Contributor Matty C joined the Source in the summer of 1989 and as the publication grew John Shecter handed off a column that he created called Unsigned Hype to Matty. As the name suggests, Unsigned Hype gave aspiring artists the opportunity to have their demo tapes reviewed in the influential magazine with the hopes of generating enough hype to ultimately get a record deal.

“The first Unsigned Hype column that I did was DMX in ‘91” says Matty C.” He didn’t get signed to Def Jam until like ’95. He definitely had a dope demo and Dave [Mays] went back and did some research and found that it was produced by Tony Dofat which I’d totally forgotten. Tony Dofat went on to do some big things; Heavy D., Mary J. Blige” Matty says further.

By the time that Matty took over the Unsigned Hype column the Source was widely read and the column was gaining popularity. Dave Mays proposed the idea of doing a compilation album, based on Unsigned Hype submissions. According to Matty C: “Our goal was to get into the music business and not just do magazines, so Dave secured a potential deal with Relativity Records and placed an ad right underneath the Unsigned Hype column. It said ‘Get your music on wax, The Unsigned Hype Compilation’. That’s when Mister C (Big Daddy Kane’s DJ at the time) gave me Biggie’s demo, and other people in the industry saw that this was more than just getting reviewed. It was the chance to make a record.”

When asked whether Mister Cee circumvented the traditional submission process Matty replies: “Yeah a lotta industry people did. I was a writer and editor of The Source and I met Mister Cee at a Chuck D press conference at Spin magazine a couple of blocks away. We were on the roof kickin’ it with Chuck D and afterwards I was talking music with Mister Cee. All of the industry people knew that I had all of the records and me and Cee had similar taste. A week later he brought me Biggies demo along with another demo by an artist that he was working with – an MC named Outloud, who later became known as Blazay Blazay.

Matty C describes the early 1990’s flow of tapes into the magazine for Unsigned Hype as a trickle that quickly became a waterfall. “It was basically a cardboard wardrobe closet box that held the tapes. I took from the bottom, so I cut a hole in the bottom and I would grab tapes from the bottom. It was four feet high. This was still the tape era, so these were all cassettes. If they were wack we didn’t send them back, we kept those tapes. People in the office started coming to me, not to hear demos, but to get tapes to record over. ‘Can I get one of the wack tapes’ they would ask. Everybody came to the wack box for “blank” tapes.

In the review of Biggie’s demo (credited to The Notorious B-I-G & The Hitman 50 Grand) Matty C writes: “If you’re an aspiring rapper and you know you have the flavor and potential to make dope records, you don’t need to go into the studio and spend crazy cash to make a fly demo. You don’t even need a 4-track; just two turntables and a microphone, press record on the tape deck and you’re good to go.”

Biggie’s rhyme skills were the centerpiece of Matty’s review of Biggie. “All four of his jams were basically a freestyle exhibition. Obviously, to come out as an MC takes a lot more than hype rhymes, but rhyme skills are the main ingredient to true success in hip-hop, and when it comes to those, B-I-G’s got plenty.”

"Your eyes pop open and you know, especially people who have a certain sensibility and a certain ear. To hear it first or hear it early you have to trust your own gut, and my gut loved it.” Matty explained further: “If KRS and Big Daddy Kane had a lyrical baby – those are two of my all-time favorites and the first few bars literally sounded like a combination of those two guys.”

Mister Cee gave Matty Biggie’s demo with the hopes that it would land B.I.G. a spot on the Unsigned Hype/Relativity album. “When we went in to discuss the terms of the album with Relativity Records, it just didn’t seem like the terms were favorable to the artist. There were a lot of artists that would be featured and they weren’t getting a fair shake and it was B.I.G. who recognized that” Matty said.

“I moved into B.I.G.’s neighborhood, I was going to school in the city then moved out to Brooklyn, I met him and talked to him about the compilation deal not being that great and I felt bad. B.I.G. was like ‘Man they are trying to just give us a little bit of change each for these songs and then we’re on an album locked in with an option for them to pick us up for an album without them having to give is an additional advance.”

At the time of the Relativity talks Matty was also covering news for The Source and he came upon a story that revealed that MCA Records just did a big $50 million-dollar deal with Uptown Records on the strength of the success of Jodeci and Mary J Blige. Matty explains: “Puffy just called me outta the blue! He asked ‘You got some shit?’ and I said “Yeah and I know you just got some money!’ I told him that I had something for him, and I went up there with the Biggie demo – but this was all before B.I.G.’s Unsigned Hype article even came out!”

Matty continues: “He [Puffy] tells the story wrong sometimes and I know it’s wrong because he says ‘I saw the article in The Source so I called Matty.’ He didn’t see it, because it wasn’t published yet. When I went to his office with the demo, I didn’t bring a picture because I know how he was – very image conscious, really image oriented and here’s this fat, Black nasty kid, not exactly cut from the Father MC cloth. He kept asking me the entire meeting: ‘How’s he look? What does he look like?’ I was like don’t worry about that.”

Matty says that it was neither his nor Mister Cee’s intention originally to shop B.I.G.’s demo. “50 Grand, Biggie’s original D.J. who recorded the demo in his basement gave it to Mister Cee. Cee was dealing with MC Outloud and he wasn’t Biggie’s guy, 50 Grand was, and he knew Mister Cee from the neighborhood. Puff called me, or at least Havoc tells me that Puff called because he was a fan of Mobb Deep and they were featured on Unsigned Hype. When they got their deal on 4th & Broadway it wasn’t much later when he called and asked ‘What else you got?’

In retrospect Matty C says that he received a finder’s fee for bringing B.I.G. to Puff, but he was extremely young and green in the business and a bit star struck. “I felt like if there was some real deal shit goin’ down Mister Cee should be involved since he brought the demo to me. Like a dumb ass I really just passed it off to Mister Cee and he’s the Associate Executive Producer and he received the royalty on the record. But not only did I receive the finder’s fee, I brought B.I.G. half the beats on Ready To Die.

There were a lot of producers that I dealt with at The Source, so I used to go to B.I.G.’s house and play him beats. “One More Chance”, “Me & My Bitch, “Everyday Struggle” are all tracks that I brought to him at his crib and he made songs from them, so I got a Production Consultation fee as well. It wasn’t a lot of money at the time, but to me it was! As big as Biggie has become it wasn’t a lot, but I was able to use the experience to become an A&R for Loud Records for Wu-Tang, Mobb Deep, Raekwon, Ghost and Big Pun. None of that would have happened if not for the experience with B.I.G.”

Regarding Biggie’s name, an artist who went by Biggy Smallz who was signed to Atlantic Records at the time (1992) had the name trademarked. Matty says: “B.I.G.’s demo read The Notorious B-I-G. That’s what he was always calling himself. The trademark prevented him from recording as Biggie Smalls, but just like Method man calls himself Iron Lung, Biggie Smalls was just another of B.I.G.’s names.

Matty C made history and is directly responsible for the world having the opportunity to experience Christopher Wallace. The liner notes of Ready To Die read “Thank you Matt Life for making it happen.” Yep. Thanks Matt.