Terrace Martin Takes Us All To Music 101!!

[Styles1]

If you love reading interviews where you get something out of it, then this is for you! Terrace Martin sounds off on DJ Quik, Teddy Riley, Quincy Jones, his Locke High Mixtape and 15 Minute Beat Producers!! It's time for Music 101 folks!

Interview Link: http://raptalk.net/website/content/view/511/54/

Enjoy! 

[Woodrow]

Damn thats tight! I'm gonna peep that for sure tomorrow!

Props!

[Throwback420]

Im really feeling this dude's music

[Dre-Day]

lol , i like the sarcasm:

When I want to be like these beat-makers, I’ll go make a beat in 15 minutes [Laughs].

I think that I am going to make a new mixtape called “15 Minutes.” I’ll use the same drum styles that all of the 15 minute guys do.

I don’t work with people who think they know it all. The people that think they know it all should work with the dudes that make beats in 15 minutes. They should all be in a group – called the “idiots.” [Laughs] A 15 minute beat-maker and a rapper that knows it all – the idiots. I’ll even send them a beat via email. I like this interview.

An outsider would think that the streets are filled with 64 Impalas.

TM: I don’t have a 64. I have a Honda Accord and a Tahoe. It’s just time for a different picture to be painted. I love what Game is doing. Snoop is Snoop and Cube is Cube, but new cats need to paint a new picture.

 

[Shango]

gonna check this out...props

[Digital Pimpin']

He spoke for the fans on Quik and The Fixxers.

[Brutus]

dope read

[Styles1]

Thanks for checking it out.

[Suga Foot]

If you love reading interviews where you get something out of it, then this is for you! Terrace Martin sounds off on DJ Quik, Teddy Riley, Quincy Jones, his Locke High Mixtape and 15 Minute Beat Producers!! It's time for Music 101 folks!

You’ve had a tremendous year so far, coming off of Snoop’s Ego Trippin’ album. You directed a lot of the music on that album.

TM: That experience was a dream come true. Snoop did something different with that record. He allowed that album to have a center. All of the old records that we used to listen to had a same team of producers making the album. Although there were other people sending records, there was a team putting the song together and brought it from sounding ground level to skyscraper status. That team was Snoop Dogg, myself, David Blake a.k.a. DJ Quik and Teddy Riley. That was the team. We would replay snare sounds, kicks, replace high-hats, add different chord progressions, add rolls and then mix the record – make that beat become a song. On half of that record I received credit for being a musical arranger. My job was to make records get to their full potential. That was big for me to be in the room with the likes of DJ Quik and Teddy Riley – especially Teddy Riley. This was the first time that I worked with DJ Quik on an everyday basis. I tell everybody that I graduated from school. I went to the school of Quik. He taught me things that will help put my children’s children through college.

Can you talk about some of the gems that you learned from working with Quik & Riley?

TM: This is what I learned from Quik, and this is for everybody that raps, produces or sings. I learned the word Signal Flow, which I used as the name of my last mixtape. It’s having a good signal from the microphones to your Pro Tools or whatever you are recording with. Have a good signal and whatever you do, don’t record in the red. If levels are hitting the red then it’s not good. It’s impossible to take out distortion. Distortion is on a lot of songs that we hear today that are on these websites, leaks and Myspace pages. That’s why their records sound small – because of the level of distortion and clutter. Good levels are important and that’s something that I can pass on to everybody. There are more things but that’s something that I can say for everybody to easily understand.       

What about from Teddy Riley?

TM: I learned from Teddy Riley is to always stay in the party – keep the party moving. Keep those records moving and make feel good records. He also taught me to take my time with a record. I hear a lot of cats in interviews say that they only took 15 or 20 minutes to make a certain beat.

I hear that a lot. It’s often said as a badge of honor too.

