Matthew Monias a.k.a Mattmac’s story is one of triumph in the face of challenge.
The Oji-Cree artist hailing from Garden Hill First Nation nearly 500 km north of Winnipeg was born blind and credits music with helping him process and overcome hardships.
After Indigenous mobile production studio N’we Jinan visited his community to teach music production, Mattmac’s interest in creating music was piqued, fueled by an exploration of technologies needed to bring his creativity to life.
When writing music, he uses assisted technology to convert text to speech, allowing him to navigate the apps he uses to produce music.
Mattmac’s genre is melodic pop-trap beats, overlayed with inspiring and hard-hitting hip-hop lyrics. His music career launched at 16 years old, highlights of which include working with Grammy and Juno Award-winning artist Nelly Furtado, winning the grand prize of Canada’s Walk of Fame RBC Emerging Musician Program in 2022 and winning Album of the Year from the International Indigenous Hip-Hop Awards.
Now in his mid-20s, his songs have been streamed 30+ million times across platforms, with thoughtful lyrics that touch his fans, on topics such as social pressure, anxiety, navigating new love, and new responsibilities that come with recognition and isolation.
In advance of his highly collaborative third studio album, Mattmac has teamed up with Stella Standingbear, one of the leading Indigenous female hip-hop artists in the United States to create Imposters, a melodic Trap-Pop song. This contemporary anthem offers up vulnerable lyrics of inadequacy and insecurity as the two artists navigate their rising awareness in the public eye, all while encouraging their communities to pursue their dreams in the face of hardship.
Released on Friday, May 17, the song can be found on all streaming platforms.
“Sometimes what we do can be misunderstood or surprising, so the haters are still going to hate, but that doesn’t prevent us from finding our own way to rise to the top. We want to show our people that you can go for this life if you want it,” Mattmac said in a press release.
On Saturday, June 1 at 7 p.m., this talented artist will headline Voices In the Circle at Farquhar Auditorium, an ongoing series by We at Co-Parent Productions that showcases amazing Indigenous talent, performers and artists.
The event is pay what you can, starting at $5.00. Opening the show will be local native hip-hop artists: Masstriple7, NKY E, Stax and Pindian, plus a performance by the Traditional Lekwungen Dancers.
To see a show of this calibre on a sliding scale is a fantastic opportunity that will be well worth attending for hip-hop fans.
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