Seems like everyone is making beats nowadays but only a few stand out! One of the first things that catch a listener’s attention is the beat of a song. With that being said, producers are often forgotten by consumers when they are definitely a crucial part of a song’s success. I love to shed light on younger individuals who are on the come up making moves so it was only right to link with Thelonious Martin. Thelonious is a 19 year old college student, and producer with a dope sound that many may not expect from a younger individual. He’s worked with some of Hip Hop’s upcoming as well as popular artists such as Sir Michael Rocks, Rockie Fresh, Kid Daytona, Topaz Jones, and SIN just to name a few. I chopped it up with him to discuss his influences such as J.Dilla, college life, recent projects, his love for Hip Hop and more. Check out this interview to see what really goes down behind the boards and learn more about Thelonious!
Nadeje: What should the readers know about Thelonious Martin?
Theolonious Martin: The readers should know a few things about me. I just turned 19 this year, I’m a freshman in college, avid fan of Adult Swim, and I feel like I am the best at what I do. Oh and tell Oprah she owes me $5. (I’m so serious)
Tell us five of your favorite things you don’t think you could go a week without. Why?
I always have to listen to some music, currently early 2000’s trap music from Young Jeezy, J Dilla, Madlib, and MF Doom are in rotation. I have to talk to my parents, my relationships with my mother and father are very important to me and they provide a heavy influence on me. Plus my pops is my manager, I talk business with him almost on the daily. I have to watch Adult Swim, more importantly I can’t really go a week without watching Family Guy, American Dad, Robot Chicken, Full Metal Alchemist, and FLCL. Adult Swim is the reason I really got into music when they started running those Stones Throw bumps. I have to see or talk to my family members, family is really big for me and moving back to. Being at home and being comfortable has really contributed to my music, I’m in a really good place. Lastly…I have to ball so hard motherfuckers wanna find me. I find this is only achievable by Harlem shaking while wearing a du-rag.I hang-glide on Tuesdays, and also partake in full contact origami. But in all seriousness I absolutely have to listen to records, I’m always digging for new samples I can’t go a day without making music in some sort.
LOL. Well I think that right there explains a lot of where your creativity comes from. Have you ever considered using a different name other than your real name to identify yourself as a producer?
I can’t speak on that specifically, I always wanted to keep my music content at a steady flow, but any releases from Thelonious Martin as far as beat tapes go are long gone. Will there be more beat tapes of course…pay close attention to DMNDS and just watch out during 2012. *evil genius laugh* (Continue on right column)
Hmm SUPER and DMNDS are pretty good as well as other work you’ve done with various artists…so Im anxious to see what you have in store for us in 2012!! When did you discover your love for Hip Hop?
My love for hip hop culture stems from my parents, my mother an avid hip hop and R&B head and my dad the same. My mother took me to an Outkast concert when I was like 2, my dad played jazz music to get me to go to sleep. So music is deeply rooted without me ever really even venturing off into music myself. My mom even played stuff from the soulquarians when we were cleaning the house, so we’d be listening to J Dilla, Jill Scott, Erykah and so forth, while whenever I was with my pops he was always playing east coast gritty hip hop. I attribute my own taste in music to Adult Swim and Chris Manak also known as Peanut Butter Wolf. I was in middle school, and I started staying up late watching Adult Swim, and at the time Donuts just released, Dilla had passed away, and [AS] started running those Stones Throw bumps. That shit really changed my life, my ears completely felt brand new, and my outlook on music changed. From then on I wanted to emulate J Dilla, Flying Lotus, Madlib, and MF DOOM.
Wow Outkast at two!?! That’s dope! Shout to your parents for real. LOL. Quite a bit of the stuff you produce has a jazz feel to it. Who or what influences your sound?
I got my nickname Thelonious from my father playing jazz to get me to go to sleep as a baby, so the jazzy feel to my music is really just instinct, I often spend my time listening to jazz, and studying how they played and how the music felt. Once I started sampling music for beats it all took its own natural course. I used to research what samples J Dilla, 9th Wonder, and MF DOOM used and tried my own hand at them. I started to develop my own tastes and developed my own ear for loops. Now I’m Choptimus Prime.
