Music has not always been the focus of Matt aka Fundamental.  "I created the name from Common, because it was simple like his name. And also from my old basketball coach who cut me because I had no fundamentals, and that just always stuck in my mind to work harder."  Nowadays you can find him fundamentally dissecting beats with some of the hottest lyrics an eighteen year old should be spitting. And oh yeah - did I mention that he doesn't use any curse words in his rhymes?

Coming from where he has come from you would expect every other word on his tracks to have any four-letter word you could think of. But it doesn't because he has a purpose and a deep devotion to become one of the best this game has ever seen.

Born on the Northside of Richmond, this young mastermind has been blessed with a gift that only a few in this game can truly say they were given this game since birth. But this young man almost didn't get a chance to show the God given talent that he has been blessed with, and like every artist, he went and did some soul searching to tap into that wisdom.

"Growing up I was getting into fights, and running with the wrong crowd. The last fight I got in, got me shipped to the country.” Had it not been for that beef with another cat, Fundamental may have never received the gift that he was blessed with. "During that time I focused on me, and I learned that music was my love. So goodbye fights, hello music. I decided at a young age that I didn't want to get into trouble no more.” This was a good choice, considering that "a lot of my friends are just doing them, nothing much.” So he set out to begin his search to find his way into the game.

"At first there was a lot of doubters, and now people are supporting me.” That kind of strong commitment comes from a home life that includes his loving grandparents that believe in him and support him as long as he is doing right. Fundamental will be the first to tell you: "I am not a G.” And he isn't. He is an 18 year old lyricist who idolizes "Kanye West, Common, Lupe Fiasco" and at the end of his reign wants "respect from KRS-ONE.”

And the funny thing is you can hear a little bit of them in every rhyme he spits. As this is evident on his track I See My Generation. A track that one can truly mention in the same conversation as the tracks of the big boys. To understand his music and to speak with Fundamental is to see this young man who says his relationship with his mother and father as " my relationship with my mother, umm...." and his father "calls and try to give me advice" is to know that his love and passion for his music and grandparents are his reasons he is so passionate about music. "I want people to know that I make good music. I don't want to be a one hit wonder.” From the sounds of the way he spits, its reason to believe he will be around for a long time. For Fundamental, the path that he is taking now to get to where he is trying to go has widened for him due to his hard work and 'go get it' attitude.

And he thanks it all back to that time in his life in which he could have gone either way. By choosing his music, he says that he chose “my heart, my love”. Fundamental is well above the learning curve due to his ability to write his own music and can go into a studio and lay down a track in under "20mins”.

To hear this 18 year old speak, you would think you were talking to an adult almost 20 years senior to his age. "When its all said and done I want people to know I was focused, I am a human being doing something that I love and I kept it clean.”

In my opinion he is truly on that road of redemption that he is seeking, and he is going to make it in this game. The support his gets from his grandparents who also see specialness in this remarkable young MC is inspiring. This young man, who in my breath one day I feel that I can speak of him with the likes of his idols because they will be on equal ground. That this young man will attain the status of (one day) becoming a legend........

This kid is well on his way............

Fundamental on Myspace

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