Matthew Santos
Quick Facts
Biography
Matthew Santos is an American rock and folk singer-songwriter, musician and painter. His music was used in a series of two Radio ads, for American Family Insurance. He is best known for his collaboration with Chicago native Lupe Fiasco on the single "Superstar." He was signed to Lupe Fiasco's 1st & 15th Entertainment record label, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records.
Biography
Early years
Matthew Santos was born on December 28, 1982 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His mother, Judy, is from Denmark and his father, Dave, is of Filipino and Spanish descent.
He graduated from Southwest High School in Minneapolis. He moved to Chicago in 2001 to study music composition at Columbia College Chicago.
Music career
Santos released his album Matters of the Bittersweet in November 2007, under indie-label Candyrat Records. Following the release of the album, he developed a following surrounding his video performances on YouTube. His five-piece band includes Aviva Jaye (vocals, keyboard), Robert Tucker (drums), Graham Burris (bass), and Matthew Nelson (keyboard).
In 2006, Santos was featured on Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor album on the song "American Terrorist." Santos was featured on three additional tracks on Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, released in December 2007; "Superstar", "Streets On Fire", and "Fighters." Santos joined Fiasco on his world tour in 2008, including appearances on MTV's TRL and Spring Break, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and a debut talk show performance on David Letterman's first live show after the 2007 Writer's Guild of America Strike.
In 2007, Santos opened the mtvU Woodie Awards with Lupe Fiasco and performed at the 2008 mtv's Video Music Awards. In addition, Santos performed at Glastonbury Festival, Bonnaroo Festival, the Las Vegas Vegoose Music Festival, Lollapalooza Chicago, South by Southwest, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Summerfest, and Chicago's Around the Coyote Arts Festival.
In 2009, Santos was featured in the single "Chaconne" by Twin Cities hip-hop artist Dessa, a member of Doomtree. That summer, he was also featured in Chicago magazine as one of the city's top singles.
In 2010, Santos released the album, "This Burning Ship of Fools."
In 2012 Santos released his newest album, "Quickly Disappearing".
Discography
Albums
As a Crow Flies
As a Crow Flies is Santos' first solo EP, released in 2006.
| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | My Remedy |
| 2 | Fill My Cup |
| 3 | Shadows In a Shoebox |
| 4 | O' Montreal |
| 5 | Masquerade |
| 6 | Unnamable |
Matters of the Bittersweet
Matters of the Bittersweet is Santos' first solo album, released in November 2007 on Candyrat Records.
| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | Shadows in a Shoebox |
| 2 | Uncertainties |
| 3 | Humming Bird |
| 4 | Love Sick Fool |
| 5 | Waiting for the Day |
| 6 | Daughter of the Sun |
| 7 | My Remedy |
| 8 | Old Man Winter |
| 9 | Unnameable |
| 10 | Drop a Coin |
| 11 | Lady Luna |
| 12 | Matters of the Bittersweet |
This Burning Ship of Fools
This Burning Ship of Fools is Santos' second solo album, released May 28, 2010 on Love Sick Fool Records.
| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | Daughter of the Sun |
| 2 | At My Table (ft. Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews) |
| 3 | You Will Be Saved |
| 4 | Wide Eyed Firefly |
| 5 | The Good Life (ft. Rachele Eve) |
| 6 | Break Free |
| 7 | Day of Our Day Dreaming |
| 8 | Drop A Coin |
| 9 | Born To Do |
| 10 | Time Still |
| 11 | December's Ghost |
| 12 | Death, Sex and Regret |
| 13 | Days Like This |
Quickly Disappearing
Quickly Disappearing is Santos' third album, released January 31, 2012 on Candyrat Records.
| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | Quickly Disappearing |
| 2 | NVR LKD SO FIN |
| 3 | Shallow Grave |
| 4 | Scarecrow |
| 5 | Burning Up |
| 6 | History of Ice |
| 7 | Dead Star Watching |
| 8 | Not Such a Big World |
| 9 | Swans Song |
| 10 | Just to See You |
Singles
Featured singles
| Year | Song | Chart positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Hot 100 | U.S. Pop 100 | U.S. R&B | UK | UK R&B | |||
| 2007 | "Superstar" (Lupe Fiasco featuring Matthew Santos) | 10 | 13 | 19 | 4 | 1 | Lupe Fiasco's the Cool |
| 2009 | "Shining Down" (Lupe Fiasco featuring Matthew Santos) | 93 | Lasers | ||||
Guest appearances
| Year | Song | Artist(s) | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | "American Terrorist" | Lupe Fiasco | Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor |
| 2007 | "Superstar" | Lupe Fiasco's The Cool | |
| "Fighters" | |||
| "Streets On Fire" | |||
| 2009 | "Shining Down" | Lasers | |
| 2010 | "The Chaconne" | Dessa | A Badly Broken Code |