matisyahu

i'd like to make clear that i haven't heard much of matisyahu's music, but i do feel like i've heard enough to get a sense of what the whole mesh is, and that's what makes me question this assertion from jon bream in today's star tribune:

His sold-out show Thursday night at First Avenue -- following a sold-out gig in November at the Cabooze -- suggested that he's going to be the first white reggae star (unless you count England's UB40, and let's not).

what's catching me up about this is the following: i don't see why UB40 is not a legitimate reggae act and matisyahu is. matisyahu seems to be doing much of the same thing: bringing reggae to a wider audience by not being like other reggae acts. until he makes some kind of definitively great artistic statement, i don't see why "king without a crown" won't end up being remembered in the same way as "red, red wine."

perhaps i'm not the person to comment on this, since i've never really cared for reggae generally and UB40 specifically, but it seems like a large percentage of people who listen to UB40 and bob marley don't view reggae as their wheelhouse for musical style, but rather as just a niche and i don't see how matisyahu transcends that. UB40 makes reggae music, they're white and they were stars in the late '80s. seems like they were the first white reggae stars.

but whatever. i'm just picking nits.