He’s touted as one of most talented up-and-coming producers/rappers on the West Coast. After producing tracks for Snoop Dogg and playing saxophone in the Dogg Father’s Snoopadelics band, Terrace Martin is ready to PrOPEL his sound FAR beyond the city of angels. You’re known as a producer and rapper, but a lot of people don’t know that you also play instruments like the saxophone and piano. I was introduced to music through my parents. My mother is a pianist, a singer, and a songwriter. And my father is a drummer. I got introduced to music at a very young age cause around my house there was a lot of different music being played throughout the day. My father played a lot of John Coltrane and Woody Shaw, and my mother would play a lot of Luther [Vandross], a lot of Anita Baker. I grew up with studios in my house, so when I hit fifth grade I told my mom I wanted a drum machine. At that time Hip Hop was so big, my mom bought me a Casio. So I started making beats on that little keyboard. My mom saw that I was real serious with making beats, so she bought me this keyboard called Ensonic EPS that a lot of cats used back in the day. You gotta think, I’m in 6th grade and my mom is buying me a $4,000 keyboard. When did you learn to play the saxophone? 9th grade is when I started playing the saxophone. I went to visit my father in New York, where he was playing at a nightclub. I wasn’t into jazz, I was just doing beats. One night my uncle Richie Love was playing the saxophone, and I was like, “That’s a fly instrument.” This older woman with these huge breasts came up to me and said, “Do you play drummers like your daddy?” I said, “Nah.” She said, “What do you play?” I said, “I don’t play nothing, ma’am.” She said, “Well, I’ma tell you like this, if you play the saxophone, you can make love to your woman without even touching her.” So in 9th grade, (laughs), “Mom, I need to learn how to play the saxophone.” I took a break from Hip Hop cause I really wanted to get that saxophone down. Once
I got the horn down, I fell right back into the drum machine. Where I grew up, there weren’t a lot of good role models. There was a lot of gangbangin’, a lot of things going on that wasn’t positive, and it wasn’t what I wanted to do. But there was another cat that grew up in my neighborhood named Kevin Gilliam a.k.a. Battlecat. I locked in with Battlecat and he taught me how to really get down with the drum machine and MPC. And I met Kurupt and a ton of other people through him. You’ve done a lot of work with Snoop Dogg. How’d you meet him? I met Snoop and Kurupt together when I was 16. Out in L.A. we grew up on Snoop Dogg records. Not only that, but Kurupt showed us we could do it, coming from this area. And this was my first time seeing stars. And it’s not starstuck, it’s like, “Oh my God, he’s tall.” (Laughs) And the thing that makes me remember them is that there was like 30 people in the hallway, and before Snoop left, he walked from the bottom of the hallway to the top and shook everyone’s hand. He looked them all in the eyes and said, “Aight, cuz. Aight, cuz. Aight, cuz.” I was like, this man is Snoop Dogg, he can just leave. And I said, “Lord, I wanna work with Snoop Dogg. That would be a dream come true.” So, when I was like 19 or 20, through Battlecat and a good friend of mine named Marlon Williams, I got the opportunity to play sax in Snoop’s band. Before Snoop had even heard my beats, Soopafly heard my beats, and he gave me my first check. I waited for the opportunity to let Snoop know I had music. I pressed play, he was excited about my music, and he’s been there ever since for me. What was your first placement on a Snoop Dogg album? I played [saxophone] on some songs on Pay tha Cost to Be da Boss, but my first placement was “Joysticc” on the 213 album. A month after that R&G: The Masterpiece came out, and [I produced] “Fresh Pair of Panties On.” Since you have a saxophone and jazz background, how would you define your production sound as a rapper and producer? My production sound has grown now. I used to be concentrated on the whole West Coast [sound]. Now I’m more concentrated on observing music, but still keeping it innovative and interesting. I’m adapting to is this whole new
movement. At one point I wouldn’t have accepted it because I was so close-minded and stuck in that West Coast shell. I did so much work for Snoop Dogg to the point that people thought all I would wanna do is Snoop Dogg records, and that’s not the case. I’ma always ride with Snoop Dogg, but I’m not gonna always do Snoop Dogg [style] music. I wanna expand; I wanna work with everybody. I’m not that interested in working with anyone on the West Coast, no disrespect, but I just need my music to go farther. Is that the main reason you did a mixtape with DJ Drama? It’s funny you say that, cause that is the main reason I did the mixtape with DJ Drama. Drama’s been supporting me since I started. Drama’s another one of my dudes. I was gonna do it with Green Lantern, but Drama’s so accessible to me and he’s such a real good dude and he cares about the music. You know, for minute I was gonna live in Atlanta. Come on to the A, shawty. Yeah, but y’all don’t got no Slauson Swapmeet. Y’all ain’t got no Roscoe’s. Y’all got Gladys Knight’s chicken out there, and her chicken is okay. And kudos to Gucci Mane. What would Gucci Mane sound like on a Dr. Dre beat? I don’t know. I’m used to hearing him over Zaytoven beats. That’s why I need to get with Gucci Mane. So, send a kite to Gucci Mane, make sure he reads this article. Get at me, nigga. Who else are you working with right now? I just completed an album called Melrose with a good friend of mine, Murs. Murs is one of the biggest independent artists in the game right now. He does things like Rock The Bells and he has his own festival called Paid Dues. He does [shows] where nobody’s fighting in the crowd, and everybody’s there to just love music. And there are different colors in the crowd. I don’t just wanna do music for blacks or Hispanics. I wanna make music for blacks, Hispanics, Latinos, Asians, greens, yellows, anybody. If you love music, I wanna rock out with you. And I don’t wanna promote violence, I wanna promote peace. Make love, not war. That’s what Murs is about, and that’s what I’m about right now. And the music is like nothing I’ve ever done; it’s like “ghettoelectro.” Watch when you print this article, somebody’s gonna bite that. “Ghetto-electro.” //
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