Matthew Alexander Hunter Correa (born February 20, 1998), known professionally as Matt Hunter, is an American singer, songwriter, and voice actor of Colombian-Italian descent.

Early life

Hunter was born on February 20, 1998, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

,"Matt Hunter, the 'Latino Justin Bieber,' Looks for Mainstream Success in US,"
''Latino Post'', August 14, 2013. and raised in

Paramus, New Jersey Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H, ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...

.Jody Rosen
"Inside Marc Anthony's New Latin Entertainment Empire: 'It Was Born Out of F—king Frustration',"
''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', April 21, 2016. His mother is Colombian,Cristina Arreola
"Matt Hunter Talks New Music, Celeb Crushes & Latin American Tour,"
''Latina'', September 18, 2013. and his father is Italian.

Career

Music

Hunter worked in voice acting from ages 9 to 12, at which point he began posting YouTube videos of himself playing the guitar and singing various covers, occasionally in Spanish.Griselda Flores
"Who's Up-and-Coming Latin Artist Matt Hunter?"
''Billboard'', April 21, 2016.
''Latino Post'', September 20, 2013. His videos went viral and he traveled around Latin America building his fan base in a grass roots fashion. Around this time, he was dubbed the "Latino

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

Marc Anthony Marco Antonio Muñiz (born September 16, 1968), known professionally as Marc Anthony, is an American singer and actor. He is the top selling salsa artist of all time. A four-time Grammy Award, eight-time Latin Grammy Award and twenty-nine-tim ...

later called Hunter "the future" of music. At 13, Hunter released his first single, "Mi Amor". He released follow-up singles in English and Spanish, "Right Here, Right Now" and "Mi Senorita", in 2012, and then his EP ''Right Here, Right Now''. For the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

, he released the songs "Minha Mina Ta Loca" and "Mi Chica Esta Loca" with

Pitbull Pit bull is an umbrella term for several types of dog believed to have descended from bull and terriers. In the United States, the term is usually considered to include the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, American B ...

, in both Portuguese and Spanish versions. By 2016 he had amassed 200,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel and over 500,000 Twitter followers. Hunter splits his time between New York,

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, and

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

Television

As a voice actor, Hunter played the singing role of Diego Márquez in the final two seasons of The

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

animated television series ''

Go, Diego, Go! ''Go, Diego, Go!'' is an American animated children's television series that aired on Nickelodeon from September 6, 2005 to September 16, 2011, with 80 episodes across five seasons. Created and executive produced by Chris Gifford (writer), Chri ...

'' and played the same character in ''

Dora the Explorer ''Dora the Explorer'' is an American media franchise centered on an eponymous animated interactive fourth wall children's television series created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh Valdes, and Eric Weiner, and produced by Nickelodeon Animation ...

''. He auditioned for the role when he was 10, recording the voice of Diego until he was 12. He also released his weekly comedy webisode series ''Fuego Fridays''.

Performances

Hunter has performed live in the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Spain, Chile, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Argentina, Costa Rica and Ecuador. In May 2013, he headlined and sold out Chile's 12,000 seat

Movistar Arena Movistar Arena refers to: * Movistar Arena (Madrid), an indoor arena in Spain * Movistar Arena (Bogotá), an indoor arena in Colombia ** Movistar Arena (TransMilenio), a bus rapid transit station near the arena * Movistar Arena (Buenos Aires), an ...

Awards and nominations

Hunter was nominated for Favorite Pop Artist at the

2013 Premios Juventud The 10th Annual Premios Juventud (Youth Awards) were broadcast by Univision on July 18, 2013. Performers * Abraham Mateo — "Señorita" * Maite Perroni — "Tú Y Yo" * Lucero — "No Pudiste Amar Así" * Ricky Martin — "Come With Me" * Pi ...

, presented by

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the L ...

(which did actually carry Spanish dubs of both ''

'' and ''

'' (two shows that Hunter did voice work on) as part of its Planeta U block from 2008 to 2014). Vanguardia Mexico: Lista de nominados a los Premios Juventud – Mi artista pop: Dulce María, Jenni Rivera, Jesse & Joy, Matt Hunter, Thalía, Justin Bieber Abundis Garcia

Filmography

Discography

;EPs ;Singles *"Home for the Holidays" (2011) *"Mi Señorita" (2012) *"Mi Amor" (2012) *"Right Here, Right Now" (2013) *"Te Vi" (2014) *"Mi Chica Está Loca" (2014) **"Mi Chica Está Loca" (alternative version feat.

) (2014) *"Mas Que Tu Amigo" (2015) *"Te Necesito" (feat.

Augusto Schuster Augusto José Schuster Picó or just Augusto Schuster or the mononym Schuster (born 24 August 1992, in Santiago) is a Chilean actor, singer, dancer and model. Filmography Telenovelas TV series Films Theatre Discography Albums Solo *20 ...

) (2016) *"Amor Real" (2017) *"Dicen" (duet with

Lele Pons Eleonora "Lele" Pons Maronese ( ; born 25 June 1996) is an American and Venezuelan YouTuber, actress and singer. Pons came to prominence on Vine before the platform was shut down in 2016 where she was the most followed woman and the third most ...

) (2018) *"Lista De Espera" (feat.

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) (2018) *"Una Vez Más" (feat. Tommy Boysen) (2019) *"Cazador" (feat. Lenny Tavarez) (2019) *"Problemas" (feat. GASHI, Big Soto) (2019) *"Entera" (with Carla Fernandes) (2020) *"Suave" (with

Corina Smith María Corina Smith Pocaterra (born 8 September 1991), better known as Corina Smith, is a Venezuelan singer, actress and model. Personal life Corina Smith was born in the city of Caracas, Venezuela, on 8 September 1991. She is the daughter of ...

) (2020) *"Error" (with Lalo Ebratt) (2020) ;Covers *" All of Me" (from

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Every ...

) (2014) *"Todo Cambiara" (Spanish version of

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...

's " Not a Bad Thing") (2015) ;Featured in *"Fiesta" (StereO 4 feat. Matt Hunter) (2014)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Matt 1998 births American child singers American male singer-songwriters American male television actors American child pop musicians Living people American people of Colombian descent American people of Italian descent American male voice actors Entertainers from Paramus, New Jersey 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American male singers Universal Music Latin Entertainment artists Singer-songwriters from New Jersey