While in high school, he was a member of a gang called the Crips, but the now 24-year-old Martain Al-ameen has since turned his life around and is a man of many talents including being a songwriter, producer, director, photographer and chef.
“I’ve always been fascinated with music,” he told The Scene. As a boy he would wake up to his mother playing gospel music on the radio. Then the genres of music would change as they got busier with chores while listening to soca, calypso and reggae. He started to get curious about creating the various musical sounds.
Martain grew up in Pattensen, Turkeyen and attended St Winefride’s Secondary. “As a young man in school I was always quiet and observant. I spoke less and acted more. My alter ego allowed me to be the life of the party, always hanging around females and being adventurous and daring. My high school era was the rise of gangs and violence and being concerned for my safety I joined the known Crips Gang for my protection. This is where my life really began as I became more business-minded and focused at the same time. I was advised to stay in school and keep out of trouble with rival gang members as my teammates would always have my back. This is where we created High Rollas,” Martain said.
It was at school that Martain performed at his first concert, a Christmas concert. He did so with best friend Clarence. They sang a mixed melody fusion of “Merry Christmas” by ‘NSync and a remix done by Guyanese artiste Jory Hector to which they added some of their own lyrics. The concert made the pair popular in school. At lunch breaks they would be caught doing song battle sessions with other peers. This eventually led to Martain, his brother, Daniel and two other friends building their first music studio. During his least favourite classes he and another friend, Johnny, would pen their own lyrics.
The producer shared that his years at the secondary school would have afforded great inspirations from his friends and his teachers some and he mentioned Miss Francis, who taught Business; Miss Greene (Science); Miss Shelly (Mathematics and Principle of Accounts); Miss Griffith (Home Economics, Catering and Hospitality); Miss Walcott (English) and Miss Rosalie (History). His most beloved teacher of all time however was Miss Colleen Patterson, who taught Social Studies and was also a Life Coach. His favourite subjects were Social Studies, English Literature, History, Business and Food and Nutrition. Food and Nutrition, Martain said, was easily a favourite as his love for cooking started long before his formal teaching in the subject began. Shortly after completing his secondary education, Martain migrated with his family to Florida where he attended Miami Dade College studying photography then later Broward College to do courses on videography and film production in the hopes of following in the footsteps of his grandfather, well-known photographer, Aubrey Crawford.
The night before he left the country, he promised his friends that he would keep producing music and would help them. However, it wasn’t as easy as he thought it would be. He found himself in a 9-to-5 job, which couldn’t provide the necessary means to pursue music after he had paid his bills.
Being a third-generation chef, Martain started working for a catering company and this allowed for him to start buying his music equipment; he also purchased his first camera. Then in 2015 he met Lou Millz, who he partnered with in producing music. It was Millz who taught him everything he knows today.
Martain with his company High Rollas Productions collaborated with Millz’s 18Enterprise. The two are now on a mission to do whatever it takes to move Guyanese music to another level and expose as many Guyanese artistes as possible. “I’m here to mesh the market. I’m here to bridge the gap. I’m the person to do major distribution,” he said.
Some of the persons he has worked with and through whom he was acquainted with the industry were persons like Jory Hector, Mystic and Illaman. In 2015 Martain returned to Guyana where he teamed up with Trinity Promotion Sports and Entertainment to shoot videos as well as document a mini tour with Jamaican artiste Jahvillani.
To date, High Rollas Production has distributed music internationally to at least 33 countries including the US, Jamaica, India, Brazil, France, Russia, Egypt, Italy, Germany, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Canada, Japan, parts of the UK as well as countries in Africa.
As it relates to music and life, some of the people who inspired the songwriter are Eminem, Dr Dre, Jimmy Iovine, and Ice Cube. He reveres Bob Marley, King Selassie, Nipsey Hussle and Dr Sebi. These men have all been inspirational one way or another. One thing they all have in common, they are all dead.
Taking this into consideration, Martain said that these men would have looked at life from a different perspective and many of the younger generation have come to acknowledge this. Had they been alive and had he gotten a chance to meet with anyone of them, he said, he was sure that their conversation would have been elevated.
