Thelonious Martin | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Malcolm Martin |
| Also known as | King Thelonious |
| Born | September 19, 1992 Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Origin | New Jersey, United States |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Instrument(s) | |
| Years active | 2009–present |
Malcolm Martin (born September 19, 1992), professionally known as Thelonious Martin or King Thelonious is an American hip hop record producer from Chicago, Illinois. He is a member of the Chicago collective Savemoney.
Malcolm Martin was born on September 19, 1992, in Chicago, Illinois. However, shortly afterwards he and his mother moved to New Jersey.
Martin states his love for music started when he was 14 after watching the late night network Adult Swim and hearing a song by late Hip hop producer J Dilla.[1] He later became a fan of other Underground hip hop producers, most notably Madlib. After graduating from Montclair High School, Thelonious moved back to Chicago joining forces with SAVEMONEY, led by Vic Mensa. He began producing for members of the group throughout 2011 and in 2012, he produced the tracks "Ave." and "If Heaven is a Ghetto" for Odd Future's Hodgy Beats's EP Untitled. Later that year, he appeared on the Pro Era mixtape PEEP: The Aprocalypse, producing the song "K.I.N.G.S." performed by Joey Badass and Capital STEEZ[2][3][4][5][6][7]
Later that year, collaborated with the Odd Future group MellowHigh for their single "Go" released on April 20.[8] In 2013, he began to work with rapper Curren$y on his mixtape New Jet City. Months after the mixtape release, he began to work with Action Bronson and produced 2 songs on New Jersey rapper Da$h's critically acclaimed mixtape V.I.C.E.S.. Later that year, he collaborated with rapper Retch for his mixtape Polo Sporting Goods, entirely produced by Martin.[9][10][11][12]
In 2014, produced half of Curren$y's mixtape Drive In the Theater. He later produced "The Ghost of Dipset" for New York rapper Smoke DZA for his album Dream.ZONE.Achieve. Later that year he released the song "Her" featuring Mac Miller. The song was released as a promotional single for his upcoming album. He later released the song "Atlantis" featuring Curren$y and Odd Future's Domo Genesis. Along with the song he released the album title, artwork, and track list. On December 2, 2014, he released his debut album Wünderkid, entirely produced by himself and featured Curren$y, Domo Genesis, Retch, Mac Miller, Ab-Soul, Smoke DZA, and more. He later had his song "September" featured on Adult Swim.[13] He also produced the song "Back Home" for A$AP Rocky's sophomore album At.Long.Last.A$AP.
In 2015, Martin had collaborated with Rhode Island musician and designer Theo Martins. The two began collaborating after confusion over similarities between their names became incessant. "Show Me Around", which debuted on Okayplayer[14] was warmly received and the two began work on a full length. "Bad Tendencies" premiered on The Fader September 28, 2016, and the two announced a collaborative EP.[15] Theo Martins cites Odd Future member Anwar Carrots as the fuel behind collaborating with Martin.[16][17]
Martin has stated that he is influenced by Madlib, MF DOOM, J Dilla, Flying Lotus, Alchemist, Pete Rock, and Just Blaze.