Today we’d like to introduce you to Pat “AnthonyRayKidd” Martin.
Hi Pat, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I hope you got your popcorn ready, this is about to be good!
My name is Pat Martin AKA AnthonyRayKidd AKA A’Ray and I am your next favorite music producer, artist, musician, model, or however you view me best! I have always been involved with music since I came out of my beautiful mother’s womb (Patricia B. Martin). As a young toddler, I used to pick up utensils, cookware, pens, anything that I could get my baby hands to grab and beat on every piece of furniture in the house like it was a drum lol. That’s when my parents recognized there was something special about me. A few years later, I found myself staring at my first new drum set on Christmas Day the day after I got out of the hospital for having seizures due to a severe allergic reaction (that’s a story for another day). After taking my skill more seriously, I found myself playing drums in several churches in which now I play for NOW church in Richmond, tx with Dr. Adrian and Crystal Singleton (My spiritual parents whom I’m forever grateful for! I wouldn’t be in the position I am without them). But let’s take it back a little bit shall we! Back in High School, I would always watch Zaytoven cook up production videos on YouTube RELIGIOUSLY!!! So much that my brother like no other, Chidera Nkematu (Chi Nkem) got hooked LOL! But as time progressed, a few years later I ended up homeless. My mother and I went from sleeping in my Car to staying at a family friend’s house who was Godlike enough to allow us space in their place of peace (Shout out to Uncle Rick and Auntie Shannon!) But during this time, I still had a job as a bank teller. It was a blessing to have 1 hour lunch breaks, but instead of eating lunch (which I really didn’t have money to spend on food like that), I would drive down the street to the nearest guitar center every single day to play on the drums. However, one day I walked in and saw the production side lit up with all these gadgets and alien technology displayed on all the walls! Of course I’m kidding but, every wall had several different keyboards and midi controllers. The one that I ended up gravitating towards was the Akai MPC X I believe. For the record, that machine is an incredible masterpiece (but danggg….$1530???) One day, I’ll be able to get it with no stress but I have a feeling I might get blessed with one for free! Back to the topic, I began to play with it and after 10 minutes passed by, I somehow figured out how to make a beat without any help on it. I believe I still have the video somewhere deep in my phone gallery. But that’s not the best part. After finishing the beat, I turned around and saw a small group of people, at least 8-10 surrounding me. One person then said “Yo this is really dope! How long have you been producing for?” “Ummm this is my first time ever making a beat” I responded to him. At that moment, I realized that maybe I could really be good at this! So instead of going over to play drums, I started going over to the production side. This allowed me to identify my love for it. Now all I needed was a little extra money to invest into what I was about to get myself into. At this time, my mother and I had just moved into a new apartment (which my brother Chi with the help of some friends did something so incredible for us, I’ll never forget that bro #B4L). Now I had a little extra money to go and buy my first new Midi Controller (Akai MPK mini) and a blue HP laptop with the FL Studio demo. You can’t save anything on the demo so you can imagine how frustrating it got as I started to figure it out. But at this time, my father, Anthony Ray Martin was terminally Ill (I had no clue how terminal it was till it was too late). When I was taking care of my father as he was resting in his sick bed, I would work on fruity loops DAW demo with no clue on what I was doing or what I was even looking at. Nonetheless, what I didn’t know was what my father was about to tell me. As he was watching me the whole time, he sat up and said, “Son…..don’t ever give up on that. That’s you, don’t ever stop.” 2 weeks later, my father passed away unexpectedly due to pancreatic cancer. His words will forever stick with me. The beginning of 2019 is where my life changed completely. It is now January 2024 and ever since then, I have never missed a day of working or studying music. Thus, after Anthony Ray Martin went on to Glory to be with the Lord Almighty, AnthonyRayKidd (Super Producer) was born. Of course there’s so much more to the story, but we’ll save that for the next interview.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Has it been a smooth road??? This road had more bumps and holes in it than Bissonnet. I faced so many trials and tribulations along the way but just to name a few off top might give you all an idea of some life events I’ve gone through and conquered(ing). As stated before, the biggest one I had to face was the loss of my father. You only get one mother, one father. Cherish them both while they are still here, EVEN if you aren’t seeing eye to eye about certain things in the moment because you will NEVER KNOW when their time may be. Life is way too short to be mad over something that can be forgiven. If GOD can forgive us for the crazy sneaky sinful things we do and still show us grace, then that should make it easier to forgive who/what you need to forgive. The second thing was dealing with homelessness and losing everything I had more than once. There were some tragic moments in my life where I literally lost everything to my name. My job, a parent, my first love, some family members, losing relationships, all of my money, my car, my bed, even to the point where I began to lose my mind, my heart, then my soul. (Too much to write about that right now; catch that in another episode). Last, I had to deal with not giving up on myself (my gift). I feel that every successful artist/producer/musician goes through this stage. It’s that growth season where you are doing whatever you can to improve your craft and something isn’t connecting or even getting the music out. These things can be very difficult to the creator and can be extremely easy to give up if the passion isn’t there. But hey, I got through it and we are here now!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a Music Producer/Artist/Musician and one day I hope to take it to the next level and become a model/actor. I’m even open to doing voice acting (I have a few silly impressions I can do). Even though I am not well known just yet, I specialize in taking the artists’ visions and making them into a reality. I love and enjoy designing incredible canvas for them to paint their dreams and emotions onto. What will mostly be recognizable about my sound are my drums in the productions. I mainly play drums so the percussion on my tracks HAVE to pop, especially the 808s, kicks, and hats. The drums are the pulse and without the pulse, you’re dead (Shout out to drumline). Even though I don’t know how to fluently play it, I feel that piano is where my spirit wants to be so eventually I will learn and add that skill set to my craft. My goal is to get the artist and listener in a vibe to have the beat/song stuck in your head so much, you’ll be mad it’s still in there. I am most proud of sticking it out this far and never giving up even when the devil did his ABSOLUTE BEST to Make me quit. He tried it; next. That’s what makes me different from others. I’m led by my father, not by man. Therefore no man or demon can make me quit. Regardless of how hard this gets, I’m here for a reason. Can’t stop, won’t stop.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
The advice I have to give is to allow your spirit to lead you in your path for every direction you take and who you surround yourself with. Even in creating. you should listen to it. You’ve ever taken a test before in school and felt like the answer was C but at the last second you erase that answer and choose B but come to find out C was the answer all along? Yeah that’s your gut (subconscious) telling you to LISTEN TO ME! So when it comes to finding a mentor, you need to surround yourself in environments YOU want to be in. They aren’t just going to come to you, GET OUT THERE! Make yourself available to identify who’s real and who’s not. Who has your best interest and who’s capping. For those who don’t know what capping is google it, It’s 2024 people. Same with networking, DISCERN who you should connect with. Everyone is not meant to have your time sacrificed for and you should not connect with everyone’s energy. You want the rest of my advice, buy my music…Trust me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://buybeats.com/Aray
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anthonyraykidd/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/patmartinprod/
- Other: https://linktr.ee/P.M.P
Image Credits
NextWav Records
