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Alum Rapper ‘Matty Fresh’ Releases Jahan Dotson Hype Song

Penn State’s very own Matt Freiler, better known to some as Matty Fresh, has released yet another Penn State-themed rap song. Although former tracks have focused on Trace McSorley and Saquon Barkley, Freiler’s latest endeavor features star Nittany Lions receiver Jahan Dotson.

Freiler’s combination of rap music and Penn State is no coincidence. He grew up in a Penn State family, attended countless games at Beaver Stadium as a kid, and graduated from Penn State with a broadcast journalism degree in 2019.

“All the worlds kinda connect into one,” Freiler said. “My interest in creating music, which is something I’ve always liked to do, and just my Penn State pride in general, it’s something that’s very close to me. It’s part of my identity.”

Over the years, Freiler has considered producing tracks to honor a number of Penn State stars. However, choosing Dotson was almost a no-brainer.

“I’ve had a ton of great players that I thought about doing: Miles Sanders, KJ Hamler, Micah Parsons, Chris Godwin,” he explained. “Over the years, all the guys have made it in the NFL. You narrow it down, and you think about who’s in that legend category? You think about things like school records, impact on the team, a guy who’s a leader.”

Freiler says that Dotson, or, as he says in the track, “The greatest thing to come out of Nazareth since Jesus,” fits all those categories. After watching Dotson grow from a couple of years ago, Freiler saw him molding into the category of the sort of player who needed a song.

Freiler said releasing the song amid a rough patch for Penn State football wasn’t a coincidence. In fact, it’s almost a blessing.

“It’s kinda the perfect storm,” Freiler said. “Everything has to go right, or there will be a lot of negativity. If we dropped this thing after the Illinois game, I assume there would be a lot of negativity associated with it, so we wait for the right moment.”

That moment came in the Maryland game. He recalled watching Dotson put up his historic performance and looking at his family and saying, “Is this it?” Freiler said it was after that game that he knew that Dotson had elevated himself to “Penn State legend” status, citing that no one would ever forget him here.

Freiler’s viral hit “Trace McSorley,” which blew up on TikTok about a year ago, really put him on the map. He wrote and published the song in 2018, and it was popular around campus. As McSorley himself moved on to the NFL, the song moved with him.

However, after a couple of videos online used the song over some clips of Madden video games, the song started to accrue more popularity until it became a full-on trend.

“The peak of it all was [Trace] getting in against the Steelers and throwing a long touchdown pass to [Marquise] ‘Hollywood’ Brown. At that point, it wasn’t a TikTok tend anymore. It was more than that,” Freiler said. “The NFL picked it up, the Ravens picked it up, Penn State Football went back and picked it up. Trace even got interviewed about it. It was crazy.”

Freiler said his McSorley hype song helped him find room to grow and continue making music. Without it, Dotson’s track might never have made it to the air.

“I’m so grateful for [“Trace McSorley”] because it gave me the platform I have,” he said. “[“Jahan Dotson”] is my fourth song in the last six months. Without what happened last fall with the McSorley gig blowing up, I don’t know if we’re at a position to put out six songs in the last four months.”

“Jahan Dotson” is out now on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music.

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About the Author

Mikey DeAngelis

Mikey DeAngelis is a junior majoring in film production who is also serving as one of Onward State's visual editors. During his free time, he enjoys making content for his YouTube channel. Mikey loves Philly sports, traveling and hiking in National Parks, and watching movies. To reach Mikey, feel free to reach out on Twitter (@mikey_deangelis) or by email ([email protected]).

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