MattyB - Singer-songwriter, Family and Childhood

At the age of just five, MattyB heard hip hop music for the first time and was immediately inspired to learn dance steps to match the beats. After his older cousin, Mars, who is a rapper popular by the alias MarsRaps, moved in to live with his family, he became interested in the type of music Mars made and started to rap to his lyrics. In the following years, he persistently kept asking his cousin to help him with his own rap. Finally, in 2010, when he was only 7 years old, he and his cousin made a YouTube video covering the Justin Bieber song "Eenie Meenie" and posted it online on May 31. It gained over 500k views within a week of its release and became the stepping stone to his rise to fame. In 2012, the music video of his song "That's the Way" reached 11th spot on the Billboard "Social 50 Chart". This resulted in a huge explosion in his social media fan base, almost doubling the number of his followers on various social media platforms.

As his popularity grew, MattyB started releasing songs with original lyrics. His first such song was a cover of "I Believe in You", released on June 22, 2010. Within a couple months, he worked with popular singer-songwriter, Tyler Ward, on the cover version of the song "Just the Way You Are" which released on August 11, 2010. Soon after, he started to get noticed by A-list celebrities, and in late 2010, he was invited as a guest artist on television shows, such as ‘The Wendy Williams Show’ and ‘Entertainment Tonight’. His first original song, "Forever and Always", was released on September 8, 2011. He continued to appear on television in the next few years, featuring on shows, such as ‘Fox 5 News at 10’, ‘Today’ and ‘Dr. Phil’, and appeared alongside Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson on ‘WWE Raw’. During this time, he performed live at Turner Field, Six Flags Over Georgia, Centennial Olympic Park, and at a Nascar Event at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He also worked on a number of national commercials. In March 2014, at the age of 11, he was signed by the digital network "Endemol Beyond USA" for a premium content deal. He eventually started producing short musical videos, in which he performed and acted as well.

MattyB is markedly different from most adult rappers in that his lyrics are rated for the general audience and are perfectly suitable for the younger generation. However, while he doesn't glorify crime or drugs in his lyrics, it seems that like many popular rappers, he too is no stranger to courting controversy. He is known to his fans for his recklessness, and often gets involved into Twitter-fights with people much older than him. He doesn't shy away from revealing to his fans when his parents, or his school principal, punish him for some reason. He has often been mocked on social media for this, especially after he was grounded and banned from the internet in late 2016.

MattyB was born on January 6, 2003, in Atlanta, Georgia, to Tawny and Blake Morris. His father is an investor, songwriter and record producer who also acts as his manager. He has four siblings: three elder brothers, Blake Jr., John Michael and Josh, and one younger sister, Sarah Grace. His older cousin, MarsRaps, is also a rapper and produces his songs and music videos. He is currently a middle school student at Wesleyan School. He is interested in outdoor activities and loves to play baseball, lacrosse and soccer. His other interests include boxing, video games and arts.