S. Victor Martin
I started making hip hop beats in 1997.
Most of the early work happened on inexpensive samplers and whatever equipment I could borrow from my mentor, Nate. I recorded beat tapes and passed them to rappers in my neighborhood, and 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 my music and 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.
During the COVID pandemic I began making beats again. One of the biggest obstacles in the late 1990s had been sample clearance, which often prevented 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 cleared recordings through a defined process, which removed the main barrier that had stopped me from publishing beats in the past. With that obstacle removed I decided to assemble a new beat tape.
In 2020 I released 42, my first digital beat tape in more than two decades. The project introduced the name S. Victor Martin and marked a return to releasing music publicly. The tape was distributed to major streaming platforms through DistroKid.
The name replaced the aliases I used when I was younger. I wanted a name that reflected the same person making the music today while keeping it separate from my day to day work.
The beats on 42 follow the style I developed in the late 1990s. Most tracks begin with sampled material 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 beat album titled Captain’s Quarters, a long running project that has developed slowly across several periods of production. The production style draws heavily from 1990s era hip hop. Most beats are sample based and built around drum programming, although some tracks include original instrumentation such as synthesizers, bass lines, or piano. Producers such as RZA, DJ Premier, Havoc, DJ Muggs, Pete Rock, and The Alchemist shaped much of my sound throughout the years.
The Art of Beatmaking project runs alongside my personal releases but serves a different purpose. That project focuses on documenting the craft of beatmaking through writing about technique, history, and practice, while the music released under S. Victor Martin remains separate and focuses only on the finished tracks.