TM: They suck. Whoever says that is horrible. Do you make love to your girl in 15 to 20 minutes and consider yourself being in love with her? I don’t. If you go limp with your girl within 15 to 20 minutes then maybe you are not as deep in love with her then you thought you were? You are probably thinking about something else because you are not focused. I am sure some people will get offended by that, but it’s ok. It’s how I feel. I can say what I feel, right? If you do a beat in 15 to 20 minutes, it’s going to sound like it. You know, a lot of beat makers say that 15-20 minutes thing. I don’t hear any producers say that. Teddy Riley taught me to take my time. I am working with Quincy Jones right now and I’ve been on this same one record for like 3 months now. Quincy is the ultimate professional. He’ll tell me to add this, add that, make it sound like this, bring that sound up, take that out – and I don’t mind because I know that the end result is going to be nothing less than great. I strive to be like Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock and Dr. Dre. Just take your time and do the record. Don’t put anything out if it’s not ready -if you don’t feel it in your soul, heart and spirit. If your heart doesn’t skip a beat when you hear a certain kick drum, then it’s not ready to put out. Tuck it back in, put it in your iTunes and play it for your friends when they come over to your house to get drunk.

If learning from DJ Quik is college, then what is Quincy Jones?

TM: Quik is like going to school for my B.A. Teddy Riley is like going to school for my Masters. Quincy is like going to school for my Doctorate. One doesn’t work without the other one, and that’s for some ignorant person reading this on the website thinking that I am dissing anybody by putting one lower than the other. Truth be told, the level is like that, but that’s not disrespectful in any way. DJ Quik, Teddy Riley and Quincy Jones – they all mean a lot to me. My ultimate goal is to be like Quincy Jones and Herbie Hancock. Quik and Teddy taught me enough to get to that next level and now I’m with Quincy.

What have you learned so far by working with Quincy?

TM: How to have a ball and just have fun doing music. Quik taught me patience, Teddy taught even more patience and with Quincy it’s like, “If the record comes out the day before you die, at least it will be great.” It’s about patience and putting out the best possible music that you can put out. Once music is put out, it’s already in the Universe. You can’t snatch it off or take it back. Do you really want that to be your last statement? That’s why I take my time with whatever artist that I am working with, be it Snoop, T-Lee, Uncle Chucc or Problem and whoever I work with. I am not rushing anything. People get mad at me because they think that I am a little slow but they love the end product.

The ones that get mad at me because I am slow, they come to me for a reason – and that’s to sound better. The records that I am a part of weren’t done in 15 minutes. The beats that I have done in 15 to 20 minutes, I have sold to porno people as porn music.

You have such a busy life. How do you find the time to sit down with your keyboards and instruments to make all of this music?

TM: Good scheduling. It’s like a marriage or having a serious girlfriend. A woman once told me that if you are really serious about something, you will compromise and make the time for it. I make time for whatever music wants to do. Wherever music drives me, that’s where I go with it. I don’t do music for the money. I do it because I love it.

Where do you get your creative moments? Lying in bed at 3 a.m. or what?

TM: I get my most creative moments in the morning time and after I have sex – right after.

[Laughs] No cuddling with the woman huh? Just up and off to the studio. 

TM: I try to cuddle but I keep hearing music in my head! The only time I can listen to a whole album is while I am having sex. It’s not that I am not focused on her. I am just having a threesome: me, her and the music. It’s the only time I can –without interruptions. Sex, cooking, making music and whatever else you do, is all the same. It’s all positive energy.

How do you deal with creative blocks?

TM: I just came out of a 4 day block. I deal with blocks by doing something in the realm of music. If I am not creating then I will take 4 days off and make drum sounds like I just did. DJ Quik gave me his original SP-1200 [points to it], that right there. That’s the original one he used for all of his old records. I can play some of the original music from his first album from it. But when I have creative blocks, I listen to music. That’s the number one thing that you can do. Listen to it, have fun to it, dance to it, hang out with your mom and pops to it – something will inspire you after that. That’s why we love it because we started off listening to it. You have to go back to why you fell in love with music. We all fell in love with it because we heard it and felt the vibrations. So you have to listen to it again and feel those same vibrations. It will come back. It might take a while but it will come back better than ever.

