Terrace Martin has worked with everybody in the industry. His talents as a musician, rapper and singer makes him an invaluable presence in the studio. Unsurprisingly, he's sitting on a lot of music. What did surprise fans, though, was how nonchalant Martin was with the music. The musician took to Twitter on January 21 to reveal that he had found a hard drive with music dating back 17 years. He asked if people online would be curious to hear it, and then proceeded to list off the staggering list of artists who appear on the hard drive.
"It's so many ideas and demos from some of my favorite artist I have worked with," Terrace Martin wrote. Some of the names listed on the hard drive are enough to make hardcore music heads drool. Martin not only has unreleased music with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, but with legendary artists who are no longer around as well. Quincy Jones and the Beastie Boys being the most notable examples. "It's interesting to hear where I was at musically 17 years ago," Terrace Martin tweeted. "Along side with friends like James Fauntleroy, Kendrick Lamar, Beastie Boys, Quincy Jones & so many more."
Terrace Martin's Demos Date Back Nearly Two Decades
Terrace Martin asked if fans would be curious to hear the music. He also prefaced it with a note on how the music was created. "I can tell by the texture of the music," he said. "That I was completely confident yet completely uncomfortable." Terrace Martin played a huge hand in the making of Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) and untitled unmastered (2016). He's credited on strings, vocals, saxophone and keyboards. Martin also played the sax on Lamar's breakout independent album, Section.80 (2011). We've no clue when their unreleased collaborations are from, but it's clear they have musical chemistry.
Terrace Martin working with the Beastie Boys and Quincy Jones are similarly fascinating prospects. The Beasties split after the death of member MCA in 2012. Quincy Jones, meanwhile, died in 2024. Terrace Martin actually worked with Jones on the 2021 series Time Decorated, which saw artists from different eras assessing the past. Both men discussed the history of jazz in America, which Jones himself had a hand in shaping. Hopefully we get to hear all this unreleased music soon.
