In a success story that reads like a script for a bad Ben Stiller comedy, an Orthodox Jew named Matthew Paul Miller reinvented himself as Matisyahu, a crossover reggae superstar. That this white boy with ties to the feel-good jam circuit gravitated toward rough-edged dancehall reggae over more generically feel-good roots-rock reggae is interesting in itself, but much more ink has been spilled over the incongruity between Miller’s religion (which forbids marijuana use) and reggae tradition (which encourages it). Without apologizing for his beliefs—or exploiting them for the novelty value—Miller has carved out his own unique niche in the genre.
