Saint
@stmatthew
Portmore, JA Jamaica
Joined May 5, 2009
Artist Name: St. Matthew
Birth Name: Matthew Golding
Birth Place and Date: April 6th
Official Bio
Matthew Golding, was the last of five children born to Joseph and Beverley Golding in Kingston, Jamaica. His father was a soldier so he grew up on an army base. At the age of thirteen his father retired and his family moved to Portmore, St. Catherine. As a child, Matthew was drawn to music with an innate desire to perform and entertain.
"My mother was a drama teacher and she wrote a lot of plays and still writes to this day," says Matthew, "Maybe that's why I am so dramatic. She is an on fire Christian and that's where I get my Christian roots. My Father was a soldier and that's why I am so militant."
Matthew's greatest inspiration growing up was his older brother Mark (aka RAMROD), who was into deejaying and rapping. Following Mark's footsteps, in 1992, Matthew attended St. Georges College where he wrote his first rap lyrics while in the eighth grade. As his lyrical skills continued to develop, he took up the name "Suicide", for he was notorious for his crazy ways.
From 1996 to 2001, Matthew was part of a group called the Marawdaz. During that time he flipped his style from hip-hop to dancehall. As he was enjoying the growth of his secular career, all the attributes that typically accompany this type of lifestyle were prevalent; girls and a crazy party life. Yet with all that, there was one area of his life that he had not conquered; the unexplainable bleakness and profound emptiness within his soul that he couldn't drink, smoke or manage to chase away.
On September 11th 2001, when the world was waking up to the tragedy of the twin towers in New York succumbing to an outright terrorist attack, another attack of sorts was going on within Matthew. Seeing the grief and finally getting the courage to put a name to the confusion in his soul, Matthew decided not only to surrender his life to Jesus Christ but in doing so, resigned from Marawdaz and dropped his popular alias "Suicide". Although this was a wonderful event, transition wasn't easy as he was now a one-man show without a name. Matthew felt he had to go back to basics, before all the girls, cars, money, jewelry, drugs, and alcohol. He started reflecting on his life and new that he had to make a change.
Armed with this knowledge, Matthew became born again and adopted the moniker of St. Matthew aka "the Gospel Defender." Armed with the catch phrase "readyback", (which means be ready, equipped and prepared), Matthew was ready to take on the World!
Described as "The most engaging voice in gospel dancehall," (Mark Mohr, GospelReggae.com), St. Matthew has now become a force to be reckoned with in Gospel Dancehall arena. In addition to the release of his first three mixtapes and Kingdom Vibrations (with DJ Counsellor and Mr. Lynx), Matthew has been featured on over a dozen top selling gospel reggae albums/compilations.
In addition to his numerous performances on both the gospel and secular circuits, Matthew continues to maintain his rigorous writing and recording schedule. In July of 2006 he was thrown for a loop with the passing of his father in a tragic car accident. Coming out of that St. Matthew has even more resolve than ever before. He refuses to let anything hinder him from his calling. Despite personal and professional obstacles, he is determined to push forward as a Christian Soldier and gospel defender.
"I am who I am... Readyback!"-St. Matthew
Exclusive Interview with GospelReggae.com
GR: Tell us about yourself, where were you born and grow up, what your family is like.
St. Matthew: I was born in Kingston, Jamaica. I was a middle class youth so I was able to see both sides of life. I lived on an army base so that made a difference with understanding survival and what it is to be on both scale of life. I had four other brothers. We were close but very different. We were like any ordinary family with peculiar personalities
My Music
Artist
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