There's always something magnetic about artists who use music as a tool to propel pain into purpose, and Matmiie certainly does that with his new single, "The Warm Up." Grounded in the soul of conscious hip-hop and cloaked in the pure intensity of golden-era rap, the song feels like an artist pulling off layers on every level emotionally, creatively, and spiritually.
Born and raised in Texas with Indiana ties, Matthew Ontiveros, better known to his small but growing fan base as Matmiie, isn't just about the raps for fame. His lyrics are born from working through family trauma, spinning out in the aftermath of rejection and bearing the coolly crushing weight of depression. Grit and growth are sewn into every bar, and breath is breathed in "The Warm Up."
This is a statement that Matmiie is prepared to leave the shadows of his battle to emerge in the limelight. Over a head-bobbing beat with a sense of intensity and faintly menacing, Matmiie provides punchy, personal, and prophetic flows. His voice holds the insistence of someone with something to prove not to the world but to himself. The production occupies that golden chalice of the old-school boom-bap aesthetic meeting the modern exactness, a listen that's just complicated enough to be comprehendible by both hip-hop purists and new-school heads. What makes it distinctive, however, is its soul. You feel Matmiie.
More than a decade has been spent honing his craft, and you can hear Matmiie knows when to go hard and when to let a pause breathe. That give-and-take between hunger and restraint makes "The Warm Up" play more like a pro first punch. This is a start. And if this is just a warm-up, we really can't wait to hear the heat that Matmiie brings in the coming year.
Discover Matmiie on Instagram