Matt Damon has made a wild career pivot just weeks before what is anticipated to be one of the biggest films of his career hits cinemas.
In a shocking twist, Damon has debuted his rap alter-ego, The Nomad, as part of a new initiative from his non-profit charity, Water.org.
Matt Damon has pivoted into rap music to help promote his charity’s latest initiative. Instagram/@getblueforwater
In an attempt to cut through the noise on social media, Water.org has shared a video of Damon attempting to rap in a bid to help promote the charity’s new ethical consumerism project, Get Blue.
The video sees Damon in the studio with famed hip-hop producer Hit-Boy as they try to come up with a new track as The Nomad, which, if you haven’t figured it out yet, is simply Damon spelt backwards.
“[It’s] awkward, but I think that was the point. Music and humour are two of the best ways to cut through in culture, and so obviously, those are two places that we’re trying to focus on,” Damon told The Hollywood Reporter.
The star came up with the idea thinking it might be just crazy enough to cut through on social media. Instagram/@getblueforwater
“The Nomad thing was just a silly idea that we all agreed was silly enough that it might actually work and might get a little attention, and it’s all about just again trying to find these different access points for people to just understand that this is a problem.”
Damon first became passionate about the issue back in 2006 after witnessing the global water crisis, and has since been working to raise awareness to help solve the issue.
He founded Water.org in 2009, alongside Gary White. The pair merged Damon’s previously established charity, H2O Africa Foundation, with White’s organisation, WaterPartners International.
While they thought bringing awareness to the issue was hard 17 years ago, Damon said it’s only become harder with the issue being so far removed from the lives of those in first world countries.
“It’s a headwind that other issues don’t have,” he told GQ.
Damon has been speaking on water poverty in an attempt to raise awareness on the issue for 25 years now. Michael Nagle
“If you’re raising money for cancer research or AIDS research, people are all connected. They’re one degree away from somebody in their family or in their friend group who’s experienced this firsthand.
“Whereas with this, it’s not something that we contend with in our daily lives here…You’re talking about a completely different way of living that most of us just are not aware of.”