Matisyahu, Common Market
(Paramount) Here’s one of many theories. (I have more theories than Imelda Marco has shoes.) Matisyahu’s popular mix of reggae beats and traditional Judaism has Alpha Blondy’s biggest hit, “Jerusalem,” as its single source. Blondy, a reggae star from the Côte d’Ivoire, opened “Jerusalem” with a Hebrew prayer, “Baruk atah adonai,” and then sang in three languages (Arabic, Hebrew, English) about the unification of the Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Blondy’s Hebrew prayer over a strong reggae beat is what must have got Matisyahu, an American Hasidic Jew, really thinking. It has to be the kernel (“Jerusalem, here I am”) from which grew his thriving tree of big drum dub, triumphant toasting, and Jewish teachings and spirituality. CHARLES MUDEDE

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