TERRACE MARTIN  (May 2007) | Interview By: Eddie Gurrola

       Dubcnn recently sat down with the hottest new producer, not just on the West Coast, but in music, Mr. Terrace Martin, for an extensive interview. In this feature, we cover a variety of topics, including his new pre-album/mixtape that he is putting together with Snoop Dogg and DJ Skee, his label situation with Warner Brothers, and his inspiration for making good music. This is a very informative interview for those of you who are interested in making it in the hip-hop business, so make sure you check it out!



As always we have both the transcript and the audio for you to check and please feel free to send any feedback regarding the interview to: eddiegurolla@dubcnn.com

 

Interview was done in May 2007.

Questions Asked By : Eddie Gurrola

Terrace Martin Gave Dubcnn.com A Shoutout! Check That Here

Full Interview In Audio : Here

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Dubcnn: Dubcnn, we’re here with Terrace Martin. How’s it going man?

Oh, I can’t call it, jack, just blessed, blessed, blessed.


Dubcnn: You just played me some tracks from your new pre-album, album before the album, and they’re fucking crazy! Alright, so do you want to talk about your pre-album a little bit?

Man, we can definitely talk about it. It’s pretty much a Big Snoop Dogg, DJ Skee, Reflex - presents Terrace Martin. You know, I had always been doing songs and everything, and then my boy Problem got at it like, “Man, like you should do a tape.” And, I actually never really respected the West Coast tape game.

I spent a lot of time in New York, my father’s from New York, so I spent a lot of time growing up back and forth, you know what I’m sayin’, so I never really respected the whole West Coast tape game, because, just to be honest, a lot of the West Coast tape game that I was hearing, I’ll say, before this whole new breath of fresh air got involved, after the Crazy Toones era, which was like, the shit. You would go to the swap meet and listen to this shit, it was just garbage. Like, the West Coast was always putting out wack ass, independent, garbage bullshit. It was fucking garbage; nobody was putting out quality.

Now, it’s different, everybody putting out quality now, everybody’s flyin’ with it. I mean, you hear all these cats man, Glasses Malone, shouts out, you hear Bishop Lamont flyin’, you hear Mykestro, you hear Young Walt, you hear all these cats flyin’ with quality man, so it’s on the rise.

So, anyway I was like, “Alright, P. Problem, alright.” So, I put together, and I had some songs already in the vault...me being a producer, I’m a creative person, I’m not scared to do nothin’ new, nothin’ new, so I just wanted to do somethin’ new, man, so I got at Snoop like, “I want to do a street album, I ain’t got no money, can you get on it and rap on it.” *Laughs* You know, I am Dogghouse, you know what I’m sayin’? And you know, he said yeah, he flyin’ with it, you know, he’s my big homie, he’s the executive producer of my record on Warner Brothers, and pretty much everything else I do musically in my life, so, we’re just flying with it man - that’s pretty much how the whole thing evolved and it is what it is, it’s just some good music. It’s not gonna be the best mixtape, it’s not gonna be the worst, it’s just gonna be a statement, a true statement.


Dubcnn: So, from the tracks I’ve heard, you’ve been doing a lot of jazzy type of stuff, obviously, that’s your sound, so, how would you describe the sound of this pre-album?

Music, man, just good music, you know I’m tryin’….The good thing about these outlets for us now is that we ain’t got no A&Rs over us telling us what’s hot, what’s not, so we can really do a truer expression of like, you know, whatever we feel like. I’m a saxophone player before I’m anything, you know what I’m sayin’, so on this, I wanted to showcase that, and incorporate saxophone playing with the rhyming, with everybody else rhyming, because you know, all hip-hop is, is just bebop. Bebop is a form of jazz that Charlie Parker and Dizzie Gillespie started, so when you hear cats doing songs together, going back and forth, it’s like how Dizzie and Bird did on the trumpet and the saxophone - they went back and forth.

So, you may hear Snoopy bust a verse, or you may hear Problem rap, and then all of a sudden *makes saxophone noise*, you may hear some saxophone in the back because it’s all music now, we all go with the music mind. Bebop, you know, hip-hop is the new bebop, ain’t nothing different. Snoop is our Miles Davis, Dr. Dre is our Duke Ellington, you know what I’m sayin’, that’s what it is. So, I’m showcasing, you know, I do have a jazzy sound, because I’m a jazz musician, muthafucka! *Laughs* It’s all good, I’m playing!


