Who is Matt Ox? Philadelphia rapper slams the “system” after arrest over drug charges

This month, rapper and singer Matthew Christopher Grau aka Matt Ox, was under police custody for alleged drug charges. As per reports, on April 5, 2025, police stopped a car in California for a possible traffic rule break and took Matt Ox into custody. Matt was charged with having a controlled substance without a doctor's permission.

The officers at the location stated that they found cups of a drink called lean in the vehicle. They also claimed to have found Oxycodone and Alprazolam on Matt himself. The authorities charged the rapper with drug possession, along with two other people in the car.

Ox has been given a court appearance date of April 30, 2025. On April 6, 2025, he shared an image of his mugshot on Instagram with the caption:

“F*CK THE SYSTEM ! FREE THE KIDS! NEW MUSIC SOON! LOCKED ME UP FOR NUN IM BACK THO!”

He also reshared TMZ’s coverage of his story on Instagram, writing:

“LMFAOOOO TMZ TRIPPIN.”

According to HotNewHipHop, Matt Ox is most famous for his 2017 song Overwhelming. At that time, he was only twelve years old. After the song became popular, he teamed up with Motown Records.

A year later, he worked with several artists on his first album, Ox. The artists he collaborated with included Valee, Chief Keef, and the late XXXTentacion. In that same year, he also contributed to XXXTentacion's song $$$ from the album ?.

That song has been officially certified as platinum by the RIAA. His most recent mixtape is called I Dont Wanna Grow Up. It was released in August 2024.

What does Matt Ox think about Overwhelming?

In 2021, Matt Ox spoke to Complex, where he discussed releasing Overwhelming at the age of 12. He reflected on how much he had learned and was grateful for the opportunity to explore his creativity and focus on making music.

Ox believed becoming a viral sensation would have backfired, so he chose to be his true self, aiming for a lasting career. The song came about in a way to teach him valuable lessons and help him grow.

When the interviewer asked if he felt any pressure to keep working after the song's success, he shared that he wasn’t concerned about that. He pointed out that he didn’t keep trying to recreate the success of the song, but instead, he stayed true to his artistic vision. This helped him open new doors to modeling and acting opportunities.

The interviewer asked why there was a long gap after his first album. Matt Ox explained that it was mostly due to management changes. He also held back from releasing music for a while, worrying about his label's reaction.

With time, he started thinking more carefully about his creative direction. He questioned whether he wanted to follow everyone else’s expectations or stay true to himself.

That period reminded him of the time before Overwhelming became popular. Being part of a label meant going through too many people, and it started to take the fun out of the process. He said that was one of the reasons many artists under labels become independent.

Also Read: Sada Baby reportedly gets arrested on drug warrant

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