated for it why would you do it if your not from there dnt pretend you are, you dnt need to sound a certain way to do a certain type of music, music genres are related to mostly but their signature sound not what accent they are predominately sung/rapped in !

 

[The Bastard]

IMO thats a bit different its writing a piece from another perspective that has nothing to do with using a different accent in your music !
of course you can write pieces from other peoples perspective but thats not i assume what this guy is doing hes just faking a jamaican accent to fit in . its like a lot of uk rappers used to rap in american accent and they got slated for it why would you do it if your not from there dnt pretend you are, you dnt need to sound a certain way to do a certain type of music, music genres are related to mostly but their signature sound not what accent they are predominately sung/rapped in !

there you go THATS whut im sayun

 

[The Bastard]

I think that you have to use an accent in whatever music you do. Rappings like singing.. you don't just go up there and speak... You ALTER your voice and sing... Also, singers add accents for the specific kinds of music they create, especially if they're in plays... In my case... My singing voice would sound different in operatic mode vs. punk mode vs rock mode to fit the music better... I think the same thing happens when you do different styles of hip hop... Plus, its just fun to try different voices...

It seems most people who bash him are jealous that he is not the stereotypical rapper and he is having success. Music is art, its open to interpretation and you don't have to be any certain color/area code to make it. Really, shouldn't we be proud that a diverse amount of people like to make hip hop? That's one of the reasons I like hip hop... Though maybe I'll have to wait til all the bigots are gone or the whole genepool is mixed for everyone to be accepted in just making hip hop.

I recently read "Skinhead" a poem by Patricia Smith... Where she portrays a white supremacist and writes ideas/speaks like a skinhead would... oh yeah, she's African American... Is that wrong? Smith is the National poetry slam Champ., and many people enjoy her poems... even when she isn't using her "own" voice... However, you want to define "own" voice usage in art...

i dont really have nuthin to bash the dood for, raggae isnt my top music of choice ,but i dont dislike it, i like some of it, i have nothing against jewish people, and i absouletly have nothing against rappers that arent stereotypical rappers. because i listen to some of them. i just really have sumthing against fake ass celebs and rappers in general, i cant stand them.

im sure patricia smiths intent was to put herself in the shoes of a skinhead for just that poem ,to be creative. thats something totally diffrent than what we are talking about

 

[FTdub]

I've listened to the entire album all the way through now,and the worst songs to me are the ones where he "sings" without as much of an accent. Ive seen posters on this board diss british rappers because their flow is alien to them. Now we are dissing I guy who upholds a traditional reggae accent. Remember, that reggae is mostly religious in context, and in order for him to relate judaism to rasta he really needs to make his reggae as leget as possible.

 

[Cold Truth]

thing is in everything i have read he respects reggae-the culture and its artists to the fullest..

the funny thing is most of you arent even bashing his music, you are bashing HIM..... which is fine, thats your perogative, if his persona turns you off thats all good... but i thought i'd poit that out. you arent even giving a larger context to criticize him undr, its just, "oh hes a jew from pennsy, he aint jamaican, hes nothing but a gimmick...."

the orthodox jew thing isnt a gimick at all, actually, thats his lifestyle from what i have seen, and he is a roots reggae artist with obvious pop appeal...

you are calling the accent a gimmick, that its posing, but that isnt his "real" voice, you are right- its just the voice he uses to make the music. once again, if he talked like that in real life, THEN that would be fake....

he isnt pretending to be anything but an orthodox jew. he makes the music he makes, your problem is with the fact that he is an orthodox jew making reggae, i think.

 

[FistFulloDollaz]

thing is in everything i have read he respects reggae-the culture and its artists to the fullest..

the funny thing is most of you arent even bashing his music, you are bashing HIM..... which is fine, thats your perogative, if his persona turns you off thats all good... but i thought i'd poit that out. you arent even giving a larger context to criticize him undr, its just, "oh hes a jew from pennsy, he aint jamaican, hes nothing but a gimmick...."

the orthodox jew thing isnt a gimick at all, actually, thats his lifestyle from what i have seen, and he is a roots reggae artist with obvious pop appeal...

you are calling the accent a gimmick, that its posing, but that isnt his "real" voice, you are right- its just the voice he uses to make the music. once again, if he talked like that in real life, THEN that would be fake....

he isnt pretending to be anything but an orthodox jew. he makes the music he makes, your problem is with the fact that he is an orthodox jew making reggae, i think.

speaking for myself

I dont know much of anything about an orthodox jew liftestyle

and I wouldn't even go as far as saying what he's doing is a gimmick, he's entitled to do whatever type of music he wants

but I do think it is fair to say that he has a FAKE jamaican accent being that its not his real dialect

when I say fake I'm not dissing him I'm just saying its not AUTHENTIC

just becuz something is fake doesnt mean its bad all the time, some fake things are good

you feel me?

 

[dahkter]

I think dude is live. His band is tight too.
He is singing from the heart, praising god. He's straight up Orthodox which is a strict religion. As an artist, dude is down to earth, a few years back he played in the neighborhood just like any other musician that enjoys performing and is trying to make it.
Now he blew up, his album shipped gold and will surely go platinum in a few weeks.
He struck a chord with people, recorded his shit and blew up. That's good IMO.