To further speak on your artistry and creativity. In several of your beats there is definitely an influence from 90s videogames. Why did you decide to incorporate these?
I’m avid gamer, my best friends in elementary school were my boom box, and my gameboy, so I’ve always had a high appreciation for video games, and the music that came with it. I’m a very nostalgic person when comes to things that really made me happy.
I am a college student myself and I know our schedules can get pretty crazy. How tough is it for you to balance school, creating new material, and just being Thelonious?
My GPA is over 3.0, my love life sucks, but music reigns supreme. Being Thelonious is like breathing being a music producer and being Malcolm Martin, is one and the same. It’s not some extension of me or a different alias; Thelonious and Malcolm are the same. I guess I find time to create new material just from day to day inspiration. From traveling, my friends, and just trolling the internet for random things. I made sure my school schedule and time I take out for school work doesn’t really bleed into the 4-6 hours I spend working on music a day, while trying to juggle school work, friends, and family…it’s complicated but I try to make it work.
While we are on the subject of education….Are you attending college to enhance your knowledge of the music industry or for other career endeavors?
My major is Arts Entertainment Media Management, with a concentration of music management. I didn’t want to go to school for stuff I do in the studio all the time, so I wanted to focus on the business side of things to allow myself to grow as a full artist and businessman.
That’s definitely a smart way to go about it. A lot of cats in the industry just know how to create but not manage the business aspect of things. To continue, there seems to be a sudden boom of younger individuals in the industry. How do you feel about being a part of this?
This generation is wild, rambunctious, and talented. I’m proud to be apart of it, there are so many individuals, partaking in all the arts, like a large of my best friends, are photographers, musicians, people involved in media and so forth. Everywhere I look up there are people making moves, the only downside is the market is flooded, but only the strong survive.
Who are some of your current favorites in general, not just Hip Hop?
N*E*R*D over everything, Pharrell is a major influence of mine, Kendrick Lamar, Stalley, Casey Veggies, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Clutchy Hopkins, Roy Ayers, Thelonious Monk, Kids These Days, Wu-Tang, Tribe, Amy Winehouse, Mobb Deep, Nas, Kanye, Jay, Whoarei, Madlib, J Dilla, MF DOOM, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, OFWGkTA, Musiq Soulchild, The Sylvers, Sly and The Family Stone, I could really go on for like a thousand hours. My musical tastes have widened greatly from searching for samples, grocery shopping, and searching through my old folks records.
Well rounded group of people there! What’s did you do differently on SUPER and your latest project, DMNDS?
DMNDS showcases 3 remixes, 2 songs that if you followed the Tastemakers NJ movement will be quite familiar, and one is an unreleased Topaz Jones verse from the Hello My Name Is sessions. Then there is 7 beats that will give you a preview of the sound that will be showcased next year in the projects I’ll be involved in.
If you could talk to any producer who would it be and why?
Without a doubt it would be J. Dilla, I would just pick his brain for an hour and then just jam out for a day. Just asking him how, and watch his process to make a record would be amazing. I always consider myself a student of the game, and whenever class is in session .
Noah Shebib or “40” as most of us know him Is kinda like Drake’s go to guy. Do you think you could be that go to guy for some artist one day?
Luckily for me, I’ve got to be that go to guy for a few artists, I was one of the main producers for Tastemakers NJ, and when me and Topaz worked on Hello My Name Is, I was the only producer he worked with on the project. Now I’m working on projects with Vic Mensa, and Action Bronson. I’ve been a fan of one producer projects if done right. One day hopefully I’ll be in a NO I.D. position.
Thank you for representing the younger generation in such a positive way. Let us know what’s next up and any other random thing you’d like readers to know.
That’s truly an honor for one, thank you greatly. I have younger siblings that I want to influence in a major way I’m really trying to create for a legacy and have people talking about the work I’m doing now 20 years from now. With that said stay tuned to thehommeteam.tumblr.com for my visual and audible thoughts, and follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/KingThelonious . Shout out to Tastemakers NJ, Dope Couture, SaveMoney, and anyone that supports my movement. Thank you guys for real.
Also, Thelonious blessed us with an exclusive track for you guys to hear called “The Fire” click here to take a listen!
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January 7th, 2012 at 1:21 am
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