A video of YouTuber and music artist MattyB went viral on TikTok after the singer shared his recent look to fans, who reacted to the grown-up appearance of the former child star.
Matthew Davis Morris, a 19-year-old music artist who rose to fame as 7-year-old MattyB and MattyBRaps, posted an 8-second-long TikTok on December 11, with the on-screen caption, “I get older and start changing,” followed by, “You say ‘I want little mattyb back.'”
The video was viewed over 12.7 million times and received over 22,000 comments, many of which expressed disbelief that Morris was MattyB.
“Excuse me, what. This is matty b???” a comment with over 59,000 likes said, while another comment with over 19,000 likes said, “AIN’T NO WAY THAT’S MATTY B.”
In 2010, MattyB gained a following of 14.7 million YouTube subscribers by posting music videos to his YouTube channel, which included the then-7-year-old Morris rapping and singing.
By 2012, MattyB had made his debut on the Billboard Social 50 charts with his single, “That’s The Way,” Billboard reported.
Morris continued to post original tracks on YouTube throughout his teenage years, and in 2015 released a music video for his song “Right Now I’m Missing You” that garnered more than 245 million views.
In August 2022, Morris started uploading to his TikTok account, which has 1.9 million followers, under the username @iam_mattmorris. In the past several months he’s posted multiple videos with references to MattyB, but his most recent video garnered the most significant response.
“A lot of older fans comment on how they miss little mattyb and how I look so different, so I thought it would be funny to make that reference,” Morris told Insider via email.
“I think the surprise of me having a beard and longer hair makes people not recognize me as much, causing them to be shocked when they make the connection,” he continued.
Responses to the TikTok were largely complimentary about Morris’ updated look. A comment with over 69,000 likes said, “Nah, I like this matty” while another comment with over 7,700 likes said, “I like your beard matty b.”
On November 3, Morris posted a new track on YouTube titled “Get You Back” using the artist name MattyBRaps. “I am going to continue to reconnect with the audience on Tiktok and also, I am continuing to record original music that I will be sharing on Tiktok,” Morris told Insider.