Matt Ox Reinvigorates His Album Release with an Ambitious Month of Music

Matt Ox has announced his YEAR OF THE OX album, which has 31 tracks that showcase his visionary approach to rap through new sounds and styles. To listen to YEAR OF THE OX, fans can go to his SoundCloud and YouTube channel where one new song is released each day. By the end of January, Matt Ox’s full project will be available on all platforms.

Now, as an independent artist, Matt Ox can be more experimental with both his music and his energy. The unconventional rollout is a hands-on way to tap in with his fans through daily social media updates, impromptu Instagram Live listening sessions and collaborations on album visuals and videos. With an out-of-the-box beat selection and features from equally innovative rappers like Lancey Foux, Matt Ox believes that “YEAR OF THE OX pushes the boundaries more. It’s crazier, deeper and holds a bigger meaning.”

Kicking off with “GENESIS,” Matt Ox raps about the goals he’s striving to achieve in the new year. He’s ready to go, to finally drop a follow-up to his album from 2018, and motivate everyone else to catch up to his speed as a musical force. Over a cinematic beat, Matt Ox spits lines like, “They ain’t on the move ’cause I be doing what they can’t do /I be moving how they can’t move.” Each song has a powerful, all-caps title to match the hyper-focused nature of his lyricism and the overall strength of his album’s concept.

Today, Matt Ox released “CHOSEN,” a melodic track produced by Robbie Soukiasyan, who has worked with XXXTENTACION and Gucci Mane. As he gets closer to his album’s final release, HYPEBEAST chats with the 17-year-old rapper about the creative process that drives his energetic month of music.

HYPEBEAST: What inspired you to drop a song every day this month?
Matt Ox: My own music inspired me. I had thousands of songs in the tuck. The more I looked, the more I found. I didn’t wanna do too many at once. I figured a track a day on SoundCloud to give my fans a chance to digest it. They can hear a song every day, listen to the lyrics and let it sink in. It’s a whole rollout plan in and of itself. The 31 songs show a lot of different sides of me. At the end of the day, I’m just giving my fans what they want, which is more music.

Tell us about your song-making process. Do you prepare notes before going to the studio or do your ideas form on the spot?
It depends. Usually, I’m on the spot because that allows me to be intuitive. When I’m in the studio, I’m a vessel of all the spirits around me and I speak those energies when I go in the booth. But, the process is so much bigger than that because it comes from my experiences, what I see, what I’m learning and applying it to what I already know. And it comes from my research of philosophy. All that helps prepare me for the studio.

What are some of your goals for this album, and for 2022?
To take everything to the next level. I wanna grow my fan base more and connect with more people. I’m gonna go on tour this year. Make more merch. Do some clothing collabs. A goal would be to go platinum. And Ima drop more projects this year.

Thanks Matt. 

Songs will be uploaded every day to SoundCloud and YouTube until the end of January. To keep up with the latest news about YEAR OF THE OX, follow Matt on Instagram at @MattOx.