Eric Martinez

Eric Martinez is a good west coast rapper. I met a talent scout for VP of A&R from Atlantic Records . . .and was introduced to Eric Martinez and his audio production. He has a really good west coast sound in his rapping and his singing is just as good - pretty much on the level of what we hear on the radio, from day to day. You can find Eric Martinez in the 2nd issue of Azur Magazine - due out around October 18th

(click a url to listen to a playlist . . .)

www.soundcloud.com/ericmartinez714

I met a talent scout for VP of A&R - Atlantic Records on linkedin, about a month ago. I really wanted to get to know her and tried to throw a few performers her way . . but she was reluctant to ge back to me. Regardless, I heard from her, again, when she began promoting a rapper named Eric Martinez. She asked if any one was interested in knowing more about this performer. Luckily, I was writing for Azur Magazine and responded back. She got back to me, that day, and, finally, said hello. I began to learn more about Eric Martinez and what he was about. He had a California vibe going . .. and I thought Eric was from L.A. . . .but he corrected me and said he was from Orange County. Still, his groove reminded me of the L.A. hip hop scene - and what also surprised me about Eric's production was his singing voice. He, also, had a real cool R&B groove going that blended well with his rap persona. I sat down and spoke with Eric Martinez and this is what he had to say . . . Azur Mag: I noticed . . .when I first saw your soundcloud . . there's an African American guy with a bald head . . .on a picture . .Is he your producer? Eric: (Laughs . . .) It's Kanye . . . Azur Mag: Oh . .that's Kanye . . . Eric: Yeah . . . Azur Mag: Oh my goodness . . .I didn't know who that was . . .because . . I was like. . .Hey . .there's a Black guy . .on the . . . . Eric: I've got the little caption over his eyes so you can't really tell who it is . . . Azur Mag: Wow . . .alright . .alright . . .Now I know who he is . . .I apologize for that . . .I should know who he is . . .but . .I apologize . . . Eric: (Laughs . . ) . . .That's funny . . Yeah . .that's funny . . .That's the VMAs . . .That was from the speech he made at the VMAs . . . Azur Mag: Oh .. ok . . .um . . .So . .where do you record? Eric: I record in my house . . .We have a studio in my garage . . .me and my pops built about three years ago . . . Azur Mag: Ok . . .What kind of equipment do you usually use. . . .Is it Pro-Tools . . or are you using . . . Eric: Yeah . . .I use Pro-Tools . . .I use the mBox and my mic in the booth . . . Azur Mag: Oh . . that's cool . .Alright . . .On (the song) GPS . . you were singing . . .I didn't know you were a singer . . .but . . which do you prefer . . .to sing . .or to rap . .or it doesn't really matter . . . Eric: I enjoy both . . equally . . you know . .they both give me a different feeling . . . you know what I mean . . . Azur Mag: Right . . . Eric: I also feel like . .there's no rules. . . you know what I mean . . ? I do both . . I try to incorporate both . . . I just try to be versitile . . you know . . that's it . . . Azur Mag: Do you try to go for more of a pop thing on the singing. . .and then you're like . . .hip hop when you rap . . ? Eric: Um . . . I guess you could say more pop sound when I'm singing . . .um. . . That's just because . . .bars when you barrow . .that's hip hop . . .I try to mix them, both . . .I try to keep it balanced out . . . Azur Mag: Right . . . It matches you're . . um . . your music tracks . . .your musical production . . .matches . . when you sing and rap . . .It sounds like Eric Martinez . . .but if I were to listen to one song . . .sung . . .I would think that was you . . .and then realize . . you're a rapper . . .but it's cool. . .both are cool . . .real nice . . .I mean . . . .you're a very good singer . . .and you rap well . . .so . .it's cool . . Eric: Thanks . . . .Yeah . . .I appreciate that . . . Azur Mag: Who produces your tracks and samples . . Do you do that yourself, . . or . .do you buy tracks from other people . . .? Eric: Yeah . . .I lease tracks . . .yeah . . .It's hard to find some body consistent . . .you know what I mean . . .? I don't really have a big budget . . so . . . I'll just go on youtube . . a lot of the time. . .and just find some "bangers" . . .and I'll lease them for twenty bucks . . . and if it ever goes any where . . .I'll just buy exclusive . . .but . .I've got a few other producers that I've been working with . . .lately . . .My boy Vigilance . . .sends me beats . . .I've got some guys out in St. Louis . . .Dos Music . . . sends me beats. . .There's a bunch of people I've been working with . . . Azur Mag: Oh . . ok. . .that's cool . . .A lot of people talk about the youtube leasing . . .a lot of beats you can get from youtube . .and everything . . .That's why I asked the question . .because people are going back and forth between their own beats . . .and beats you can actually get. . .and everything . . .but you have a really nice sound . . so . . a lot of it sounds like it was produced by you. . . .rather than produced by . . you know. . .it didn't sound . .sampled. . .In other words . . .it didn't sound . . like you grabbed tracks from . . .Like . .I know rappers who have grabbed tracks