When you create something, is it already in your head? Or does it come by you playing something and coming up with it on the spot?

TM: Both. Some records have already been done in my head for like 4 or 5 years and it’s just never gotten to the drum machines or the keyboards. Some records I will hit something while I am playing or watching TV. If I am watching TV and I hear a sound, I’ll go “Ahh.” It will trigger something; you know what I’m saying? That’s what happens to me. When I want to be like these beat-makers, I’ll go make a beat in 15 minutes [Laughs].

I think that I am going to make a new mixtape called “15 Minutes.” I’ll use the same drum styles that all of the 15 minute guys do.

When you make a track, do you base it off of the drum pattern? Or do you make the music first and then do the drums?

TM: I don’t have a set thing. It’s whatever triggers it. Sometimes it will be a piano first, or a drum, and sometimes it will be an old record. I don’t have a set way. When you do records in 15 minutes, you have to have a set way – because you have to get them done in 15 minutes. 16 minutes? You are not good anymore. Yes – that was a shot [Laughs].

How often do you scrap something that you’ve made because you aren’t feeling it and just start over?

TM: About 80 percent of the time. I’m so honest with myself. And some things I feel that nobody else likes. If I am the only one that feels it and nobody else likes it and I am not getting the right energetic feedback, then you will probably never get to hear those records neither. I do music for me but I also do it for people – to make people feel good. It’s a gift that belongs to God so I can’t harbor it for myself.

How hard is that though? A lot of musicians can’t make the kind of music that they want, because the kind of music that they like isn’t the kind of music that sells.

TM: The things that I like to play do sell. It might not sell 20 million records but they sell enough to where I can pay my mortgage and take care of my kids. I don’t care about being rich as long as I make something. I’m fortunate to be one of the guys that can do what I love and get paid off of it.

But back to that previous question, that happens a lot where I am doing a song and then I have to scrap it. Me and T-Lee, I did a beat and we wrote verses and worked on that song for like 5 or 6 hours. To the end, like up to the 7th hour we were like, “This is going nowhere.” And we had to trash it. You will never hear that song. It happens.

Since we are on the subject of honesty, how hard is it to be honest with a rapper when you are producing a song? You know, to tell him that he’s stinking up the spot.

TM: I’ve been blessed to work with people that share the mindset of wanting to work together and for the best interests of that record, where we can say what we want to say. This record is a statement. All of our names are going on that record when it goes out. There’s been some people that I’ve worked with that can’t take criticism or do things their way – and that’s ok. If things are working then keep doing things your way. I have also been fortunate to work with people that just care about the song and anybody can say anything in the studio, as long as it has to do with that song.

Even being blunt?

TM: Even being blunt – but it’s to better the music. It’s to make sure that when the music leaves us, we can all lay back and know that we did our best.  Like I said earlier, I’ve worked with people that can’t take criticism, and that’s ok if it’s been working for them and they are feeding their families.

Can I work with people that can’t take constructive criticism? No, because I can’t do what I do – and that’s produce. I do believe in teamwork and I am a team player. But what I tell people is you might want to take some criticism because obviously what you’ve been doing hasn’t been working and what I’ve been doing has been working.

Is that something that you settle before you all hit the studio?

TM: I’ve never had to do that, although there’s 2 instances where I should have done that. There was this one guy who offered me a whole lot of money to produce his record and I just couldn’t do it. I had to turn it down because he wanted to stand over my shoulders – that situation wasn’t working for him or me. I left that project alone. If it’s not fun, no matter how much money, I won’t do it. I work with those that want to work with me, respect me and trust me to do my best to give them the best record possible. I don’t work with people who think they know it all. The people that think they know it all should work with the dudes that make beats in 15 minutes. They should all be in a group – called the “idiots.” [Laughs] A 15 minute beat-maker and a rapper that knows it all – the idiots. I’ll even send them a beat via email. I like this interview.

So you will never take on a project or an artist you can’t really work with, just for the money?

TM: No. I don’t need the money like that. I’m not losing my house or my car. My mother is not in debt. I’m not ballin’ rich but I can afford things.

