"Blackbear" (born Matthew Musto) is an American hip hop recording artist, singer, songwriter and record producer. Blackbear is best known for his rap and R&B-oriented music. Musto was born on November 27, 1990 in Daytona Beach, Florida and resided in Palm Coast, FL. He was discovered at an early age as a rock-leaning singer-songwriter, and grew up playing in garage bands, such as signed band Polaroid. Musto earned his GED while on tour.

He was discovered in 2008 by talent manager Tabari Francis and later connected with manager Mister who runs Compound Entertainment, an artist incubator started by recording artist Ne-Yo. Musto moved to Atlanta, Georgia at age 18 and spent two years developing his sound and learning from songwriters like Sam Hook, Maejor and Ne-Yo.

At age 20, Musto moved to Los Angeles and re-invented himself as a rapper and R&B oriented singer. He also formed the alternative hip-hop and R&B duo "Mansionz" with frequent collaborator and singer-songwriter Mike Posner.