Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Michael Matteocci. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Michael, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?
The first time I ever seen any profit come in from my music was around February of 2021. I will never forget it. I made my first 200$ from streaming royalties accumulated over time paid out to me by my distributor instantly. That was when I realized that my music is starting to catch on and I have the potential to do what I love for the rest of my life and get paid for it. Ever since then I established grind 2 Shine Entertainment as a legitimate LLC, and I have been working OVERTIME pumping out the best sounding high quality music I can release as well as full length music videos to go with the singles eps and albums that are already released.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My Stage name is “Matteocci Tha Don” real name Michael Joseph Matteocci. I was born in October of 95 in Detroit Michigan to a black mother and Sicilian father. I grew up in Detroit and loved music ever since a young child. At 9 years old I wrote my first official rap. I was the lead vocals for a rock band when I was 10 11 12 rehearsing and recording in a garage/studio. By the time I was 14 I was involved within the battle rap scene in Detroit Michigan and Southern Michigan. I signed my first deal at 16 to a local record label in Toledo Ohio. They supplied me with beats unlimited recording time and a slight push on my work. Eventually the label owner went to prison so our contract was void & By 18yrs old I was independent. At 19 I was fully independent recording at another studio owned by a close friend of mine Diamond Child Productions in Toledo Ohio and I started my own record label Grind 2 Shine Entertainment. Ever since then 2019 I have had a cult like fan base & following and I really started taking my craft seriously & stopped running around in the streets and partying so much
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I went from having zero fans no audience nobody listening to my music for a few years and still never gave up. I was so determined I did a bunch of shows in Detroit Michigan & Toledo Ohio and started releasing my music professionally on all platforms and eventually as time went by I built up a loyal following
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
Love & passion for the art of making music and art in general respect for all forms of artwork
Contact Info:
- Website: https://grind-2-shine.printify.me/products/1?s=09
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealmatteoccithadon?igsh=ejRzZDBlbGt2anpi
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/kyMrBQ6Kf7mssQ8k/?mibextid=qi2Omg
- Twitter: https://x.com/grind2shineent1?t=y3wAjguvSWnL_sgpSb2gqQ&s=09
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@matteoccithadon?si=_cddS9TCCmDx-AqQ
Image Credits
Baileybrothaz Instagram, X