Vibe.com, March 22nd, 2005
Martin Luther struts across the stage with long, pimped out, peacock strides. His music is his mojo. Although his eyes are eclipsed by indigo-tinted shades, his gaze seems to penetrate the small audience - there are more than a few blushing sistas that are sure he's singing just for them. Cradling his guitar, he settles onto a stool in front of his band, strokes his beard seductively and breaks into his renowned rebel soul.
The afro-crowned performer's sophomore opus, Rebel Soul Music, reeks of funk, heaves with blues, and screams rock and roll. After the underrated success of his independently released debut, The Calling, the 34-year-old Morehouse grad launched his own label, Rebel Soul Music, out of Harlem, New York.
If you haven't been able to partake of the Martin Luther live experience, at least you'll have a chance to eavesdrop on our recent chat with the choir boy-turned-rocker.
Describe your sound.
Simply put: Martin Luther's sound is some rocking, soulful shit.
Tell me about the album you just dropped.
Soul Rebel is music that is contemporarily acceptable to the modern music listener but it's just not for the sole purpose of getting on the radio, getting on TV, or being the new hot thing. It's more or less what my life is begging me to do and my answer to that calling.
How does this album differ from your debut?
It's an extension of it. All of my records are really chapters of my life and Soul Rebel Music is no different except for the fact that I'll largely be involved with all the production and all the writing. I'm aware of the industry and the issues with radio and the formatting of music, so the nine-minute songs might not be as frequent on this record as the last. Even still, my thoughts are reflecting on life, experiences with love, any political issues that transpired while I was writing. As far as what I write about and what my focus is musically, to me there isn't any difference except there's an upgrade on the production style. The first one was done on an eight track; this one was done on a thirty-two track. I'm not an artist that's production driven. Either you're interested in what I've got to say or you're not. It's kind of cut and dry.
How do you plan to revolutionize the industry?
Martin Luther will not revolutionize the industry. All I can do is evolve as an artist and revolutionize the practices of generating income and empowering myself and my partners as we move forward as professionals in this and other businesses. Revolutionizing the industry sounds like a far-fetched idea [chuckle]. There has always been a small group of people throughout history that have been able to affect change in the world and that's possible with what I'm doing. You're talking about an artist who's self-asserting in a marketplace, you're talking about a business model that doesn't require financing from the majors in order for it to be important and that's something that I'm sure will threaten the major machine. Who wants to see that? I do and there are other artists and consumers who want to see what I do.
It's not just "we hope you blow up" but "we hope that what you do can make an impact on a 12-year-old child as much as a song by Jay-Z or Ja Rule." I'm very hopeful because Stevie Wonder's music reached me clearly and I didn't need any special intellect in order to understand a grown man speaking on wax. So maybe we have to look at our own culture and address the fact that we've allowed ourselves to be dumbed down by what's been programmed in the airwaves and take it upon ourselves to do something about that as opposed to talking about the record business and what it's done. I'm my own record label.
Ok, tell me about that. Why did you choose to go the independent route?
I chose that route because I want to know what it's like to be in control of my masters. I want to know what it's like to be in possession of that which I've exacted my life to. It's a greater purpose than just to sing a song and get paid and see people smile and dance and laugh. There's also the desire to be at the club and get on the mic and rock with whoever comes up next. It's all of the above. These aren't arbitrary thoughts or me trying to put out something hot that's the catchiest saying of 2004. These are the things that I will continue to broadcast over microphones and airwaves and Internet broadband basically, for the rest of my life. As long as there's breath in my lungs I will sing these songs. I would really feel like I'd let myself down if I created all this material, studied all these instruments, built studios and became damn near an audio engineer just so I could learn how to produce myself, and then give it to somebody else.
But isn't it more financially beneficial to start out with a major label?
Financially, I'm very angered at the fact that Bank of America called me today and told me how much my account's overdrawn, but I borrowed the money so I've got to be responsible for it. I'm just angered at the fact that I'm still going through this. Possibly with a major deal I wouldn't have to go through it but I might also have a budget and extensions. I'd be part of the system and be dictated too. Right now, besides my management and business partners, there is no dictatorship. It's a cohesive, collective alignment. In the music business, it makes more sense to spend somebody else's money than it does to spend your own. But if it means I've got to give up my masters, then for now, I'll continue to spend my own.
Why do you think you have such a synergy with The Roots?
I'm live performance based by nature and that's one of the strongest assets of their overall career, so there's definitely a tie-in there. What we have that's very synergetic about us as men and individuals is our love and passion for the history of black music in particular. We could sit up on the bus looking over each other's iPods and find all kinds of interesting, similar music, so it makes it very easy for us to try new things or pull out an old idea. We talk music all the time. I'm a rock head so I go Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix. They're really into jazz, which was not my forte at all. Our synergy is limitless when it comes to music.
Where is black music headed?
I believe one of the most powerful natural resources in the United States is our music. But that "our" used to be a collective plan where you had our labels, you had our radio stations, you had our distribution systems, you had our publications. All those channels have been co-opted by corporate interests so I have no idea what the future of black music is going to be. I know what I'm going to do with it, and some of it's going to be for sale and some of its going to be sacred.
