Matthew Santos

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title: "Matthew Santos" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1982-births", "american-folk-singers", "american-rock-singers", "singers-from-chicago", "living-people", "musicians-from-minneapolis", "atlantic-records-artists", "american-musicians-of-filipino-descent", "american-people-of-spanish-descent", "american-people-of-danish-descent", "singers-from-minnesota", "21st-century-american-singers", "21st-century-american-male-singers"] topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Santos" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]

Field	Value
name	Matthew Santos
background	solo_singer
image	Matthew Santos.jpg
caption	Santos performing in 2007
birth_name	Matthew Santos
birth_date
origin	Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
genre
occupation
instrument
years_active	2006–present
label
associated_acts
website
::

Matthew Santos is a two-time Grammy Nominated pop and folk singer-songwriter, musician and composer, also known as MA/SA. He became well known for his collaboration with Chicago rapper 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. 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 Total Request Live 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 Writers 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 on the single "Chaconne" by Twin Cities hip hop artist Dessa, a member of Doomtree, from her album A Badly Broken Code. That summer, he was featured in Chicago magazine as one of the city's top singles.

Seeking creative autonomy, Santos stepped away from the mainstream music scene to focus on his own artistic inclinations. In 2010, Santos released the album This Burning Ship of Fools. In 2012, Santos released the album Quickly Disappearing.

He released three more studio albums and became the frontman of the electro-pop band MONAKR. The band's success led to a record deal with Embassy of Music and a publishing agreement with Songs Music Publishing (KOBALT). Their music was featured in the film "Love, Simon" and the TV show "Shades of Blue."

In recent years, Santos collaborated with notable artists such as Daveed Diggs, Rafael Casal, Jasmine Cephas-Jones, NGHTMRE, Eryn Allen Kane, and Saba Pivot. He also toured extensively with fellow Minneapolis artist Dessa across Europe, China, and North America, and has begun scoring for film, TV, and movie trailers.

Santos's music has been featured in various shows and films, including "Games People Play," "Sacrifice," "LEGO Masters," "Claim to Fame," "Temptation Island," "The Chi," and "Berlin, I love You." Additionally, he contributed songs to the Netflix series "First Kill," including the singles "Lil' Drop," "Too Late, Too Little," and “Give My Life For You.”

Santos recently composed music for the trailer of the award-winning Netflix movie, “Rustin”.

Discography

Albums

As a Crow Flies EP (2006)
Matters of the Bittersweet (2007, CandyRat Records)
This Burning Ship of Fools (2010, Love Sick Fool Records)
Quickly Disappearing (2012, CandyRat Records)
Into the Further (2015, CandyRat Records)

Singles

• Burning Up (Come Up Down) (2011)

• Under The Microscope (2015)

• Borrowed Time (2024)

Featured singles

::data[format=table]

Year	Song	Chart positions	Certifications	Album	U.S. Hot 100	U.S. Pop 100	UK
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
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Guest appearances

::data[format=table]

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
2016	"Bucket List"	Saba	Bucket List Project
::

References

[https://www.matthewsantos.com]. Accessed January 2, 2008.
[http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/12669822.html Star Tribune interview (December 20, 2007)]. Accessed January 8, 2008.
[http://chicago.metromix.com/music/article/superstar-in-the-making/305238/content MetroMix and The RedEye interview] {{webarchive. link. (May 23, 2009 Accessed February 15, 2008.)
[http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1046941/matthew-santos Billboard Magazine interview (January 2, 2008)]. Accessed January 5, 2008. {{webarchive. link. (September 17, 2014)
[http://www.singersroom.com/news/entertainment-story-1246.asp Singersroom article (November 28, 2007)] {{webarchive. link. (February 2, 2013 Accessed January 9, 2008.)
[http://www.silive.com/entertainment/music/index.ssf/2008/01/music_not_quite_a_superstar.html Staten Island Advance interview] Accessed January 31, 2008.
link. (July 8, 2011 Accessed March 3, 2008.)
[http://www.lansinglowdown.com/index.php/article/1049 Lansing Lowdown interview (December 5, 2007)] {{webarchive. link. (January 19, 2008 . Accessed January 8, 2008.)
[http://washingtontimes.com/article/20080125/ENTERTAINMENT/59862757/1007/entertainment Washington Times interview (January 25, 2008)]. Accessed January 25, 2008,
[http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/download/47734-lupe-fiasco-ft-matthew-santos-superstar-live-on-late-show-with-david-letterman Pitchfork Forkcast: Matthew Santos on David Letterman (January 3, 2007)] {{Webarchive. link. (January 6, 2008 . Accessed January 9, 2008.)
link. (July 8, 2011 . Accessed January 30, 2008.)
[http://media.www.michigandaily.com/media/storage/paper851/news/2007/12/07/Music/Matt-Santos.SingerSongwriter.Of.The.Digital.Age.Comes.To.Aa-3138712.shtml The Michigan Daily interview (December 7, 2007)] {{webarchive. link. (January 18, 2008 . Accessed January 8, 2008.)
[http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/July-2009/Singles-2009/Matthew-Santos/ Chicago magazine's top singles: Matthew Santos (June 2009)]. Accessed June 12, 2009.
[http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/March-2010/On-Matthew-Santos-and-his-new-record-This-Burning-Ship-of-Fools/ On Matthew Santos and his new record "This Burning Ship of Fools" (March 2009)]. Accessed March 29, 2010.
[{{BillboardURLbyName
"Superstar".
{{cite certification

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