Thelonious Martin, Chicagos latest Wünderkid...

Thelonious Martin is a music producer based in Chicago, IL- a city famed for it's wind and endless supply of musical talent. It's no surprise then that this 22 year old has already carved a fairly large name for himself in the hip-hop world. With his debut album Wünderkid set for release on December 2nd, boasting features with the likes of Ab Soul, Mac Miller, Curren$y, Domo Genesis and more, we thought it was about time to sit down and find out a bit more about the Wünderkid himself... Images by Churro. Greetings from London! How's your day been? Having a pretty decent day, between class, music, and prepping stuff for the album I'm always pretty busy. With your Wünderkid project releasing soon, tell us a little bit about your current day to day schedule... Man, I got conference calls with the label, my PR, my manager all the time, working with my mans Simon Davis on putting together these visuals for the album. On top of that working on new music plus school. Growing up which artists or producers had the largest influence in inspiring you? Early on it was whatever my parents played, and usually that's a bad thing, but my mom listened to Jill Scott, Tha Alkaholiks, Outkast, and my dad was into Wu-Tang, Dipset, and early 50 Cent. So I didn’t mind, but I started getting into J Dilla, Madlib, and MF DOOM more around middle school and that whole Stones Throw movement got me into creating the most. Is there an all time classic album or track that's always gonna stick in your brain? There are a couple, MF DOOM's Vomitspit, Slum Village & Common’s Thelonious, Jay-Z’s Takeover and the Cortex Album Troupeau Bleu. How do you approach making a beat? Do you have an existing idea of who you'd like to feature on it before you begin? I usually chop samples, so really it’s based off vibes and what I’m feeling. I’ll listen to the sample for 10-15 minutes and start formulating ideas in my head, by the time I touch my actual equipment the beat is 75% done, it’s just a matter of having my fingers do the work and translating this idea into something tangible. And what about equipment? What's your set up like? Depends on where I’m at, at the crib Numark TT-USB, vinyl, Akai MPD32, Logic 9- with several awesome plug-ins and some shitty monitors. Dependent on certain studios I definitely gotta add some vintage Roland Synths and real instruments. Live instrumentation is something I use a lot now, so session players are a heavy part of what I do now. You've teased an impressive list of some of the artists we can expect to see featured on Wunderkid, who would you still love to work with? It’s gonna sound weird because it’s probably more producers on this list than rappers, but Madlib, Alchemist, Jake One, Freddie Gibbs, Elzhi, Jay-Z, Adrian Younge, Tunji Ige, OG Maco, Key!, Father... Theres hella people I can’t remember off top but I think in 2015 I’ll be in position to do as I please creatively... Some final words to leave with our readers... Be you. Honestly this part is usually reserved for shout outs but I’ll say this... push each other forward and demand quality out of people around you. You’ll see a change and some people fade to black when you raise your standards. Our generation is in a position to change the world, and I refuse to feel like we aren’t putting forth our best efforts. The youth can change and influence the world and the people around us, don’t let anyone tell you any different. Also... buy my album when it comes out December 2nd. It has some of your favorite rappers on it and it’s musically above and beyond what you’ve heard so far this year. Hebru Brantley did the artwork and we’re gonna have merch and vinyl too! Peace + Love + Beats - Thelonious Check out more of Thelonious Martin on Instagram, Twitter and Soundcloud.