In his debut music video for the 2022 somber R&B single “To’ Los Días,” we first see Matt Louis hiding in a bathtub, making himself small as he pulls his knees to his chest. His hair is a platinum blonde buzzcut and he’s mostly constrained to small rooms that cage him in. His body language throughout the rest of the video is that of someone reconciling melancholy with yearning. He’s restrained, trapped inside himself, but he doesn’t want to be. Three years later, his most recent track, “ABA” featuring fellow Puerto Rican rising star RaiNao, is a complete shift. Here, he’s looser, more secure, dancing and flailing in more open spaces. His hair is now styled with long braids, and his ripped body undulates fluidly every which way to the frenzied beat.
As he tells Remezcla, the change was the result of years of work — mental, physical, and creative — that pulled him out of his own head and set him on course to embrace every facet of his identity. Working those feelings out through his art was essential to the growth he experienced. “If people are understanding what I’m trying to communicate, then that must mean there’s a little bit of that confidence in me, too. And that leads to you not overthinking yourself as much,” he shares. “And that’s a big problem because you’re always overthinking everything: your body, how you speak, how you’re perceived, and all of that drains you of confidence and presence.“
Matt was raised in Ponce, Puerto Rico, first in the Residencial Dr. Pila housing projects and then in the nearby Los Caobos neighborhood. Located two hours away from San Juan, on the southern coast of the island, Ponce is considered one of the main hubs of Puerto Rico. Asked to describe his hometown, Matt has a more succinct take. “The real calentón. It’s so hot in Ponce!,” he laughs. “Part of my passion for the arts is because of where I was raised. There were a lot of places where I, as a creative, could be stimulated because Ponce was very active when I was growing up,” he says.
From a young age, Matt knew he was different, and like many who have found themselves in his shoes, struggled with whether “different” also meant “wrong.” What anxieties dwelled in his mind during those years of adolescence were tempered by his extracurricular interests, which allowed him an avenue of expression. “I was always creative. I was never good with sports. It was always a dilemma because it’s what’s expected of boys,” he says. “If you’re a boy, then you gotta play basketball, you gotta hang out with the other boys, you have to be masculine, all of that. And I was a kid who connected more with my feminine side.”
His interests began to tilt towards those that fomented self-expression and connected him with other people, such as photography. How it allowed him to “romanticize” his daily life was an essential part of what made him fall in love with the medium. “I’ve always loved beauty, and photography allowed me to get closer to that. And not just for myself; I loved finding that in other people and help them see what I see,” he explains. He also got into longboarding, which opened his social circle up to like-minded people who shared his sensibilities and, like him, felt like they were cut from a different cloth than others. He then began taking photos of his friends and of people at the skate park. “Those are spaces where people are usually being themselves,” he shares.
In college, Matt moved to San Juan and found exciting opportunities opening up. Behind him were the days of rearranging his mother’s living room to do impromptu artsy photoshoots. The innate talent for styling he’d been honing and his photographer’s eye began to open up new doors. He found work with Álvaro Díaz doing clothing line campaigns and even had stints with Tainy and Jhayco. During his time with Díaz, he found himself in a studio with Venezuelan producing duo Lara Project. They heard promise in his singing and urged him to explore his sound. He eventually did, after much contemplation and studying. But all the while, he was also trying to unravel some other thoughts swimming around his mind.
When seeing Matt, it’s hard not to immediately clock his toned physique. Being in such good shape is a source of pride for himself, which is why he’s not shy about showing it off. But the reason he started the journey to get there is mired in issues many can find relatable, like body dysmorphia. “At first, it was, ‘I don’t like myself, I don’t understand myself, I’m not comfortable in my own body,’ which involves a whole lot of context about my sexuality and the perception of my Blackness from myself and people around me. And that creates uncomfortable sensations about how you feel in your body.”
Once again, his art is what gave him the key to box in those feelings and move toward a solution that could heal those bouts of insecurity. “Photography and the exploration of my own self allowed me to discover the things I liked about myself,” he says. “And so, what if I extracted that confidence from the camera and gave it life?”