Dubcnn: So, the big news was that you signed to Warner Brothers and you signed your label Jakai Records on there, so how did that go down?

That went down, man, shouts out go to Gilly Iyer man, Gilly Iyer is one of the people that steered my career, really believed in me, and she still believes in me, she’s a dear friend of mine, we bump heads, but I love her to death. What’s up Gilly!

Gilly [Iyer] introduced me to this cat named Tick at the time, that was at Sony, man, and they was trying to do a deal with me at Sony, and they just didn’t hear my music, they wasn’t wack for not hearing it, they just didn’t hear my music. Tick, my A&R, he heard it, and he understood. Later on, Tick left Sony, and he always said, “Man, when I get my own lane, I’m gonna sign you.” We hear that a lot, man, but something about this cat was for real, it’s just, he stayed in touch when he didn’t have a job, and he stayed down, came to hang out in the studio with me and Snoop, you know what I’m sayin’?

But, when he got with Warner Brothers, man, before he even got in the building, he had me call Craig and Naim and them, shouts out to Naim and everybody, the whole Warner Brothers building, Craig, Naim, Orlando. [He] had me go over to that building, before he was in the building, and, pretty much, they listened to my music, and they loved it, and they asked me what I want, what can I do? And, I said I believe that I could do low cost records.

I can take the independent approach to the mainstream, and get Warner back in, royalties and bumps and everything like that, so...they pretty much gave me my lane. They gave me a label situation where I can sign artists and I can give other artists angles to go through, at low cost. I’m into doing low cost records because the game is so weird right now, so, everything has to be low cost, we eat on the back end, and that’s what I’m doing, and Warner Brothers, man, they gave me that lane, I’m flyin’ with it, they gave me a nice love offering, you know, and I’m flyin’ with it man!

My movement is over there, Jakai Music Group, I just got Snoopy in the building, so it’s Dogghouse/Jakai Music Group through Warner Brothers for my record, and that’s pretty much how it happened man. So, you know, shouts out to Tick and Craig, what up!


Dubcnn: So, have you signed anybody to Jakai yet? Do you have any artists affiliated with you that you’re gonna be putting out?

Ahh, me, myself, and I. I’ve got people I’m gettin’ down with, I’m workin’ with right now, but, you know, I’m always looking, I’m always lookin’. You know, it’s a dangerous game right now, so you gotta play it safe, you know what I’m sayin’? I’m lookin’, I’m listenin’, I’m goin’ all around the world, I’m just listenin’, I’m not rushin’ it. I’m not gonna take forever either – you will be hearing an artist on Jakai Music.

Right now, my main focus is my album right now, with so many different walks of life on it. You’ve got Problem, you’ve got Mykestro, you’ve got Young Walt, you’ve got Kurupt, Snoopy. You know, you’ve got the people that I love to do music with on my album, you know what I’m sayin’? Shouts out, Uncle Chuck, J.Black, Marlon Williams, Mar Dog. Thanks P [Problem], that’s why he here, because he always keeps me on my toes. So you know soon, man, soon, just...you know, soon. Man, whatever God tell me, that’s what I should have said first. Whatever God tell me, that’s when I’m rollin’ with somebody.


Dubcnn: There’s this track on your Myspace called “I Wanna Be Your Man,” that was a real smooth, funky track, as always from you pretty much. So, how did that track come about, who’s the guy singing on that?

Scar. Scar from Atlanta, man. Scar rolls with Big Boi and Andre from Outkast, the Dungeon Family, and all them cats, man. He’s a beast, man. That song was written by me, Terrace Martin, J.Black, Larrance Dopson, and Tower. Man, that song, we was in Atlanta, about a year ago, hot as hell in Atlanta man, what studio was we at again? We was at Zach’s, Snoop was there, we was at Zach’s Studios. That was a cool vibe. Prince, Prince is my hero, Prince and Miles Davis. *starts singing*


Dubcnn: The stuff I’ve been hearing from your mixtape, or pre-album, is sounding real fresh, and it’s gonna be something new. What do you hope listeners will get out of your album, pretty much at the end of the day?

I would hope listeners get some good feel good music. You know, I hope listeners get to understand more about Terrace Martin, and my movement. I hope listeners get to really get a dose and hear Problem on a different type sound. You know, when I get down with everybody, everybody sound a little different, homie, not better or worse, just a different angle - that’s music. I hope people really get a chance to hear Problem, from the other angle he knows. I hope people really get a chance to hear Mykestro from another angle. I hope people get to hear Kurupt, ‘cause he’s back! Period. Listen to “No Violence” on my mixtape, man, Kurupt!

