S. Victor Martin

I started making hip hop beats in the late 90s. Most of my early work happened on a PC powered with Cool Edit and whatever equipment I could borrow from my mentor, Nate. I started recording beat tapes and passed them to rappers in my neighborhood. Then those tapes eventually turned into beat CDs once I got my hands on a CD burner.

In 1999 I connected with a group of emcees from the tristate area and we released an independent album under the Soul Arc Entertainment label. I produced all but one track for that project, The ARChives.

Around that time I also began building websites. First for fun and our independent label Soul Arc, then for small businesses. That work expanded quickly and became my primary focus, and beatmaking moved to the background for many years while I focused on design and development work.

Time to Cook

During the COVID pandemic I started making beats again. One of the biggest obstacles in the late 90s had been sample clearance, which often kept me from releasing tracks publicly because clearing samples was expensive and complicated. When Tracklib launched it introduced a licensing model that allowed producers to sample real records and clear samples through a web-based process at a really reasonable cost. Tracklib removed the two main barriers for me and many beat makers. Time and technology opened the door to throw together a beat tape, clear samples, and then distribute it to all streaming platforms legally with a service like Distrokid.

In 2020, I released 42, my first beat tape in more than two decades. The project introduced the name S. Victor Martin and was a return to releasing music publicly. My real name replaced the aliases I used when I was younger, which I think is a reflection of my growth into old head and shifts in hip-hop culture.

The beats on 42 follow the style I developed in the late 1990s. Most tracks begin with samples and drum programming. Several tracks remain loosely arranged or rough around the edges because I wanted to capture the same pace and working style that shaped the beat tapes I produced back in the late 90s.

Since releasing 42 I've dropped a few more singles. Digital distribution has changed how beats are released because a track can move from arrangement to mixing, mastering, and distribution within a few days. Instead of waiting to assemble a full collection of tracks, I now release beats whenever I feel like they are finished.

I am currently working on a full instrumental album tentatively titled Captain’s Quarters. It's long running project that I've been developing slowly across several years. The production style draws heavily from 1990s through 2000s-era hip hop. Most beats are sample based and try to capture all the styles that influenced my work over the years. Tracks include original instrumentation such as synthesizers, bass lines, or piano.

Related but separate, my Art of Beatmaking project is a way for me to document the craft of beatmaking by writing about technique and history, sharing what I learned in those basement sessions with Nate years ago.