Keith Martin (musician)

Keith Martin
Birth name Keith Eric Martin
Born September 22, 1966
Washington, D.C., United States
Genres Rhythm and blues
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, producer
Instruments Vocals, keyboards, bass guitar, drums, percussion
Years active 1995–present
Labels Sony, Ruffhouse, Orchard, EMI, Galaxy, Rhyme Scene

Keith Martin (born Keith Eric Martin, September 22, 1966, Washington, D.C.) is an American R&B singer-songwriter and record producer, currently living in Indonesia. Martin is best known for writing and singing romantic love songs.[1]

Career

Early years

Martin was the second son of three children in Washington, D.C.[2] Growing up, he listened to Glenn Louise, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and Stevie Wonder. He was also influenced by jazz and gospel music.[3] He started playing piano, drums and singing when he was 10, and started writing music when he was aged nineteen.

Martin was a force among local artists in the late 1980s, working and performing with Johnny Gill and Stacy Lattisaw. He was a part of the group Masqerade, which included the twins Art and Scott Powell, Sharif Walters and D'Extra Wiley, who later became a member of the 1990s new jack R&B group II D Extreme.

Con Funk Shun founder and drummer Louis A. McCall, Sr. saw Martin, and signed him to his Gaithersburg, MD artist management company owned by him and his wife Linda Lou McCall, a music business consultant and songwriter. Linda Lou McCall was hired by MC Hammer in 1990 to help set up his corporate operations and administration in Oakland, California. When she became Vice President of Hammer's artist management company, she and her husband arranged for Martin to come to California, and got him on as part of MC Hammer's Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em and Too Legit to Quit world tours.[4]

When the McCalls relocated to Los Angeles in 1992, Martin followed, enabling him to work with Boyz II Men, Shovani and Buster, Grammy Award winning songwriter and producers Marty Sharon and Danny Sembello, Oji Pierce, Ian Prince, and the The Time's Jesse Johnson.[4]

First album

Michael McCary of Boys II Men, brought Martin to Ruffhouse/Columbia Sony, Keith Martin was signed to Columbia Ruff House records by his then manager Adrian Taylor {Adrian Taylor}. Mr. Taylor had previously managed him when Keith was the lead singer of the Washington D.C. based R&B group Masquerade. The group included members Scott and Art Powell and Shariff Walters. Washington, D.C. promoter James T. (Time 2 Jamm) brought the group to Night Flight studios owned by singer/recording artist Stacy Lattisaw and her husband Kevin Jackson. The group was popular in Washington D.C. Keith Martin's friend, R&B recording star Johnny Gill, also supported the fledgling band. Later, Charlie Singleton, member of the hit pop/R&B band Cameo, produced demos for the band, which allowed Keith to record many songs in Atlanta, Georgia. David Franklin, Richard Pryor's manager at the time, worked with Adrian Taylor on arranging recording sessions. The demos were presented to Epic Records however, Kenny Lattimore's group, Mannequin was signed instead of the band Masquerade.

Ruffhouse Records president Chris Schwartz, Inerge Barrett and attorney Kevon Glickmon were all present at the 1994 signing of Keith Martin to Ruffhouse Records in Philadelphia, PA. The budget for the first the first album was $350,000. The budget was approved by Columbia Records President Donny Inner. Grammy award winning songwriter Marti Sharron and Danny Sembello brother of Michael Sambello, wrote the title track, “Never Found Someone Like You.” That song was also placed on “The Bad Boys I” movie sound track and went on to sell over 1 million copies.

Martin went on to release his first album, It's Long Overdue in 1995,[5] which peaked at #82 on the US Billboard R&B Albums chart.[6] His first single "Never Find Someone Like You" (which was also independently recorded by Backstreet Boys before) peaked at #53 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #43 on R&B Singles chart,[7] and was included in the platinum-selling Bad Boys soundtrack.[8]

For the next decade Martin stayed busy in the music industry, producing and writing, and releasing several solo albums, gaining him a large fan base throughout the world. His ballad, "Because Of You", is still a major favorite in the US and Asia.[9]

Move to Philippines

In 2004, he came to the attention of EMI, who hired him as in-house producer in Manila, Philippines, producing and writing for artists in the Philippines and Indonesia. He collaborated with Filipino singer Kyla on her Not Your Ordinary Girl and Beautiful Days albums, with Gloc 9 on his Ako Si… album, with Agnes Monica on her Whaddup A.. '?! album, with Gary V., 604 and others.[10]

2009–present

In 2009, Martin returned to the Philippines.[4] That year he worked with POSH, an all-girl group signed to Viva Records to produce one of their singles, "Missing You" off their album My Heart.[11]

In 2010, Martin released his new album This Road[12] including a song "You Are My Life" which was released as a single in 2012 and became popular wedding theme.[4][13]

In 2011, Martin wrote and produced 2 songs for Australian recording artist Ron Kingston. The first song was a duet called "My Friend" which features Kingston and Indonesian singer Mia on the release. The Disney inspired and animated music video was completed by Empire Films in Australia and released to the public on September 2011.[14]

In 2012, Martin launched FreedomStars S&M Artist Management and Production company with his business manager and partner David Svoboda. They also launched Vault Records company in Indonesia. Martin recorded duets with Indonesian artists Marybeth and Dira Sugandi Zulham, and Singaporean artist Shun Ng.[4]

In 2013, Martin released his new album The Vision available as digital download only.[4][13]

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

  1. ↑ Interview with Keith Martin by Muhammad Reza
  2. ↑ Interview with Keith Martin
  3. ↑ Celebrity Gallery - Keith Martin
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Keith Mertin biography
  5. ↑ Titik Pilipino - Keith Martin: "I'm Not Alone"
  6. ↑ Albums chart information on Billboard
  7. ↑ Singles chart information on Billboard
  8. ↑ Bad Boys soundtrack on IMDB
  9. ↑ Keith Martin's MySpace
  10. ↑ Titik Pilipino - Keith Martin Hits The Mall
  11. ↑ POSH songs on MySpace
  12. ↑ Dikontrak Nagaswara, Keith Martin Membagi Perjalanan Hidupnya di Album 'This Road'
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Official website
  14. ↑ Description of the video on YouTube