Problem: Poltergeist on cold!

We all really happy about...see Kurupt...Snoop is like this. In my life, Snoop and Dr. Dre has always been my “Whoa!,” you know what I’m sayin’, and Kurupt, because I used to rap, and Kurupt was like…that’s the pen! That’s the mic! You know what I’m sayin’, so Kurupt, man, Kurupt has been overseeing everything I do with the rhymes, and Problem too, he’s been like me and Problem’s guru, man. I’m like “does that make sense?” “Yep, say it like this!” Ok, we flyin! You know what I’m sayin’, Kurupt is our, I don’t know, man, that’s our big brother, man.


Dubcnn: That must be great to have someone like that mentoring you, just someone so far deep in the game, such an awesome lyricist…

Man, he’s been more than…he’s been helpful musically to me, to my life, he brings something to my life mentally. But, he brings something to my life spiritually, mentally, everything man. He’s just a good person to be around, he’s like one of the best people in the game I’ve met, one of the best people in the world I’ve met.


Dubcnn: Alright, we want to talk a little bit about this. You, Problem, and Kurupt formed a trio, I was talking to Problem about this in the other interview, but, that sounds like an awesome group. What’s your goal for that group, what do you think you guys are gonna bring to the West Coast?

We’re not gonna bring shit to the West Coast. We’re bringing something to music, which is bigger than the West Coast, bigger than the East Coast, bigger than the South. We’re bringing good music. You think when Quincy Jones did a record, he gave a fuck about the West Coast or the East Coast? Do you think Miles Davis did? They gave a fuck about music, so that’s what we on.
I don’t even like answering, “What are you bringing to the West Coast?” I’m bringing something to music. I’m from LA, man, I’m really from fucking Mars sometimes, I think, man. But, I’m bringing something to music, man, and this group is a showcase for that, you know what I’m sayin’? I know where I’m from, we all know where we from, but this group is on space man - just fun. Man, it’s just like having fun. You know another group that likes having fun like we having fun, is Sa-Ra, man. What’s up Shafiq? Sa-Ra, man, they like having fun too.


Dubcnn: So, are we gonna hear you on some outside productions, any outside production work you’ve been doing?

Yep, definitely. You know, I do different kinds of music, man. You know what I mean, I only call it good and bad music, but people tend to put music in categories, so I’ll play the game with people. Tru Life, I did half his record, which is on Roc-A-Fella, you know what I’m sayin’, with Jay-Z. You know who Tru Life is? On a little website, someone got it posted, where he dissin’ and all that, but he good, that’s my homeboy, me and Snoop, we rollin’ with him, we cool. Everybody is my homies, though. Murs, you know who Murs is?


Dubcnn: Yeah.

You look like you know who Murs is! Yeah, I did like three on his record, Murs. I’m doing most of the Lalah Hathaway record, you don’t know who she is. You don’t know who Lalah Hathaway is?


Dubcnn: Naw.

Get your game up! Umm, Talib Kweli, man, you know, whatever, just music! Problem, Kurupt, you know, Double F, shouts out to Double F, man, let me talk about him on this interview for a quick second. That’s one of the cats who, it’s that sound like, so many cats out here touch the gangsta stuff, with the guns and the violence, and everything, and like, I remember back in the day, when I was growing up, we had different cats from LA, we had the Ahmads, the Pharcyde, it was different cats, man, that did different elements, while the gangsta shit was going on, and Double F is one of them dudes that’s bringing that to the table, not conscious with a black rag around your fist up high.

But, you know what I’m sayin’, just records, just good music that ain’t gangsta, because he ain’t gangsta. You know what I’m sayin’, just truth. I mean I’m all about the truth, man, bringing the truth. You ain’t never hear me talking about killing nobody; I never killed somebody. I mean, I got a gun, but I got caught with a gun on prom night, and them muthafuckas gave me two weeks in the county jail, man. I damn near cried! I wanted to hurry up and get out of jail, man. And, I missed that prom. I didn’t get to fuck that bitch. She went with the real nigga with the guns. I just want to do good music, man, that’s it.


Dubcnn: So, since you’re rolling with Snoop, what do you have to say about what people have been saying about Oprah, and Don Imus, and all kind that stuff?

