Akeda is the Hebrew word for "binding" and is typically used to refer to the biblical story of Abraham binding his son, Isaac, for sacrifice. However the songs on Matisyahu's Akeda album are actually about being un-bound, musically and spiritually and breaking free of the image people have of him. "I think that at the end of the day, the image, you can't escape the image," Matisyahu told us. "But ironically, the message of what I'm trying to say with my music is that it's beyond image. That's what it says. The ability for a Hasidic man to sing reggae music, that authentically means that you can get beyond the image. You know what I mean? There's something bigger than that, and that's the music."

"So it's ironic for me that, in some ways, I'm trapped up in the image," he added. "Does he have a beard? Does he not have a beard? This, that and the other thing. And at the same time, that's kind of what the whole purpose of what I'm doing is all about, getting past that."