Beginning March 20, Matisyahu, his band, and special guest Nadim Azzam will visit twelve college campuses with a special tour and message exclusively for students, faculty and staff. Sponsored by local Hillel chapters and a variety of campus co-sponsors, the story and motivation behind the tour started this past Summer, 2015 when Matisyahu was scheduled to perform in Spain at one of the largest music festivals in Europe. 

His performance was boycotted by a local Spanish group citing Matisyahu’s support for Israel and his participation in performing at Jewish and Israeli organizational event in the United States. For a moment, the festival bowed to the pressure and cancelled Matisyahu’s performance. However, the outpouring of outrage at the festival and support for Matisyahu from fans worldwide and organizations of varied cultural and religious backgrounds was impossible to ignore.The message was loud and clear, “Let musicians play music and don’t burden creative expression’s ability to unify people with the ugliness of politics.”  

Matisyahu was invited back by the festival and he and his band played in front of nearly 40,000 fans.  For Matisyahu however, the message was not yet complete.  In response to the experience, Matisyahu went to Israel just a week later to close out the Jerusalem Sacred Music Festival; a festival that brings musicians from all religious backgrounds to the Old City of Jerusalem to perform together and inject the holy city with unique power and togetherness inherent in music  Matisyahu performed with members of Hadag Nahash (a well known secular and politically left leaning hip hop group in Israel), Daniel Zamir (a devoutly religious Jew and world renowned saxophone player), and Saz (a well known Palestinian Hip Hop artist from Ramallah). Again the message was loud and clear, only this time it was ringing from the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. 

Now, six months later, Matisyahu is taking this message through his music to college students across the the United States.  Matisyahu with special guest Nadim Azzam will perform exclusively for students, faculty and staff at 12 campuses this March and April 2016. Matisayhu will bring his full band on the road for these special engagements and after more than a decade of touring, Matisyahu has formed a band that truly gives itself over to the music on par with his lyrical desire to connect to something beyond the self. The band features original Stubbs guitarist Aaron Dugan, Dub Trio bassist Stu Brooks, percussionist Tim Keiper, and keyboardist BigYuki. Combined, the music and lyrics transcend their parts.

At its most basic moments, Matisyahu’s music feels alive; an entity unto itself, being born in the moment and evolving each night. At its most exultant moments the music becomes full-band improvisation. Lyrics are rearranged on the spot to serve the energy of the jam. No instrumentalist is playing simply to demonstrate individual skill, and Matisyahu uses his beat boxing not as a party trick, but as an essential element to the full band improvisation, propelling the music further than it’s been before.

Special guest Nadim Azzam brings a unique blend of acoustic hip-hop and singer/songwriter presence to the stage. Balancing spoken word-like raps with soothing melodies, Nadim creates an entirely new sound in his music. Brought up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, he was born to an Egyptian-Palestinian father and an American Jewish mother, both of whom raised Nadim with a keen sense of social justice and indiscriminating love for others of different cultural backgrounds.  Together, Matisyahu and Nadim seek nothing more than to give fans music for music’s sake, and the hopeful result is that through the music mutual respect and a deeper connection to the similarities in all peoples is strengthened. 

In addition to the performance at each University, Matisyahu and Nadim will host a lunch discussion for members of the sponsoring organizations. Keep it tuned to L4LM, as we’ll be releasing exclusive content throughout this exciting tour. You can see the full schedule below:

MATISYAHU with Nadim Azzam Campus Tour

Sunday, March 20 – Boston University – Metcalf Ballroom
Wednesday, March 23 – Penn State University – Indigo
Thursday, March 24 – University of Pennsylvania – World Café Live
Saturday, March 26 – University of Virginia – Paramount Theatre
Sunday, March 27 – University of Maryland – Stamp Grand Ballroom
Monday, March 28 – Ohio State University – Newport Theatre
Wednesday, March 30 – University of Wisconsin – Capture Theatre
Monday, April 4 – University of Michigan – Hill Auditorium
Tuesday, April 5 – University of Illinois – Canopy Club
Sunday, April 10 – University of California Berkeley – Lower Sproul
Tuesday, April 12 – University of California Los Angeles – Schoenberg Hall
Thursday, April 14 – University of California San Diego – Sun God Lawn

Tickets are exclusive, limited to students, staff, and family.Â