Man, tell you what man...how I really feel about the whole thing, and a couple of things, we gonna leak a song man, me and Problem, we cutting a record right now that [speaks on] Imus, Oprah, and who else do we talk about? DMX. It’s a cool little record man, it’s actually gonna be on my street album too, man, so, you know, for all the forum people, I want the forum to give me an honest to God feedback on that, and I love y’all man, I love the forums man, for giving us that feedback.

Just know, Terrace Martin is out here, standing up for music, the music of our time, I’m gonna stand up for these youngsters until the day I die. And, you know, as a matter of fact, all of the forum people, if y’all ever want to catch me, man, I talk to the kids every Monday at Locke High, and, actually, I’m doing my juvenile hall tour, I’m going to Compton Centennial, Compton High, I’m talking to all these schools, starting next month. So, everybody that want to try to hook up, man, you know, like give me some feedback, and give me some questions to ask these kids, because I’m trying to get these kids right, because that’s what it’s about, the kids. But, Imus, I love you, Oprah, I love you, George Bush, I love you.


Dubcnn: Alright, before we go, what advice would you give to some other aspiring producers that want to make it in hip-hop, or just in music in general?

Get the Miles Davis record “Kind Of Blue,” and read the Miles Davis autobiography, go to church, and listen. If you ain’t gonna do none of that, stop producing man, getting the drum machine and doin’ the beat, copying somebody else’s style. You know, doing it all for the wrong reasons in life, man. I was telling Problem, I’m going back to playing at the Wilshire every Thursday night which is in Leimert Park, I’m a saxophone player first, so I’m going back.

The reason why I fell in love with music, was just because I wanted to be heard. So, I’m back there man. It’s a lot of cats in the game that’s ruining the art form because they in it for the wrong reasons, they in it for the guns. Cats get a record deal and cats get rapping, and then they join gangs when they’re like 25 years old and shit, they move to the ghetto, and they older and start rappin’ in order to get a better story. It’s just wack, man. Everybody wanna rap about killin’ somebody or fighting, I don’t know man.

I was the saxophone boy in my neighborhood growing up, and I grew up in a very poor neighborhood with this whole gangbanging thing, and I never once had a desire to gangbang, or nothing like that. A lot of these dudes out here rappin’ in songs, I went to Locke High, and everything, and, you know, I ain’t seen none of these dudes. I was always on Crenshaw, catching the 210, the bus, and I went to Marcus Garvy, I went to Santa Monica High for two years though, but I went to Marcus Garvy, I lived all through LA man, I called it the 108 to the 510, getting on the bus line column, you know? I remember being on the bus, when all of the rival gangs would assume you were from a gang because you caught that bus, and they would jack everybody on that bus. And they would get to me, and they would see my saxophone, and they be like, “Oh, you play music? Oh, you straight!,” and jack the dude behind me.

So, I feel Mims saying “music is my savior” man, because I never had the desire to learn that, man. I only had the desire to do music, man, but I understand both walks of life. You know what I’m sayin’, and I’m a real man, because I do understand that, and I do recognize real. And I don’t care if you a crip or blood. *quotes The Game* “Crip, Blood, Ese, Asian, Dominican.” I don’t care what you are man, if you cool, you love God, and you pushing this music around, you cool man, you know what I’m sayin’, we on peace right now, we don’t play around with nothin’, I’m pushing peace around here baby. So, there it is, man. That’s it? Alright, let me make a last statement.


Dubcnn: OK!

I want to, I really want to congratulate, a few people that’s really out there doing it, and I don’t know a lot of these cats, we a lot of the same age, but I’ve always been on tour playin’ music man, but I just really want to congratulate a lot of cats and say thank you from the bottom of my heart, that’s pushin’ this whole, good music line. And, first and foremost man, you know, God, I want to thank God for putting us all up here, and print this man! If I find out this ain’t printed, I’m gonna go to another site, because don’t nobody print this stuff, because kids read y’all websites, and nobody don’t print the real.

I want to thank God, first of all, but I also want to thank God for blessing cats like Glasses Malone, man, that just did his deal, his situation with Mack 10, man. And, I want to thank God for blessing cats like Bishop Lamont, I mean Bishop, I started with him. I started with him and Mykestro in my Mama’s basement, when nobody was rappin’ with my beats them two was rappin’ with my beats, before any of this ever happened. You know what I mean, shout out to Mykestro, man, he doing his thing.

