Tip the Artist

Artist Bio

Grammy-nominated artist Matthew Santos has established himself as one of the rare and striking talents quickly emerging from the Chicago music scene. With an ethereal voice that has been the praise of artists such as Eddie Vedder, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, and Rihanna, Santos has secured his place in current music with his distinguished style and elusive musical gift. Far from all of the sound and fury of the modern music trends, Santos is quietly rising into one of the most remarkable voices of his generation. Santos was nominated for “Best Rock Entertainer” for Chicago’s 2009 Music Awards and his band is featured as one of the "top ten bands to watch" in Chicago by The Chicago Sun-Times. His full band features Aviva Jaye (vocals, keyboard), Robert Tucker (drums), Graham Burris (bass), Chris Gelbuda (lead guitar) and Matt Nelson (keyboard). Best known for his collaborations with Grammy-Award winning hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco, Santos has since stepped away from the flash and bang of the lime light in an effort to cultivate his own sound and songwriting, while carving out an independent road to creative success. "The experience of working with Lupe was exciting…and maybe I'd be rich and famous if I had stayed on that path…but I could hear that voice in my head telling me to 'follow your heart' and 'remember your vision', and honestly, that voice probably saved my life." Santos’ vocals are featured on multiple tracks on Fiasco’s Gold Record The Cool and most widely recognized on the Grammy-nominated single “Superstar.” Yet with a wealth of music to offer the world, Santos’ performances during the “Superstar” phenomenon became counter-intuitive to his desire to focus on his own “soul-folk-rock” music and break free from the disillusioned association as Fiasco’s “hook guy.” “The acoustic, folk-pop fare is a far cry stylistically from what Santos contributed to many tracks on Fiasco’s latest album, “The Cool.” However, the soulful underpinnings of his voice are what remain consistent, containing versatility suitable for his singer/songwriter styling as well as R&B.”-Billboard Magazine Native to Minneapolis, Santos discovered his passion for music at age seven when he started playing melodic themes from movies and TV on the piano by ear. He picked up the guitar at the age of fifteen, when after learning a few chords he began writing his own songs. When of age, Santos decided to pursue music and relocated to Chicago in 2001 to study music composition at Columbia College Chicago. He released his first independently produced album Change is Better in 2004 and EP As a Crow Flies in 2006. In November of 2007, Santos released an acoustic album Matters of the Bittersweet under Candy-Rat Records, with intimate video recordings available on YouTube. In May of 2010, his full length LP This Burning Ship of Fools was released independently. Santos is Currently working on his second full length album with Candy Rat Records entitled, "Quickly Disappearing" to be released late 2011.