Matt Hunter | |
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 Hunter in 2012 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Matthew Alexander Hunter Correa |
| Born | February 20, 1998 New York City, U.S. |
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| Years active | 2009–present |
| Website | matthunterworld |
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.[1]
Hunter was born in New York City,[2] and raised in Paramus, New Jersey.[3][4] His mother is Colombian,[5] and his father is Italian.[2]
Hunter worked in voice acting from ages 9 to 12, at which point he began posting YouTube videos of himself playing the guitar and singing various covers, occasionally in Spanish.[6][7] His videos went viral and he traveled around Latin America building his fan base in a grass roots fashion.[3] Around this time, he was dubbed the "Latino Justin Bieber".[8] Marc Anthony later called Hunter "the future" of music.[6]
At 13, Hunter released his first single, "Mi Amor".[8] He released follow-up singles in English and Spanish, "Right Here, Right Now" and "Mi Senorita", in 2012,[7] and then his EP Right Here, Right Now.[5][7] For the 2014 FIFA World Cup, he released the songs "Minha Mina Ta Loca" and "Mi Chica Esta Loca" with Pitbull, in both Portuguese and Spanish versions.[9][10] By 2016 he had amassed 200,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel and over 500,000 Twitter followers.[6]
Hunter splits his time between New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and Latin America.
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! and played the same character in Dora the Explorer.[11] He auditioned for the role when he was 10, recording the voice of Diego until he was 12.[8] He also released his weekly comedy webisode series Fuego Fridays.[12]
Hunter has performed live in the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Spain, Chile, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Argentina, Costa Rica and Ecuador.[7][13] In May 2013, he headlined and sold out Chile's 12,000 seat Movistar Arena.[14]
Hunter was nominated for Favorite Pop Artist at the 2013 Premios Juventud, presented by Univision (which did actually carry Spanish dubs of both Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, Go! (two shows that Hunter did voice work on) as part of its Planeta U block from 2008 to 2014).[8][15]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009–11 | Go, Diego, Go! | Singing Diego | Main role (Seasons 4–5) |
| 2009–11 | Dora the Explorer | Singing Diego | Main role (Season 6) |
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Right Here, Right Now
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