“What I like most about doing what I do is the fact that I get to be a part of the process of seeing something being created from just ideas and simple inspiration. The experience is mind-blowing listening to the finished product,” he said.
Being in the music arena allows one to travel the world, meet new and interesting people and make a handsome amount of money. However, it’s not all fun as it sounds as it comes with lots of work and challenges. Some of the cons of being in the music industry, he noted is that it is one-sided, cut-throat, very expensive and time-consuming. Having said this, Martain told of the most challenging time he has faced since joining the music business. He had just signed his first artiste, Lou Millz. He and his team had taken almost six months to work on developing his career. During this time, Martain shared, they had taken the initiative to expand their team, but one of the members went behind their backs making his own decisions and investments that forced Martain and the rest of the group to dismantle their entire movement. In this case, there was no overcoming this challenge and the team had to cut their losses and move on. This experience has made the producer more aware of who has on his team.
Asked what he thinks about the fan base when it comes to the local talent, Martain said that Guyanese are becoming less foreign-minded and seem to be more supportive of local music. This is not what would have been said a decade ago, as according to Martain, artistes then who made a name for themselves were not concerned about the up and coming artistes. Had there been more support from renowned Guyanese artistes and from Guyanese in general, Martain opined, the local music industry would have been stronger.
Speaking on matters of the heart or in this case, matters of the stomach, Martain shared about the first meal he prepared. “Being a chef gives you the ability to create. Just like music and its process, cooking a meal from scratch brings the same joy for me. Growing up, cooking was actually the first thing I ever learnt to do. I remember one day at a very young age my mom had left me and my brother home while she went to the market. She told us to finish cooking the rice and that she would be back shortly to cook the stew. It felt like a lifetime passed before she came back. Sometime during the waiting process, me and my older brother decided that we were going to finish our own meal. We turned the rice into cook-up adding seasoning, callaloo… We made the perfect dish. During the last two years in school, the ministry had switched up the curriculum which required all males to take construction classes and the females, culinary classes. After a year of skipping my construction classes to be with the all the girls and the food and having an issue with the teachers over and over again because of this, they finally allowed me to be part of the class,” he recalled.
In fact, Martain went as far as stealing a copy of the examination papers and later passed the exams with all the questions right except for one. The teacher had him retake the test where he passed with flying colours. This, he shared, was when his real culinary journey began. Though he doesn’t yet have his own restaurant, he is looking forward to making it a reality.
Asked what he would like to say to persons hoping to be in the music industry, Martain said, “This… is a very ruthless, dangerous and expensive business. But stay humble, work hard, stay motivated, stay focused and keep the right kind of people in your circle. And, definitely, don’t quit your day job.
“The reason I’m so good at what I do today is because I spend 95% of my time studying the individuals who have walked the path before me, gathering and creating ideas, and competing and striving to be the best there is… My late guardian Joycelyn Beck would always say, ‘If you’re going to do something, do it to the best of your ability; if you’re going to be somebody be the best version of you that you can be’. She always told me and other siblings this, ‘If you’re going to be a gravedigger then be the best gravedigger there is.’”
Martain is also a new father with his son, Ezekiel making his way into the world just recently.
With building his empire, creating his legacy and fatherhood, there isn’t much time left to be called free time. However, whenever he can, he enjoys hiking, camping and running.
He will be hosting and headlining his first overseas tour dubbed ‘Behind the Cameras’, which will include 6 Guyanese artistes and 1 Jamaican artiste. They will spend 60 days touring 5 countries: Guyana, French Guiana, Jamaica, the Bahamas and the US. The tour is slated for July 3, to September 3.
High Rollas Production will be connecting with producers, photographers, directors, musicians and YouTubers. In doing so they hope to afford their accompanying artistes the opportunity of expanding their fan base and meeting and collaborating with other artistes.
Martain can be followed on Instagram @MartainAl-ameen and @HighRollasProduction on YouTube at Martain Al-ameen and Life of a High Rolla/LOAHR, on Snapchat at highrollas and on Twitter @MartainAl-ameen. He can also be reached via email: martainalameen@gmail.com and highrollasproduction@gmail.com.
