Do's & Don'ts for Musicians | Kendrick Lamar, Herbie Hancock, Snoop Dogg
Terrace Martin is one of the most versatile and respected musicians in contemporary music — a multi-Grammy-winning saxophonist, producer, and songwriter from Watts, Los Angeles who has been at the center of modern jazz, hip-hop, and R&B for over two decades. His fingerprints are on some of the most celebrated albums of the last ten years, and his ability to move fluently between acoustic improvisation and studio production is virtually unmatched.
In this wide-ranging conversation with Elmo, Martin breaks down the real do's and don'ts for musicians navigating today's industry — from how to get into the right rooms to how to stay there, from how to protect your artistry to how to collaborate without losing yourself. He draws on his experiences working alongside Kendrick Lamar, Herbie Hancock, and Snoop Dogg to illustrate what separates artists who last from those who don't.
This is a masterclass from a man who grew up watching the legends and became one himself. Martin is direct, funny, and deeply invested in the next generation getting it right.
"A masterclass from a man who grew up watching the legends — and became one himself."
Terrace's unfiltered advice about navigating the music industry — who to trust, how to position yourself, how to handle your business, and what separates a long career from a short one.
The creative dynamic on To Pimp a Butterfly and beyond, what Kendrick demands from his collaborators, and how working at that level changed Martin's approach to music-making.
What Terrace learned from one of jazz's true living legends — about fearlessness, reinvention, and how to stay relevant across decades without compromising your musical identity.
How growing up in Watts shaped his musical sensibility, his long relationship with the West Coast hip-hop world, and what working with Snoop Dogg taught him about longevity.
How Martin thinks about the relationship between his instrument and his production work, and why being a performer first gives him a different perspective behind the boards.
The real conversations about ownership, publishing, and creative control — and why Terrace believes that protecting your art is just as important as making it.
Terrace's most important rule for young musicians trying to break into professional sessions — and the one mistake he sees people make over and over.
Behind the scenes of the Kendrick sessions: what the creative atmosphere was actually like and how Terrace's saxophone work found its place in the mix.
What a single conversation with Herbie Hancock taught Terrace about artistic courage that no school or mentor could have given him.
His candid take on how the music industry has changed and why young artists today have both more opportunity and more traps than ever before.
The moment he realized he could operate as both an instrumentalist and a producer without being forced to choose between the two identities.
A direct conversation about publishing, ownership, and the financial realities every musician needs to understand before they sign anything.
Available on all major platforms.