In his earlier love songs, Matt would nix the use of gendered pronouns in his lyrics, leaving it open to interpretation as to whether he was singing about a female or male love interest. Initially, he credited this to wanting to speak about the general human experience. By late 2023, when he released the song “BYE” and its Moonlight-influenced music video, it was clear the well-intentioned pretenses were falling away. Since then, his lyrics and visuals have been not only more open about his identity as a queer man but also leaning into it. “The human experience is everywhere; I don’t doubt a [straight] man or woman can experience or identify with what I’m singing. But when you’re specific, you’re communicating the exact feelings of what you, as an artist, are going through,” he says. “Being more intentional about using pronouns will definitely paint a clearer picture of who Matt is and what Matt is experiencing. Also, it was because I embraced who I am, which is the most important part.”
Amusingly, he also credits a random experience at a local San Juan hangout for the pivot. While he was in Río Piedras at a bar called El Boricua, a “clearly drunk guy” recognized him and started talking to him about his music, saying, “I want to know more about Matt. Give me details!” Though Matt appreciates feedback from people, he doesn’t typically allow it to change how he does things. But this time, he thought the guy was right. “[I felt] like it was time for me to move away from the ambiguity and be more specific,” he adds.
Matt is aware of the risks that come with manifesting that side of himself — as genuine and true to his soul as it is — but he’s decided the risk is worth it. “This is an industry where [the audience is] part of the equation. You, as an artist, are alone, but [my art] is kind of a public service to the community. My responsibility as an artist is to disrupt, and I love the idea of people seeing such a masculine body being so comfortable with my femininity. Especially in the Latin community,” he says. “People aren’t used to seeing Latin men be so in touch with their feminine and vulnerable sides. I love the idea of those two expressions coexisting. And maybe it’ll make some people uncomfortable, but who cares?”
I love the idea of people seeing such a masculine body being so comfortable with my femininity. Especially in the Latin community. People aren’t used to seeing Latin men be so in touch with their feminine and vulnerable sides.
As he’s mentioned before, his own status as a Black man was also an important element throughout his life. Furthermore, being Black in a Latin American country is a bittersweet experience that has been dissected for decades, and one Matt has lived in flesh and blood. For him, the most potent grievance revolves around the expectations people have about Black identity. “People who stereotypically fall under what society understands is Black and how a Black person looks… that comes with baggage,” he explains. The lurking presence of perceived stereotypes has been a speed bump both personally and career-wise, and the fact that he’s a gay man doesn’t make it easier.
“You expect a lot of masculinity from a Black man; to be firm, to be streetwise, to be a rapper. And if not, then you have to do bomba or plena or be extra folkloric and be super proud to be Black. But there’s no space for Blackness to expand and be so much more than that,” he says. “I would love to break the idea of what Blackness is supposed to be for people who don’t understand representation and the diversity of Blackness in the Caribbean. And I know it’s going to happen — I’m setting the road for that”
Matt’s comments about bomba and plena are certainly not a dig. The origins of plena can plainly be traced to the San Antón neighborhood of Ponce, and it’s a source of immense pride to the people there, especially the Black residents, including Matt himself. “We have to honor where we came from, what made us who we are today, and honor the wounds within the afro-descendant community in Puerto Rico. But it’s also time to broaden the view and make it so there’s more to it, and more for us,” he says. “It’s an effort that transcends my Blackness but is also very closely tied to it.”
As he puts the finishing touches on his upcoming debut EP, Gamma, he reflects on the journey that pushed him over the line of accepting and welcoming himself as he is, and consequently putting him in a position to make the best project possible. “I’m Black and gay, [and] that’s too much for some people. I was thinking all that, but as soon as I pushed those thoughts out, suddenly my project started to feel more genuine. I was starting to feel more excited about what I was making,” he says.
And when asked to describe the album, he smirks knowingly. “It’s sassy as fuck,” he laughs.
Photography: Nicole Marin
BTS Video: William Russell
Cover Wardrobe: Victor Morales
Braids: Mariela Velez Pratts
Written By: Juan J. Arroyo
Editor in Chief: Thatiana Diaz
Music Editor: Alexis Hodoyán-Gastélum
Creative Director: Alan López
Social Media Manager: Alma Sacasa
Director of Talent Relations: Joel Moya
Special thanks to Marcos Mazo
