Matthew David Morris - Thats a Rap

Matthew David Morris, better known as MattyB, is a thirteen-year-old rapper from Atlanta, Georgia. After finding fame on YouTube, MattyB went on to amass over three billion views, sell out shows all over the world, and record the smash hits Right Now Im Missing You, My Oh My, and New Kids.

Critically acclaimed author Travis Thrasher has written more than thirty books. He lives with his wife and three daughters in a suburb of Chicago.

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/MattyBRaps

/MattyBRaps

/MattyBRaps

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Copyright 2016 by MattyB, LLC

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First Gallery Books hardcover edition June 2016

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Interior design by Davina Mock-Maniscalco

Jacket design by John Vairo Jr.

Jacket photograph by MattyB, LLC

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-5011-3379-4

ISBN 978-1-5011-3382-4 (ebook)

T he coolest thing in the world is finding something thats rare. Something that might look like everything else, but it is absolutely one of a kind. It could be a baseball card or a limited-edition sneaker or a signed flyer or a snapshot. It could be anything. The value doesnt come from some price tag put on it. It comes from being totally unique.

Over the years, Ive collected all kinds of rare things. I have several favorite hats that sit on my desk in my room. A stack of autographs from different famous people Ive met; my multicolored special-edition Nike KDs that I got online. Special pins and mementos, pieces of art Ive made.

But none of that compares to something thats even cooler, which is the fact that every one of us is a unique person.

Its easy to say that if youre someone like my sister, Sarah Grace. Shes the youngest in our family and the only girl (with four brothers!). Shes funny and feisty and cute, and she was born with Down syndrome. She definitely is one of a kind.

People say that about someone like me, too, because Im a kid who started rapping when he was seven years old, with lots of views on YouTube, who performs in concerts and gets to meet lots of folks. But when you really start to think about it, every single one of us is totally unique. God made us that way.

Were all one of a kind.

Ive been blessed to do some amazing things over the last five years, and Im excited about the chance to spend some time with you and share those special moments. How I started to sing and rap and begin my musical journey. The things Ive heard and seen and the places Ive been. Some of the funny and crazy experiences Ive had and the stories behind some of the songs and videos. Also to talk about my family and friends, and the important things that matter the most.

This book is also about you, because without the fans, none of this could have ever happened.

Most of all, I hope its a chance to inspire you to know and believe that you are absolutely one of a kind and priceless.

It starts with a dream.

M y story begins with a guy singing and a girl overhearing him. Its not me, though. Im not in the picture yet.

This guys at work, at one of those jobs nobody daydreams about, mopping floors. But that doesnt stop him from singing. Sometimes thats the only thing you can do in a depressing situation.

The girl says, You need to be singing. You need to go do something with that, like try out for a talent show.

So this guy decides to give it a try. He has nothing to lose.

Hes already lost everything, and I mean everything.

If you want to go farther,

dream big and work hard

so you can play harder.

T he Georgia Dome is packed with ten thousand amateur singers, all hoping to be the next winner of American Idol. My cousin Mars is one of them.

His full name is Charles Marshall Manning, but hes always gone by Marshall. When he first began making music, his friends told him theyd never met anybody like him. Its like youre from Mars, they told him. Mars was a natural nickname for Marshall, so it stuck.

Its January 13, 2010. Mars has been waiting for hours to go sing for thirty seconds in front of a judge at a table. There are six rows of judges on the field at the Georgia Dome, and groups of four have to go in front of them and perform. Its tough to sound good when you just start singing on the spot.

Its even tougher to go somewhere with ten thousand others and wait to probably get voted off. This is when you have to believe in yourself.

None of my family even knows Mars is trying out. He hasnt told anybody.

Things have been tough on Mars, though none of my family realizes how much. We do know that his mother, my fathers sister, passed away recently.

Mars is definitely not in a good place in his life. Hes working as a janitor for a restaurant, and its there that a waitress setting up tables tells him hes got a great voice and should try out for American Idol.

Thats exactly what Mars does.

He has hope. He also has faith. Those are the things you need to have in order to give it a shot.

My cousin borrows a friends car and drives to downtown Atlanta, where the auditions will be. Then, after all the waiting and sitting around, Mars sings and actually makes it through!

Its the start of something really cool, but not in the way anyone expected.

My immediate family is not in the picture yet.

But very soon.

Know this, gotta be yourself

for the world to notice.

I wasnt yet MattyB when I was born on January 6, 2003. I was named Matthew David Morris, and I have always been called Matt. My family, especially my dad, loves to come up with nicknames. MattyB was a childhood nickname because B ( bee ) rhymes with the ee sound in Matty and it just stuck. A lot of people ask me what the B stands for. I like to say it means Be who you want to be. Because that is what I believe in.