Terrace Martin

Blxst Plays Prince Charming In His Slick ‘Ghetto Cinderella’ Video With Mustard And Terrace Martin

by

West Coast crooner Blxst plays Prince Charming in the new video for “Ghetto Cinderella” from his recently released EP, Just For Clarity 2. The song, which is produced by Mustard and features an instrumental appearance by Terrace Martin (who else could blow a sax like that?), finds Blxst in full-on lothario mode, making a play on a woman he calls his “Ghetto Cinderella.”

The video, which contains plenty of allusions to the classic fairy tale, takes place mainly in a neighborhood beauty shop, where Blxst gets his hair braided while flirting with one of the shop girls as she sweeps up. After spending some alone time in the LA sunshine, the pair puts in an appearance at a classy-looking gala, where a massive diamond is being displayed.

This is no fairy tale, though, and with no fairy godmother in sight, they make their own dreams come true, leaving behind only a bedazzled Nike Air Force 1. The clip ends with the remaining shop girls perusing a newspaper proclaiming the couple’s wanted status after they disappear with the diamond.

Blxst’s new EP follows the release of his debut album Before You Go. It also contains his Larry June collaboration, “Keep Calling,” as well as a Roddy Ricch team-up.

Watch Blxst’s “Ghetto Cinderella” video above.

Terrace Martin And Channel Tres Write A Love Letter To LA With Their New Single ‘Chucks’

by

Jazz musician Terrace Martin has teamed up with house producer and singer Channel Tres for a breezy new collaboration. On their new single, “Chucks,” the two describe a day in Los Angeles, while on foot in their favorite shoes — Converse, also known as Chuck Taylor’s.

On the song, Tres makes nods to the City of Angels, by rap-singing, “Walkin’ on the street I see cop cars / Walkin’ on the street that’s the boulevard / It’s that motherf*ckin’ hustle and bustle sh*t / Know what I’m sayin’”

Throughout the thumping, groovy beat, Martin’s signature saxophone riffs give the song a dreamy feel.

In a press release accompanied by the track, Martin describes it as “a sonic picture that represents New Los Angeles. The driving pulse of the song represents the tempo of traffic, the bass line is the attitude of a true Angeleno, the space that Channel commands with his vocals closely relates to the motion of water. At the end of the day it’s goin’ to make you move and feel good about being alive.”

Tres also explained that lyrically, he wanted to pay homage to his west coast childhood.

“This record is about reminiscing and grieving my past,” Tres said. “I grew up on Long Beach Blvd. and a lot of things took place there. I remember the donut shop, the car wash, the Compton swap meet, and I tried to best articulate that feeling with space and groovy production. Chucks were also my choice of shoe growing up — they cost $25 at the swap meet, and they looked good. I had a bunch of them.”

You can check out “Chucks” above.

Terrace Martin Says He Will No Longer Work With ‘Rap Friends’ In A New Letter

by
Terrace Martin 2020 Destination Crenshaw Groundbreaking Event
Getty Image

Terrace Martin’s work in the music industry dates back to the mid-2000s. He started off as a jazz producer, but following some work with Snoop Dogg in the mid-2000s, Martin would go on to combine his jazz palette with hip-hop sounds as he worked with rappers like Kendrick Lamar, Denzel Curry, Cordae, Big KRIT, Travis Scott, Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, and more. Martin has also put nine albums over the course of 10 years with his first one being 2011’s Melrose with Murs and his most recent one being 2021’s Drones. Despite all his success, Martin is putting an end to his work with hip-hop artists.

In a lengthy letter that he shared on social media, Martin revealed that he would no longer work with “rap friends” in the future.

“It just hit me, I’ve helped people my whole career. I’ve helped the biggest artist to the smallest artist.

Whether it be producing a record or playing keys or sax solos or bringing in musicians to enhance an album to just giving game from all of my experiences.

Now I realize that the love and help I’ve been giving for YEARS has never been returned when I need it.

“I have waived publishing, credits, money etc on the strength of relationships, on the “love,” and to watch my “rapper friends” overpay these producers who come to me for pointers and tips is the ultimate slap in the face. So I’m done. I’m not working with anymore rap friends.”

While Martin’s presence in the rap world will be missed, he’s still helping craft some great records through recent projects like Robert Glasper’s Black Radio III.

You can view Martin’s letter in the post above.

TDE’s MixedByAli Launched His Own Record Label And Said His First Artist Reminds Him Of Kendrick Lamar

by
mixedbyali.jpg
Getty Image

At the end of last year, TDE’s in-house engineer Derek “MixedByAli” Ali announced that he purchased Death Row Records, the iconic studio where rap legends like Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, and Tupac Shakur recorded classic records. He renamed it NoName Studios, after his newly-launched label, NoName Recordings, and quickly signed his first artist: Malik Moses, who recently released his new single, “Show Me Something” with Bas. Fresh off the singing, Ali explained what he liked most about his new artist.

“The way he was able to really catch my attention with his selection of beats, the way his production was laid out, the way his songwriting and just how he carried himself sonically, that reminded me of working with Kendrick [Lamar] and working with Thundercat and Terrace Martin,” Ali told Rolling Stone. “It gave me that same feeling instantly as soon as I heard the first four bars of his music, and that’s rare nowadays.”

Ali also spoke about his overall vision for NoName Recordings. “We just want our label to be that safe place where artists can create, artists can have that creative freedom,” he said. “I don’t hear of too many audio engineers starting ventures like this, so it’s a different perspective to bring into the industry, the perspective from somebody who’s in the trenches understanding how it works and the grind that it takes to really be successful.”

You can listen to Morris’ new single and read the full Ali’s full interview with Rolling Stone here.

Terrace Martin’s New Album ‘Drones’ Will Feature Cordae, Kendrick Lamar, And Ty Dolla Sign

by

Although Terrace Martin’s last solo full-length collection came out four years ago (2017’s criminally overlooked Sounds Of Crenshaw Vol. 1 with The Pollyseeds), the Los Angeles producer has nevertheless remained busy throughout the past year, co-producing a number of EPs including They Call Me Disco with Ric Wilson and joining the jazz supergroup Dinner Party with 9th Wonder, Kamasi Washington, and Robert Glasper. However, today he announced his solo return with Drones, a new album coming out this Friday, November 5.

Included on the album’s 13 tracks are appearances from a veritable who’s-who of hip-hop luminaries including Cordae, D Smoke, Kendrick Lamar, Smino, Snoop Dogg, Ty Dolla Sign, and YG. Martin’s Dinner Party bandmates Kamasi Washington and Robert Glasper are also set to appear, along with a genre-hopping collection of rising stars and well-known hitmakers including Arin Ray, Celeste, Channel Tres, Hit-Boy, James Fauntleroy, Kim Burrell, and Kim Burrell.

In his press release for the new album, Martin teases the eclectic mix of sounds he intends to display throughout: “There are touches of R&B, touches of jazz, touches of hip-hop, touches of classical, Cuban music, West African music, house music,” he says. “You’re going to hear all elements of Black music within this record. It’s not one element I can leave out if I call myself a true Black artist.”

Drones is due 11/5 via Sounds of Crenshaw / BMG. You can pre-order here and check out the lead single, “Leave Us Be,” above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.