Rising star, Matthew Sylvester, best known by his stage name 'M.A.T.T' has recently dropped a new single "Grateful" soon after returning home from Hollywood.
He also released the music video for his latest hit single, “Expensive Life.”
In the song, the Cape-Town born rapper explains that no matter where you come from in life you can do anything that you set your mind to.
Despite growing up surrounded by poverty and gangsterism in Retreat, Cape Town, M.A.T.T knew from a young age that he wanted to pursue a career in music.
His passion earned him an opportunity to travel to Hollywood and network with some of the industry giants including, US rapper Russ.
The 24-year old shares his love for music with his father Mark Sylvester.
“My dad was a DJ, he played all the old school music and that’s where I got the passion for music. Around the ages of 8 and 12, I was listening to all kinds of music,” M.A.T.T said.
At 12 years old, M.A.T.T started writing his own music.
“My idol at the time was Lil Wayne. I was mesmerised by all his raps and that’s what made me get into writing and getting the flow in order,” adds the star.
M.A.T.T says after high school his music took a back seat when tragedy struck. Two years on, he has returned to his greatest solace.
“At that time I wrote a song titled 'Miss You'. It’s about my brother, who was tragically killed in 2011.
“I speak about the emotions I had towards the killer but how it’s not worth running after him,” he explained.
“When my brother passed away, I realised that life is short and you have to do what you want to do, not what people want you to be. I decided to take a bold step of faith and put my music first,” he shared.
In 2018, 'M.A.T.T released two EPs “Identification” and “96,” a mixture of both “conscious rap” but turn-up tracks.
In 2019 he relocated to the US and continued to do music.
“I wanted to grow my sound and also elevating who I am by learning more about the music scene,” he said.
While in the US, he released his third EP, “ Twenty thr33”.
“I got a huge response from that EP and I released a single “ Hermosa” a few months after that to continue the momentum following the success of the single “Tonight” featuring Nicholle, which came out in earlier in the year,” he said.
Back in SA, in April M.A.T.T dropped his fourth EP, “Majestic", which features his latest hits, "Grateful" and "Expensive Life".
M.A.T.T. says his sound is inspired by the likes of Russ, Joyner Lucas, Lil Wayne, Roddy Ricch and Drake.
“I’m hoping to one day share the spotlight with them and even do a track with each one of them."
“Music is my life and without it, I wouldn’t be anything else. It gave me a voice and it is my turn to tell my story,” said 'M.A.T.T.