From Ethiopia to First Ave, rapper Mati leads Best New Bands lineup

In his high school yearbook, Mati was voted most likely to go viral. And that was before he ever made music.

Remember those YouTube videos where kids react in funny ways to hearing older songs for the first time? Or have you ever seen the BeanBoozled Challenge videos where teens gross each other out with strange flavors of jellybeans? He was one of those kids posting those clips.

“It was all silly, but there was a performance element to it,” the Ethiopian-born, Minneapolis-raised MC said of his early claim to almost-fame. “In a roundabout way, it helped me prepare for what I’m doing now.”

What he’s doing now has earned him a slot as one of seven acts performing in First Avenue’s Best New Bands of 2024 showcase, happening Friday. He also has been signed by Against Giants, the same management company that represents nationally acclaimed Minneapolis hip-hop star Dua Saleh.

Mati also has indeed gone relatively viral, thanks in part to a series of high-quality music videos that look like he’s working out of Hollywood instead of south Minneapolis. His newest video for the self-starter anthem “Prey,” for instance, shows him leading alternate lives between an urban housing facility and a rural field with a TV set, kitchen table, etc.

By contrast, a much grimmer video for the song “Immune” uses “Boondocks”-like, anime-style animation to create scenes of rioting and fiery street violence that probably seem all too real to Minneapolis kids Mati’s age, who came of age during the mayhem following George Floyd’s murder.

“All that civil unrest impacted me, and made me feel like I needed to do something and try to inspire people and bring people together,” said Mati, who’s 24 now.

As for his overall dedication to creating these high-quality music videos, he said, “You don’t need $10,000 to make a video that looks that good. You just need a good creative community around you, people who want to work with you that know how to do the work.”

Born Mati Regassa, the youngest of four children, he was raised in what he called “pretty tough surroundings” around the Phillips neighborhood in Minneapolis.

After he started getting into some trouble, though, his parents had him bused to Edina High School. He said he endured awkward encounters there, like one teacher asking to touch his voluminous hair (which he otherwise says he’s proud to show off).

Mostly, though, he said, “I had better opportunities, and I learned how to work in different environments and not worry so much about my differences.”

His dad had been a well-off veterinarian back in Ethiopia, whose life was threatened after he led some protests against the government, Mati said. So he fled to America as a refugee, with his then-3-year-old son Mati and the rest of his family soon following.

“It was kind of hard to understand and embrace all that when I was a kid,” Mati said, “but now I embrace it and am very proud of it.”

Listening to his music, you probably wouldn’t know of those roots aside from the cover photo of his second of two EPs, “Berhane’s Son.” It shows him drinking coffee from a traditional Ethiopian tray and pot with his mother; yep, named Berhane.

“Coffee is so ingrained in our culture. I love the smell of it and everything about it,” he said, talking over matcha tea at one of his favorite coffee shops. (“I’m trying to cut down on it, though,” he said.)

Mati said he hopes to incorporate elements of Ethiopian jazz and other East African music on his next EP. For now, though, you hear more typical modern American rap influences such as Travis Scott and Kendrick Lamar, plus the one rapper Mati said convinced him to become one, New Yorker Joey Bada$$.

“I had been messing around and rapping just a little, really just having fun,” he recounted. “And then the pandemic hit. I was going through a bad breakup at the time, too.

“I got serious about [rapping] because I didn’t have much else to do, and I needed to get some things off my chest.”

One of the songs on his new EP, “Headphones & Mic Too,” paints a picture of how he now pursues lyrical inspiration in his everyday life, including a bus stop. “Someone get me headphones, I’m just trying to tell the truth,” he says, and later adds, “I’m a wordsmith, I write a kick drum with my shoes tied.”

Other songs in Mati’s repertoire riff on fearful encounters with police and dangerous drugs as well as more lighthearted stuff, like driving around for fun and looking for love. In one of his first songs to gain traction, 2023’s “Life Notes,” he opens up about giving up a more party-centric life: “I fell in love with patterns that created bad habits / Drink until we numb and then bad happens.”

Mati has made most of his tracks with local producers Gibson “Gibby” Prescher and Hayden Black and a crew of musicians, which has led to him performing with a live band at recent shows. He said those musical collaborations are helping him stay prolific, too.

Reminded that the things that first inspired him to become a rapper are now in his rearview mirror — including the pandemic and that bad breakup — Mati didn’t seem worried.

“I’m sure I’ll have other things to get off my chest,” he said.

When: 7 p.m. Fri.

Where: First Avenue, 701 1st Av. N., Mpls.

Tickets: $15, 18 & up, axs.com.