Posted on March 18, 2010 - by Antoinette

REVIEW: Theo Martins – Channel Surfin’

Just in time for the warm weather, Providence, Rhode Island (for real?) native Theo Martins drops his latest- Channel Surfin’(March 15/mixed by DJ Wreckineyez).

According to Martins: “We named this project ‘Channel Surfin’ as it generally represented people and their short attention-spanned nature. Each song serves as a ‘Channel’ each different from the last song and so forth. The goal was to collectively mash them together to create what we have here.”*
I must concur that Channel Surfin’ follows the theme throughout. You can actually picture yourself holding a remote and flipping through each track, complete with static, interference, beeps, buzzes and all the sounds that represent the presence and flow of electricity.

The crazy thing is that each of the songs reminds you of something you may have heard before but can’t quite place- like a show you’re watching and you can’t quite remember if you’ve seen that episode before, but that’s not a bad thing. The whole album has a totally 80’s groove that takes those of us who are old enough to remember back to Space Invaders, Pac Man and Pong. The familiarity eradicates that awkward feeling of listening to something new and lets you ease right into the tracks like comfy slippers.
The album grabs attention with “Foals [remix] ft. BK Cyph, and then gets a little too “synth-y”, barely straddling the line between music and noise. Thankfully, things pick back up with the bouncy “Buy It” Ft. RaTheMC, who makes a fabulous guest appearance. “Veni Vidi Vici” (and the re-mix ft. rapper Big Pooh and Emilio Rojas) is also authentically entertaining. “Cloud 9” is definitely the standout. The airy beats and summery flow will make it a hot-weather hit.

The whole while you’re listening to the album, you’re constantly hearing echoes of Kanye, Lupe, maybe a lil bit of Wale; but the energy of Channel Surfin’ is unique to Theo Martins. His flow is crazy. Anybody who can rhyme “double entendres” with “I race against the clock cuz it’s now upon us…” gets my vote…crazy. (“You Don’t See” ft. Jesse Boykins III).

Quoted in the April edition of The Phoenix Magazine, Martins explains why he doesn’t rap about Phantoms, video hoes and piles of money. He explains: “My environment, my dreams and my aspirations all combine into forming my writing style…simply put- I can’t speak on things I don’t know of.”
And that’s when keeping it real goes right…for a change.

* Quote taken from the artist’s website: imjusttheo.com

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