Matthew Sean Leon is a Canadian rapper, singer, and record producer from Toronto, Ontario. He is the founder of the IXXI Initiative, formed in 2012 in Toronto. In July 2013, Sean released his debut mixtape Ninelevenne, the Tragedy followed by his second project Narcissus, the Drowning of Ego on January 22, 2014. Shortly after the release of Narcissus, Sean began the year-long roll out of the compilation King Of The Wild Things. That same spring of 2014 he introduced us to and began campaigning for the highly anticipated Black Sheep Nirvana.
Music career
Sean Leon formed the IXXI Initiative based in Toronto, Ontario. His first mixtape, Ninelevenne, the Tragedy, was released on July 23, 2013. On January 22, 2014, Sean released his second piece of work, Narcissus, the Drowning of Ego. Both projects feature production by Jordan Evans, who was a part of the production team for Drake's Pound Cake featuring Jay Z on Drake's third studio album, Nothing Was the Same. On May 25, 2015, Sean returned to the spotlight with the release of the WondaGurl-produced "This Ain't 2012", featuring River Tiber. When asked about the title of the song, Sean explained "It's the year before I started taking music seriously—in truth, I can't remember life before 2013 unless I'm high or drunk or emotional." A month later, Sean released "81", named after Kobe Bryant's 81 point game against the Toronto Raptors. Produced by Eestbound, "81" was dubbed HipHopCanada's "Song of the Day" stating "Sean Leon is without a doubt one of the hottest artists coming out of Canada right now". After a 4-month hiatus, Sean continued the hype surrounding Black Sheep Nirvana with a trio of freestyles over borrowed beats from The Weeknd, Drake and CMDWN. "Wriss Freestyle", "1% Freestyle" and "Tell Your Fri Freestyle" were all released for free via Sean's SoundCloud and Apple Music Connect pages. In celebration of the NBA All-Star Weekend, Sean teamed up with Green Label, a Mountain Dew venture, and fellow Toronto artists Jazz Cartier and WondaGurl for "Above the Rim". "We did it in one night and it was dope," Leon said of the collaboration, sharing that his verse was a freestyle. "I work with WondaGurl all the time, and she's one of the few people I know that is actually super gifted, so I love working with her". Following his appearance on Daniel Caesar's Pilgrim's Paradise EP, Leon shared a new three-title release "Europe Freestyle/I Made It/Debt & Vendettas" produced by Sean Leon and co-produced by Yogidaproducer. The single finds Leon "floating along on a rippled beat" while he "braces for the impending change in his rap career's bright future". A month later, Sean released two more WondaGurl-produced singles off Black Sheep Nirvana with "Deep End" and "Guard/God Up". In April 2016, Sean released the self-produced "Matthew in the Middle" featuring IXXI compatriot Daniel Caesar with collaborative production efforts from Jovi, Jordan Evans and Jack Rochon. "The array of talent IXXI founder Sean Leon displays on every new release is mind-blowing. You can only define him as a pure artist" Boi-1da.net remarked, calling the single a "beautiful record". Complex described the record as a "reflective masterpiece" noting "it's absurd that Sean Leon was left off of Pitchfork's list of "essential" post-Drake tracks, because half of the rappers in the city are currently imitating what he was doing last summer". On April 20, 2016, Sean released the Black Sheep Nirvana single "Killin' Mind". Produced by WondaGurl, MADEAT2AM, Jack Rochon and Sean Leon himself, the single was well received and featured on Apple Music's "Northern Touch", "Hot Up in the 6ix", "New Artists: Hip-Hop" and "Found Sounds: Hip-Hop" playlists created by Apple Music Hip-Hop curators. A month later, Sean released "Maui Slim II", a follow up to "Maui Slim" off Ninelevenne, The Tragedy. "Maui Slim II" had Sean sounding "as hungry as ever" with production by Jordan Evans, Mike DZL, Jovi and Jack Rochon, featuring background vocals from Rachel Piscione and violin from Aaron Cheung. Following the Toronto Raptors' victory over the Miami Heat to advance to the NBA Eastern Conference finals, Leon released a nod to his hometown's winning team with "Game 7 Flow / Court Tomorrow" produced by Dpat. On November 29, 2017, Sean released an audio-film entitled "C.C.W.M.T.T". In 2019, Sean wrote parts of "Selah" "Jesus Is Lord" and the chorus on "Use This Gospel" for Kanye West's 9th studio album "Jesus Is King". He also assisted with the track ordering.
