S. Samuel
As Shyne steadily embraces Judaism, SOHH reached to Jewish reggae artist Matisyahu to get his reaction to the former Bad Boy artist's new lifestyle.
In addition to sharing his thoughts, Matisyahu also revealed that he personally contacted Shyne following the news of his conversion.
“I read the article and right away reached out to him,” Matis said referring to learning about Shyne’s newfound faith in Judaism. “I had a conversation with him and he was real cool. My feeling is that he’s [serious about his conversion]. Somehow, he really connected to this. He seems real about it and inspired when you’re talking to him — But he’s still the same guy. When you listen to him talk, when you hear him talk, you hear where he’s from. He didn’t change who he is. I’m sure he changed his lifestyle and a lot of things but I went through a very similar process, so I respect that a lot. I think it could be really good for Jewish people for him to do something like that. I think he can be an inspiration. He’ll be in New York soon…Definitely [expect a collaboration from us], we’ve already been back and forth on the e-mails. We talked about doing some shows together.” (SOHH)
Recently defending his choice to dress in traditional Hasidic fashion, Shyne pondered how the public could question him and applaud pop star Lady Gaga‘s controversial outfits.
“There’s a girl by the name of Lady Gaga and she’s the #1 pop artist in the world and she wears outfits that are stitched together with meat… So if millions of people don’t have a problem with someone wearing meat as an outfit, how could you imagine they would have a problem with a guy like me who stands for everything that any true man stands for, who has walked through a fire, who is honorable and whose life is based on integrity?” (Blogs Forward)
Last November, Shyne discussed maintaining his street credibility while walking a sanctified path.
“All these rules, rules, rules,” the rapper said about the strict religious requirements. “But you know what you have if you don’t have rules? You end up with a bunch of pills in your stomach.” Even though Shyne sports a Hasidic-style hat and a black jacket that hangs to his knees, the Brooklyn-raised rapper said he hasn’t lost his street cred. “There’s nothing in the Chumash [a Jewish book] that says I can’t drive a Lamborghini,” said Shyne, who was released from prison last year after serving nine years. (New York Post)
Outside of Shyne, Matisyahu recently talked to SOHH about the Top 5 reasons music lovers should cop his new Live At Stubb’s, Volume II album.
“The first reason why you should buy Live At Stubb’s, Volume II is because the music is pretty unique. There’s a very unique sound. I think one of the draws that my music has had is that I grew up listening to multi-genre sounds like so many of today’s youths. We grew up listening to hip-hop music but we also listened to rockmusic and reggae music. So the style that developed from what it was five or six years ago to where it has gone, it’s just the continued evolution. It’s still a blending of the different styles but I think if you’re a reggae lover, you’re gonna love it. If you like hip-hop, electronic music, rock music, it just has all those different aspects to it.” (Buy My Record)
Check out some recent Shyne footage below:
