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

Early life and education

Hunter was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

,"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 YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

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. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

Marc Anthony Marco Antonio Muñiz Rivera (born September 16, 1968), known professionally as Marc Anthony, is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is the top selling tropical salsa artist of all time. A three-time Grammy Award and six-time Latin G ...

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 men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting rig ...

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

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

, in both Portuguese and Spanish versions. By 2016 he had amassed 200,000 subscribers on his

channel and over 500,000

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

followers. Hunter splits his time between New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and Latin America.

Television

As a voice actor, Hunter played the singing role of Diego Márquez in the final two seasons of The Nickelodeon animated television series ''

Go, Diego, Go! ''Go, Diego, Go!'' is an American children's animated television program that premiered on Nickelodeon on September 6, 2005 in the United States. Created and executive produced by Chris Gifford and Valerie Walsh Valdes, the series is a spin-of ...

'' and played the same character in ''

Dora the Explorer ''Dora the Explorer'' is an American children's animated television series and multimedia franchise created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh Valdes and Eric Weiner that premiered on Nickelodeon on August 14, 2000, went on hiatus on June 5, 20 ...

''. 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.

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" * Pitbu ...

, presented by

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language 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 Latino public and inclu ...

(which did actually carry Spanish dubs of both

and

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

Lele Pons Eleonora Pons Maronese (born June 25, 1996), better known as Lele Pons, is a Venezuelan YouTuber, actress, and singer who holds both Venezuelan and American citizenship. Pons came to prominence on Vine before the platform shut down in 2017 w ...

) (2018) *"Lista De Espera" (feat. Isabela Moner) (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 Corona Smith) (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, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Eve ...

) (2014) *"Todo Cambiara" (Spanish version of Justin Timberlake's "

Not a Bad Thing "Not a Bad Thing" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake for his fourth studio album, '' The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2'' (2013). It was written and produced by Timberlake, Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley, and Jerome "J-Roc ...

") (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 Child pop musicians Living people American people of Colombian descent American people of Italian descent American male voice actors People from Paramus, New Jersey 21st-century American singers 21st-century American male singers Universal Music Latin Entertainment artists Singer-songwriters from New Jersey