from rappers in the early 90's . . .You know . . you got to clear them . .and everything . . .but . .I don't know. . .Do you confront that as a problem . . ? Eric: As in beat selection . . .beat selection is key . .because. . . it's got to be quality . .and . . I have to match the quality . . .you know what I mean . . .and . .I just try to match it with the beat . . .and that's what you're saying . . .I created the beat with the lyrics . . .and all that . . . Azur Mag: Right . . Eric: Is that what you're trying to say . . ? Azur Mag: It just seems like your beats are original . . .and . . you don't have to worry about licensing and clearing. . . Eric: Oh . . .I mean . . .If I were selling my music on a large scale . . .then . .maybe . .yeah . . people might try to come after me. . .but . . until that happens . . .I'm chill'n. . .I'm just, basically, chill'n . . .As long as I'm not sellign it and I'm just giving it away for free. . .I'm just chill'n . . .I'm not worried about that . . . Azur Mag: I dont know . .. Your beats still sound original, though . . .I don't think you'll have any thing to worry about . .Like some . . .performer actually did a beat off of Black Sheep. . .It's a really good song . .but, I mean . . .if you're going to actually put that on the radio . . .you're going to have to clear that . . . Eric: Yeah . . I get what you're saying . . .I try to find . . beats that sound more original . . .that don't really have a lot of samples. . . .but I like to sample beats . . .I like to sample hip hop beats . . .I'm actually writing one with the dope samples in it. . .but . . .either or . . .I make sure I lease the beat. . . and I've got clearance to do what ever . . how ever many to make 2000 copies . . .sold . .you know what I mean . . . Azur Mag: Right . . . Eric: I'm allowed to do that . . but. . . about the samples . . .I don't worry about that . . Azur Mag: Are you being scouted by Atlantic Records or any other label or entity, right now? Eric: Um. . .Yeah . . we have . . .business with Atlantic . . .I've done song writing over there . . .but we are the same contact with them. . .it's basically up to me . .how much work I put in . . .and how much I elevate, you know what I mean, within the next year or so . . .and we'll see where it goes. . .but yeah . . .we're linked up with them . . . Azur Mag: That's cool . . .are you with any other labels? . . or is it just, mainly, Atlantic . . .? Eric: . . .just Atlantic . .we've been talking to . . . Azur Mag: That's good . . .um . . .How many mix tapes have you recorded so far . . .? Eric: I have two out . . .I put one out in 2013 . . .and 2014 . . .and then in 2014 . .I put down my last one . . .so . .I have two out right now. . . Azur Mag: That's cool . .so . .What are you promoting, right now. . .the one from 2014 . . .or both . .? Eric: Yeah . .I'm still pushing that one . . .There's still people who haven't heard . .. even both. .I push both . . .A lot of people just post up my old stuff . . .the first time they heard it . .you know what I mean . . .? Azur Mag: Right . . Eric: It's brand new to them . . .so . .I'm still pushing both . . .not really promoting . .but I'll push them . .and post up . . .and I'll probably send people the links . . .I've been doing a lot of song writing, lately . . . Azur Mag: That's cool . . Eric: That's what I've been doing. . .with what I've been doing career wise . . . Azur Mag: I noticed you're from L.A. . .and everything . . .I was wondering about Aftermath and Doggy Style Records . . .I mean . . .have you thought about those guys? Eric: Who . .Aftermath . . ? Naww . . .I probably wouldn't. . .um . .I don't know. . .If any body reached out to me . . .then . .I would, of course, . .entertain and see what they had to offer . .but . . .I'm open to every thing . . . Azur Mag: Right . . . Eric: I'm from Orange County, by the way . . . Azur Mag: Oh Orange County . . .I apologize . . . Eric: It's all good . . . Azur Mag: Alright . . .Do you plan to move to New York . .or any other cities to promote your career . . or are you alright. . or comfortable in Orange County? Eric: Where ever this takes me . .I'm ready . . .I'm trying to get out to L.A., for sure . . .but . .I would love to live in New York for a little bit. . .or have a spot out there . . You know what I mean? . . . Azur Mag: Right . . . Eric: That's one of the biggest music capitals . .you know what I mean . . Azur Mag: Right . .there's a whole scene out there . . .I mean . .the scene in California is big, anyways . . .so . .I wasn't really sure where you were going with it . . . Eric: Any where it might take me . . . Azur Mag: Right . .that's how I feel about it . . .so . .any last words for your viewing audience? Eric: Um . . . .just be on the look out for new music . . .soundcloud.com/ericmartinez714 . . .my instagram is . . .@ericmartinez1992 . . Yeah . .just keep . . posting for new music . .I'm always posting up new videos on instagram . . but. . .I'm out here having fun . .you know what I mean. . .I try to tell. . .everybody . . .as artist. . .if we, just, stay original . . .then we stay authentic with the music we make . . .there's a plate for every body to eat . . . Azur Mag: (Laughs . .) Yeah definitely . . .Ok . .I really appreciate it . . .and thanks . . . .

#EricMartinez