Matthew Victor Barrett, who performed as Matty B, is a former

Australian hip hop Australian hip hop traces its origins to the early 1980s and is largely inspired by hip hop and other urban musical genres from the United States. As the form matured, Australian hip hop has become a commercially viable style of music which i ...

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

and MC. Originally from

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, he released an album, ''The Courageous LP'', in 2002 on

Obese Records Obese Records was a record label that released music from the Australian hip hop genre. It was the largest Australian independent hip hop label, including performers Pegz, Thundamentals and Dialectrix. Obese Records also operated two retail st ...

. He relocated to the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

in 2006 and followed with an eight-track extended play, ''Simple but Effective'' in May, on his own label, B-Style Entertainment.

Biography

Matthew Barrett grew up in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

and became a member of Perth's Syllabolix Crew. In the 1990s he was a professional surfer, Barrett began rapping seriously when Syllabolix was formed in 1999. He recalled, "I used to just freestyle at parties, take the piss out of people. My mates would tell me I should go rap, since I was about 17." Formerly signed to

, he released music on his own label, B-Style Entertainment, in 2006. Barrett's first track to be released was "Courageous", appearing on the ''Culture of Kings'' compilation in 2000. It was co-written by Barrett with fellow Syllabolix Crew mate, Scott Griffiths (

Optamus Scott Griffiths, better known by the stage name Optamus, is one of the MCs of the Perth, Western Australia, Perth-based Australian Hip hop music, hip-hop group Downsyde and member of WA's Syllabolix Crew. Optamus is also the name of Griffiths' s ...

). Note: User may have to click "Search again" and provide details at "Enter a title:" e.g. Courageous; or at "Performer:" Matty B In 2001 he performed at the

Margaret River The Margaret River is a river in southwest Western Australia. In a small catchment, it is the eponym of the town and tourist region of Margaret River. The river arises from a catchment of just 40 square kilometres in the Whicher Range. The ...

Masters Concert. In the next year he performed at the

Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...

concerts. He followed in 2002 by his debut album, ''The Courageous LP''. The album was co-produced by Griffiths and Darren Reutens (a.k.a.

Dazastah Dazastah is one of the MCs of the Perth, Western Australia-based hip-hop group Downsyde. History Dazastah (Darren Reutens) joined Downsyde when he met MCs Optamus (Scott Griffiths) and Dyna-mikes (Shahbaz Rind) at Leederville TAFE in the late 1 ...

) of Syllabolix. Mandy Nolan of ''

Byron Shire Echo ''The Byron Shire Echo'' is a weekly independent compact newspaper published every Wednesday in Mullumbimby, New South Wales, Australia. The newspaper was founded in 1986 as ''The Brunswick Valley Echo'' by Nicholas Shand and David Lovejoy. Ov ...

'' felt ''The Courageous LP'' was "a must listen release for people who love music coming from the luckiest country in the world; Australia." ''Beat Magazine''s Carlisle Rogers described listening to it as "akin to digging Australia's homegrown version of grime. After all, hip hop's very roots lie in that soil composed of just talking about everyday life, unfiltered, unadulterated." An album track, "Fridays (I Love 'Em)", also appears on

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

's 2005 album, ''Super Request—Dog's Breakfast'', which is a compilation album of frequently requested songs from that station's ''Super Request'' program. "Fridays" was written by Reutens. Barrett relocated to the

and released an eight-track EP, ''Simple but Effective'', in May 2006 on his own label, B-Style Entertainment. He described his song writing style "I used to, when I first started, write rhymes all over the place on bits of paper and then try to match it up with beats later. Now, what I do is get beats from Syllabolix and I listen to the beats first for a few months and I work out the feel of the beats. At the same time I'm dreaming up song titles and subject matter, and things I want to talk about. I match them all up and I start writing over the beat." He performed at the Rosemount Hotel in Perth at an All Stars gig following the

Robert Hunter Cup Robert Alan Hunter (1 October 1975 – 20 October 2011), better known as Hunter or Huntz, was an Australian rapper and hip hop artist. He was a founder of Perth's hip hop scene in the 1990s and a member of the MC collective Syllabolix (SBX) ...

in October 2014, in honor of his late friend Hunter.

Discography

Albums

* ''The Courageous LP'' (2002) –

(OBR 009)

Extended plays

* ''Simple but Effective'' – B-Style Entertainment/Shogun Distribution (2006)

Compilation appearances

* ''Culture of Kings — Volume 1'' –

(2000) (song: "Courageous") * ''Mamma's Kitchen'' – Obese Records (2005) (song: "Courageous") * ''Super Request—Dog's Breakfast'' – ABC Records (2005) (song: "Fridays")

Guest appearances

* "3 Demon MC's" by Clandestein (''Clandestein'' 2001, Syllaboliks Records) * "Matty B's Insight" by

Downsyde Downsyde are an Australian hip hop group from Perth, Western Australia. The group is composed of three members, Optamus, Dazastah and Dyna-Mikes. The group has performed alongside groups including Jurassic 5, Cypress Hill, Grandmaster Flash, The ...

(''

Epinonimous ''Epinonimous'' is the debut album released by the Australian Hip Hop group Downsyde Downsyde are an Australian hip hop group from Perth, Western Australia. The group is composed of three members, Optamus, Dazastah and Dyna-Mikes. The group ...

'' 2001, Syllaboliks Records) * "Esposing EM" by Hunter and Dazastah (''Done DL'' 2002, Syllaboliks/

) * "Raw Cause" by DJ Ransom (''15.OZ Vinyl'' 2004, Crookneck Records) * "Nothin to Us" by

Chopper Read Chopper may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Chopper'' (comics), a horror comic book mini-series * ''Chopper'' (film), a 2000 Australian film by and about Mark "Chopper" Read * Chopper (''Judge Dredd''), a character in British comics anth ...

(''Chopper Read –

Interview with a Madman ''Interview with a Madman'' is a hip hop album by Australian criminal Mark "Chopper" Read, released on Rott'n Records on March 13, 2006. Read's foray into music features gritty tales of organised crime, jail time and ear mutilation, and he is ...

'' 2006, Rott'n Records)

References

External links

Beat Magazine album review – ''Simple But Courageous''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matty B Australian hip hop musicians Rappers from Perth, Western Australia Living people Obese Records artists Year of birth missing (living people)