In his high school yearbook, Mati was voted most likely to go viral. And that was before he ever made music.
Remember those YouTube videos where kids react in funny ways to hearing older songs for the first time? Or have you ever seen the BeanBoozled Challenge videos where teens gross each other out with strange flavors of jellybeans? He was one of those kids posting those clips.
“It was all silly, but there was a performance element to it,” the Ethiopian-born, Minneapolis-raised MC said of his early claim to almost-fame. “In a roundabout way, it helped me prepare for what I’m doing now.”
What he’s doing now has earned him a slot as one of seven acts performing in First Avenue’s Best New Bands of 2024 showcase, happening Friday. He also has been signed by Against Giants, the same management company that represents nationally acclaimed Minneapolis hip-hop star Dua Saleh.
Mati also has indeed gone relatively viral, thanks in part to a series of high-quality music videos that look like he’s working out of Hollywood instead of south Minneapolis. His newest video for the self-starter anthem “Prey,” for instance, shows him leading alternate lives between an urban housing facility and a rural field with a TV set, kitchen table, etc.
By contrast, a much grimmer video for the song “Immune” uses “Boondocks”-like, anime-style animation to create scenes of rioting and fiery street violence that probably seem all too real to Minneapolis kids Mati’s age, who came of age during the mayhem following George Floyd’s murder.
“All that civil unrest impacted me, and made me feel like I needed to do something and try to inspire people and bring people together,” said Mati, who’s 24 now.
Read The full article on Star Tribune