Bang Loose is another cat, I didn’t really know Bang Loose, I met him in passing, and I talk to him now, but a cat like him, man, where clearly, I heard some of his music, he was kinda like the underdog in a sense, you know what I’m sayin’? He wasn’t in with the in crowd, and now the in crowd wants to be in with him, you know what I’m sayin’? Grey Goose is on the way, he got another song coming out, he’s grinding, getting them joints, another producer that’s getting it, man. Thank God for cats like Styles, that’s always been feeding y’all the good news, gave me my first interview, my first outlook into the game that even had cats in New York even looking at me in a whole different light. Styles was pushing that line, Westcoastrydaz, man. And, a lot of cats, man.

Thank God for Jazzy D, man, Jazzy D been putting it down, you know, for years, we come from real close neighborhoods, man, so it’s the same type of walk of life, but a conscious cat that, he never fell victim to this crazy bullshit out here, you know what I’m sayin’? To me, that’s gangsta to me, when you still be yourself, surrounded by everybody else doing the same thing, that’s gangsta homie! Because for us, it takes a lot more than the other dude, because we get crucified for being different. You know what I’m sayin’, you know what I mean?

But, thank God for Battlecat man, thank God for Quik, it was good to see Quik doing it again, you know, it’s like 16 again, gettin’ it, man, you know what I’m sayin? You know, I don’t even think Quik know what he just did with AMG. Like, that let’s us, and I say “us” as the younger generation, looking at the cat like, “Yo, we need to go get RBX in there, we need to go get everybody, you know what I’m sayin’?” Thank God for cats like Crazy Toones too, back in the game doing mixtapes, Dah Dah, everybody man, everybody that’s doing something positive, you know, if I didn’t mention your name, it’s no wrong intended.

Problem, another cat, boy, he’s the underdog, Problem used to be the wackest nigga to me, and I’m not even sayin’, I told him that to his face then, like, “You’re not dope, dude, you gotta get fresh!” But I grew up in a jazz...nigga, we had to practice 8 hours a day, Jazzy! My father wasn’t havin’ us not being good. No. You know what I’m sayin’, so that’s why when I see cats mad and bitter, because they not poppin’ right now, I look at them like, “Have you tried it to get it poppin’?” Go out there and try man, these cats that’s angry because the game ain’t messin’ with them, hop on a plane man, save your lunch money, man. Go hop on a plane, go to New York, go to Atlanta man, go to Miami, go touch everywhere here in LA.

Problem: I said the same thing in my shit, didn’t I?


Dubcnn: Yeah.

You know, but that’s real though, touch everywhere, man, these cats stop hating on everybody! Hot Dollar, man, God bless Hot Dollar man, Felli, all of them, man! Hot Dollar did it, he on the radio doing his thing, man, he got good folks behind him. Shouts out to Big D, you know, that’s one of those cats that helped me out throughout my life with this music thing, you know. So, Hot Dollar doing it man, and you know, Jermaine Dupri picked him up man, you can do it man!

You can do it man, don’t sit on your butt, just waiting for something to be handed down to you, man, just go get it, it’s there. If you fail in life, it’s only your fault. It’s nobody else’s fault if you fail, it ain’t the radio’s fault, it ain’t the other artists’ fault, it’s your fault. Your fault. Nigga, where I grew up…I’m still climbing, we at the Clubhouse right now, this is for everybody, if they serious about music and want to record, call me. Even if they wack, I’ll make them dope.

That’s all I’m gonna say man, is be positive, and that’s the only thing I’m preaching for my own thing. Can we stop hating on everybody? Can we stop dissing everybody? Instead of saying, “Why he that? Why he got that? I’m doper!” You need to be saying, “I need to kick it with that brother! How did he get that? Hey man, how’d you do that? Help me out!” I came to Problem, and I know I ain’t Dr. Dre, but I’m just gonna give my testimony, homie.

I been making money off music since I was 18 years old. I bought my Mama a house, you understand what I’m sayin’? I put her in a Benz. I’m not braggin’, I’m about to say some real stuff right here. Problem is on the radio, Hot Dollar, everybody on the radio. I came to Problem, and I said, “Hey, I been on the radio, but I want…how can I get on the radio now? What I gotta do? Tell me how to do it!” Problem said, “Man, you might want to change some of your sound, because it gotta be radio friendly.” And what did I do? I sat down with you [Problem], and I tried to figure a friendlier sound out. Then I decide I’m not doing that, but I did it, because I wanted to know how to do it. And I’m humble to do that, man, and if I could be able to do it, I know y’all can do it.