Music is alive as an ever-changing, constantly evolving entity. So why play or listen to one style? That philosophy is how Jah Rootz, a vocalist living in Washington, approaches music.

“I can’t limit what I’m into when it comes to something as diverse as music,” Rootz says. Instead, Rootz says, he can find something he loves in any piece of music.

Rootz and his brother Zeebo sing for the Washington-based See-I, a down-tempo mix of reggae and dub that plays at the Eighteenth Street Lounge every Wednesday. But Rootz really gets to feed his multi-genre musical interests when he and his brother often sing with the Thievery Corporation, a DJ-duo that combines elements of dub, acid jazz, reggae, Indian and Brazilian music in a lounge style.

The Thievery Corporation, which performs at the 9:30 Club in Washington from Dec. 20 to Dec. 23, sports a musical diversity equally matched by the diversity of the people in the band. The group’s members, Rob Garza and Eric Hilton, bring many different cultural influences to the band’s overall sound.

“I don’t think music is meant to be just one style,” Rootz says. “I think a lot of people are tired of styles, and they want music that will make them feel something.”

Rootz first began singing in church, where “you had to get into your spirit and your soul whether you wanted to or not,” he says. As Rootz got older, he started listening to a wider selection of music, including soul, R&B, rock ‘n’ roll, country, gospel and blues. The group Earth, Wind and Fire’s eclectic vocals had a huge influence on Rootz, he says, as well as artists like The Temptations and reggae singer Horace Andy.

Rootz and Zeebo started singing with See-I more than 20 years ago, and Hilton knew the brothers before the inception of Thievery Corporation. He tapped them to do vocals on the song “38.45,” which became a hit in Europe. Now it seems Rootz can’t escape the music of Thievery Corporation.

“I get on a plane, I hear the music. I go to a restaurant, I hear the music. I go to San Francisco, I hear the music,” he said. With little radio exposure, Thievery Corporation has still reached international audiences and pack venues wherever they go – all four nights at the 9:30 Club are sold out.

This phenomenon gives Rootz an enormous, international stage to voice his opinions on, and his lyrics aim to wake people up to certain injustices happening these days, he says.

“People are losing their privacy,” he said. “They’re losing certain things they didn’t realize they were losing. … They don’t even recognize what’s going on.”

Rootz, who has been a Rastafarian since his second year of college, stresses the connectivity he feels with the universe, and hopes his spirit can pass those vibes on.

“The fire is deep within you and you gotta search for it,” he said.”But we all have it, and once we turn it on, we have oneness between ourselves and the next person.”

Thievery Corporation will perform at the 9:30 Club in Washington from Dec. 20 to Dec. 23. All four shows are sold out.

Contact reporter Marc Shapiro at shapirodbk@gmail.com.