 

[MarkN]

thing is in everything i have read he respects reggae-the culture and its artists to the fullest..

the funny thing is most of you arent even bashing his music, you are bashing HIM..... which is fine, thats your perogative, if his persona turns you off thats all good... but i thought i'd poit that out. you arent even giving a larger context to criticize him undr, its just, "oh hes a jew from pennsy, he aint jamaican, hes nothing but a gimmick...."

the orthodox jew thing isnt a gimick at all, actually, thats his lifestyle from what i have seen, and he is a roots reggae artist with obvious pop appeal...

you are calling the accent a gimmick, that its posing, but that isnt his "real" voice, you are right- its just the voice he uses to make the music. once again, if he talked like that in real life, THEN that would be fake....

he isnt pretending to be anything but an orthodox jew. he makes the music he makes, your problem is with the fact that he is an orthodox jew making reggae, i think.

i've never listened to the guy im just giving my opinion about the subject, as far as him being a jew thats not a problem at all, but imo even singing/rapping in someone elses accent is fine, im sure he respects the reggae culture and image but he should be faking an accent like that he could respect it just as much without faking an accent, you shouldnt use someone elses voice to make music, and imo the fact he is using the jamaican accent is his whole gimmick, a jewish guy rappin in a jamaican accent is a gimmick an jewish guy doing reggae in his regular accent isnt a enough of a gimmick obviously !

 

[Cold Truth]

all im saying is: is the music dope? let that be a benchmark for his actual work, debate the the rest all day but analyze the music on its own merits as well. "fake" accent or not, dude put together a VERY good album.

 

[sYgMa]

The track I heard was all right... all I'm saying is that he took the Jamaican accent so his music would be as close as the Reggae people already know. He made a choice and that choice was made (in my opinion) to have a bigger audience... that's what I call a gimmick.

 

[Cold Truth]

well he made a choce to go with that for a few reasons, he felt there were some parralels between judaism and reggae, thats part of what drew him into it to begin with... its much deeper then a "gimmick" the only "gimmick" ,ay well be the way he dreses, but then thats a personal choice of his religion as well, so where is the acual gimmick?

 

[The Bastard]

so where is the acual gimmick?

the accent he uses to perform,its not native to him.and for that reason i can never take him seriously. but who am i

 

[sYgMa]

The gimmick is that he decided, since he wanted to have a bigger audience, to sound like what popular music standards think reggae sounds like...

That way, he'd have more chance to have radio play and such and such... feel me?

From Wikidepia:
A gimmick is a unique or quirky special feature that makes something "stand out" from its contemporaries. Product gimmicks are sometimes considered mere novelties, and not really that relevant to the product's functioning, even earning negative connotations.

Since he doesn't need to use that accent, but, with it, he can stand out and have a more pop sound... I'm pretty sure that is considered a gimmick...

(BTW, it's just for argumentation... there no hate here... pure discussion, right?)

 

[FistFulloDollaz]

The gimmick is that he decided, since he wanted to have a bigger audience, to sound like what popular music standards think reggae sounds like...

That way, he'd have more chance to have radio play and such and such... feel me?

From Wikidepia:
A gimmick is a unique or quirky special feature that makes something "stand out" from its contemporaries. Product gimmicks are sometimes considered mere novelties, and not really that relevant to the product's functioning, even earning negative connotations.

Since he doesn't need to use that accent, but, with it, he can stand out and have a more pop sound... I'm pretty sure that is considered a gimmick...

(BTW, it's just for argumentation... there no hate here... pure discussion, right?)

good point

 

[Cold Truth]

The gimmick is that he decided, since he wanted to have a bigger audience, to sound like what popular music standards think reggae sounds like...

That way, he'd have more chance to have radio play and such and such... feel me?

From Wikidepia:
A gimmick is a unique or quirky special feature that makes something "stand out" from its contemporaries. Product gimmicks are sometimes considered mere novelties, and not really that relevant to the product's functioning, even earning negative connotations.

Since he doesn't need to use that accent, but, with it, he can stand out and have a more pop sound... I'm pretty sure that is considered a gimmick...

(BTW, it's just for argumentation... there no hate here... pure discussion, right?)

soooo...... YOU know for a fact that he did this simply to gain a larger audience? like, you heard those words from his mouth? or read them from a reliable source?

or is this another assumption made to bolster your case *against* the man?

listen to the album. then tell me if it would sound as good just singin like any ol jew singer, and tell me if that shit would have turned out the same. you act like thaccent is all fluff and unnecessary, ok, well, show me where its unnecessary, show me where he intently made that move simply to score fans... lets be realistic here... you are making assumptions.

 

[MarkN]

soooo...... YOU know for a fact that he did this simply to gain a larger audience? like, you heard those words from his mouth? or read them from a reliable source?

or is this another assumption made to bolster your case *against* the man?

listen to the album. then tell me if it would sound as good just singin like any ol jew singer, and tell me if that shit would have turned out the same. you act like thaccent is all fluff and unnecessary, ok, well, show me where its unnecessary, show me where he intently made that move simply to score fans... lets be realistic here... you are making assumptions.

come on man whether or not you prefer the album is irrelevant in this particular post, the guys jewish he raps with a jamaican accent, thats fake ! simple

 

[FistFulloDollaz]

come on man whether or not you prefer the album is irrelevant in this particular post, the guys jewish he raps with a jamaican accent, thats fake ! simple

ha ha ha ha

it does seem pretty simple to comprehend

 

[Cold Truth]

ummmmm.... no the thing that i addressed in that quote was saying that he did it for sales, etc, which was nothi9ng more then an assumption... nobody was debating whether the accent was fake.... i never argued that.... the point was-hello-its reggae, show me a reggae artist WITHOUT the accent.

i'm arguing the fact that it seems like everyone just wrote dude off based on that alone