So do you listen to a rapper and pre-approve him?

TM: Sometimes I go after a rapper that I hear, that are really dope and they just need some help. There are some rappers that I hear and I see that nobody is giving them a helping hand musically. I like their hustle and they have the heart of a tiger or lion – like Roccett. Problem is that guy too. Problem wasn’t my favorite rapper when I first got with him but he had heart. He’s actually one of my favorite rappers now. I’ll try to call someone if I want to work with them, like I reached out to Roccett. We were trying to find each other. I think Roccett is hot. Once I get in to a studio room with him and produce a record, it’s going to be out of this world. He’s already amazing to me and he’s a humble dude.

I imagine that you get approached a lot.

TM: I get approached a lot but I know how to deal with it now. It was hard because a lot of people in the street were like, “I need a beat. Hook me up!” And you don’t’ have time to deal with them because you are busy with prior engagements. They’ll think that you are Hollywood and talk bad about you behind your back or going on these websites – it’s crazy. My thing is if someone wants a record from Terrace Martin, then they will get one if it’s God’s will – if it’s supposed to be. If they talk bad about me then they talk bad about me. They talk bad about everybody. Me and Kurupt call them the “monsters” or the “vampires.” I’ve got kids so I don’t really get mad anymore when somebody talks about me. I used to get my feelings hurt. I have a song called Haters on my mixtape. It talks about all of that stuff.  But yeah, I do get approached a lot, especially when I go to clubs. I am not a celebrity, but I am good at what I do and people recognize that. I just say the truth, which is as soon as I get freed up and if I’m feeling you, then I will get with you.

You mentioned having heart, but what else do you look for in an artist?

TM: Originality. Somebody that’s different. Someone that’s not afraid to jump off of a bridge butt-naked with a condom on [Laughs]. Someone that has hustle on these websites, Youtube, whatever.

Do you look for a certain sound though?

TM: No. Just something I hear from my heart, not my ears. I don’t want to hear it. I want to feel it – No homo [Laughs].

Now that we’ve established what you like. What do you not like in an artist?

TM: When they sound like somebody else. When they try to do records like somebody else to get some radio play. When they want to sell their soul just to get on the radio. If being Muslim is in, then they won’t eat pork that week. If Pink is in, then they are wearing Pink. If being gangsta is in, then they do that. Following whatever is in, just to be in.

What about here on the West Coast? Why is it that only a handful of artists seem to be crackin’ right now?

TM: You just said it, because only a handful care about the music that they put out. It’s going to take a whole group of us, not just a few, to bring a breath of fresh new air to the West Coast. That means putting out good music. If you have a bad mixtape, then you are killing yourself. There has to be more than just a handful though. Glasses Malone is making noise outside the West with his Certified song. He cares about quality music. Another artist is Problem. He’ll hop on plane to New York and everywhere else to get his music done. Bishop Lamont has come a long way. I met Bishop through Mykestro years ago. Bishop was a hard worker even back then. He was always doing some hard shit that I would never do – always coming by with paint on his hands – and still record after a hard day of work. He was the first one from our group to pay for his own studio time. He would have all of us there. It was a little studio off of Crenshaw. Bishop works hard and I am tremendously proud of him. He’s one of the ones that I hear about when I go out of town. Who else? Myself, Hot Dollar, Jay Rock and Roccett. You can’t get rid of Roccett and that’s why I like him so much. I hear about him out of town. If I missed you, then it’s probably because I don’t hear about you out of town. 

We need more names though. We can’t be the only ones. You know, that might be a dope tape. Me, Problem, Bishop, Glasses, Jay Rock, Roccett – that would be a dope tape. All of you dudes need to call me and let me produce the whole thing. We all get along. We can all get in the same room. But back to that, we do need more names to make quality music. People use these websites to leak music – but these sites need someone to screen the music before putting it out! It makes the West Coast look bad when I go home and get on my computer and see horrible pictures and horrible leaks. Some that do it are my friends – and it’s not personal, it’s musical. The hottest leaks I’ve seen are the I’m Toe Up Remix and Bounce, Rock, Skate – but that Western Union mixtape is eating everything else up. Everybody should listen to that as a standard. Signal Flow, Western Union and Bishop’s mixtapes are the standard of quality music for the West Coast. You websites should have an A & R or a group that votes on what’s leaked. These leaks hurt us bad though. It don’t make no sense for me to leak some dope shit and then have someone else on that site leak some wack shit the next day. My dope stuff is at the bottom of the page because there’s a gang of wack stuff ahead of me. It don’t make sense! From music to videos we have to step up and do some fly stuff. Stop doing videos in the alleys. Mainstream artists from outside come to Los Angeles and use our scenery better than we do for our videos.

It seems to go beyond video though. A lot of artists from other regions seem to have found a certain flow, cadence and sound that connects with the listeners.

TM: That goes back to quality of music. But artists do come out here and use the best of what’s here, like musicians and producers, and then go back home and talk shit about us. That goes way beyond Hip-Hop. That goes back to the days of Miles Davis. We just have to make good music. Let’s talk about some new topics. Let’s stay in the party for a minute. People talk about killing and they have never killed. I’ve never shot anybody – sorry. I’m not a tough guy like that. The West Coast isn’t all about Khakis and Chucks. That’s going to make a lot of people mad, but print that. When I was growing up, I had Jordan’s and fly Jerseys.

An outsider would think that the streets are filled with 64 Impalas.

TM: I don’t have a 64. I have a Honda Accord and a Tahoe. It’s just time for a different picture to be painted. I love what Game is doing. Snoop is Snoop and Cube is Cube, but new cats need to paint a new picture.

You deal with Execs at different labels. What are they looking for?

TM: A lot of execs don’t know what the hell they are looking for. A lot of these people in these positions aren’t music people anymore. The business people are now the A & R’s at labels. Business only looks at business – like numbers. They are just looking for people to deliver the highest numbers. If an artist knows that, he has to try and do things to bring in numbers.

The internet has helped the game out and also put a dent in it. I roll with it. It’s hurt but it’s also helped out a whole lot. I’ve gained fans that I would have never have gained if it weren’t for Myspace. I’ve been in meetings where Jimmy Iovine would request to see a rapper’s Myspace page to see how many views and plays that they have. That’s why I say a few things about that on my song Myspace Rappers.

The “get a million hits and you’ll get a deal” line?

TM: Which is true - I guarantee that. A million hits will get you a record deal. The song doesn’t even have to hit – you’ll get a record deal. I like Myspace though. The only thing is that someone can use it like Halloween to dress up to be something that they are not.

Souljah Boy did his thing on Myspace….

TM: And that’s dope for what it is. It’s music for the kids and its fun for them to listen to. People get offended by it but I don’t diss it. It’s just fun music. I’m sick of records about people talking about killing people and slapping people up and down. That’s boring to me right now. B-O-R-I-N-G – that’s another topic.

Making Ego Trippin’ must have been a joy for you, because Snoop bucked all of that…

TM: And made fun records.

One of the biggest names in gangsta rap too…

TM: He’s grown – 35 years old – has a wife and 3 kids at home. He’s been in trouble with the law and tired of it. It’s not fly to get caught by the police. It’s not fly to get pulled over or go to jail. It’s not fly to have to live your life in fear. He doesn’t even have that many security guards anymore – like 1 or 2. He’s grown and his music says that. I hope others can follow that and be themselves too. I see rappers. They go hard on records but are bunnies at the clubs, all low-key and humble saying, “I don’t want to go over there. There’s a lot of guys over there.” That’s why I do fun records. I don’t want to get hit or shot at.

Let’s talk about this huge mixtape that you are doing with Snoop and DJ Drama.

TM: It was fun! When I do a mixtape, I do songs for that mixtape. I don’t have 10 year old songs in my backpack to just throw on there. If I add a song to this one that I had from a previous mixtape like Signal Flow, in which I did take a few – it’s because I feel like Signal Flow didn’t get it’s just do. I looked at it more as a regional thing. This is going to be DJ Drama’s first West Coast mixtape ever. He’s never done a West Coast mixtape. I want to touch that end of the world. I didn’t want to just keep it here on the West Coast.

You will hear Snoop, T-Lee, Uncle Chucc, DJ Quik, Kurupt, J-Black and Problem. Those are the only names, with the exception of a young lady by the name of Tone Treasure. Everything else is just us like a super group. It’s all original music. I took more time on this one than I did with Signal Flow. The name of it is Locke High and it’s for my old High School – on the eastside of Los Angeles, CA.     

Is there a theme to this mixtape?

TM: The theme to this mixtape? You can look at it as an instructional type of mixtape – of what your mixtape could sound like if you took your time. Hopefully someone can learn from that and put out a mixtape that is better than mine. I won’t be mad at that. I will be like, “They got the message!” That’s why I am going with one of the biggest DJ names in the game, so I can put a band-aid on music itself and West Coast music! I want it to where people can say, “Yo! It’s poppin’ over there!” Hopefully by the time this mixtape and the Western Union mixtape circulates people will look at L.A. again – and other cats out here can have good mixtapes to follow us up and continue that.

People ask me why I didn’t use a West Coast DJ for this one. I went with Drama for this one I want to reach a whole different world that he has access to. I needed my music to be heard by everybody to this West Coast scene. I am not making any money off of this. It’s also not about me. If it were about me, then I would have rapped on every song and hosted it myself. It’s about everybody. Snoop even handpicked these dudes to be a part of this project too. He told me to stick to my team. I was going to get other cats and he said, “No. Stay with your team and get Quik. Cats haven’t heard Quik in a while.”  And that’s true aside from The Fixxers – but I didn’t want to hear Quik on that. I’m a Quik fan and that’s personal. I love AMG, but I didn’t want to hear Quik on that Fixxers thing – and I’m not hating. If people think that I am hating, then so be it. Quik knows me and I love him and he loves me. I speak my mind. I want to hear Quik on something revolutionary because that’s what he’s always been about. He’s always done things that haven’t been done before. I heard a few of the Fixxers songs and they were cool, but it wasn’t innovative and music is about being innovative. I was scared about that project. I look at all of the projects, because we are all parts and limbs of the West Coast. I want us to push that line. The West Coast sound has always been innovative – until recently. We sound like other people and I am against that. I don’t care who gets upset. I am against sounding like other people. If you sound like someone else, then stop! You are hurting us. Let’s work this out and pull it together.

What was DJ Drama’s reaction to the music on this project?

TM: Excited! He went back to Atlanta and put us on the radio. The true cats out there love it. My people out in New York love it. The response has been crazy and I am happy about this tape. If people like Signal Flow then they are going to be in love with this. I got better musically because I practice everyday.

[1234]

Props! This some good shit!

[Laconic]

Dope read.  I was listening to Locke High and Murs' 1st Love while reading it 

Also, was Terrace involved in the making of Cant Say Goodbye off of Snoopy's record?  Cause that track is so crisp it's not even funny.

[marcin1712]

props great read

[h2k4]

Dope read.  I was listening to Locke High and Murs' 1st Love while reading it 

Also, was Terrace involved in the making of Cant Say Goodbye off of Snoopy's record?  Cause that track is so crisp it's not even funny.

When did the mixtape drop?

[Dopeisjay]

Fa real I can't wait for this to drop.. I've been bumpin "end of my jam" and "flyin".. Since I ripped it from myspace.. But I need to hear them in good quality on the real.. Aswell as the other tracks on it..

[Styles1]

Dope read.  I was listening to Locke High and Murs' 1st Love while reading it 

Also, was Terrace involved in the making of Cant Say Goodbye off of Snoopy's record?  Cause that track is so crisp it's not even funny.

When did the mixtape drop?

he's probably referring to the Locke High track that Terrace did with Hi-Tek....it's a jazz/hip hop instrumental....