How Ric Wilson And Terrace Martin Found The Beat Of They Call Me Disco

By Jaelani Turner-Williams


In April, despite being quarantined in the middle of touring with electronic duo Drama, Chicago funk/disco-infused hip-hop artist Ric Wilson still contained a sweet social distancing birthday party from residence — complete with a caramel cake from sweet city staple Angelica’s Bakery. The occasion also served as a pre-celebration for his new EP, They Call Me Disco, made with Los Angeles-based jazz-fusion and G-funk multi-instrumentalist Terrace Martin. Having already shot visuals before the pandemic, notably for lead single “Chicago Bae” featuring BJ the Chicago Kid, Wilson had no plans to change the EP’s release date, so he didn’t. As a substitute, he suggested more for fans, sharing intimate freestyle sessions through his social platforms. They Call Me Disco dropped today (May 8) as planned.


It’s fitting for the performer who was coined “Disco Ric” while touring with R&B singer and former Snarky Puppy member Cory Henry. Wilson cites disco influences as his “aura” while remaining open to dabbling in other genres — as long as he can, as he told MTV News, “make it Black.” Just two years immediately after his 2018 EP Banba, and also per year out from appearing on Joe Swanberg’s Chicago-set Netflix series Easy, Wilson shows no signs of halting his creative process, foreseeing They Call Me Disco to be the soundtrack for much-needed escapism throughout the pandemic.


“I think we’re seeing all of the different stages of people [who were] freaking out in the initial couple weeks. Right now we’re in the stage where folks are adjusting to their fashion of life. I think this [time] brings a little bit of escape to people in their lives,” Wilson told MTV News. That bit escape shines by way of the EP’s relentlessly rhythmic six tracks, featuring extra visitors Corbin Dallas, Malaya, and Kiela Adira. From the residence touches of “Move Like This” to the downright funk of “Before You Let Go,” the fruits of Wilson and Martin’s musical partnership are on full display.


The duo met by chance in Los Angeles through a mutual industry friend, though Wilson had been a longtime fan immediately after hearing Martin’s contributions on Snoop Dogg’s 2008 album, Ego Trippin', and also “Ab-Soul’s Outro” from Kendrick Lamar’s 2011 debut, Section.80. “I had just got involved with home music this whole-ass year. Home music was one of the main corners of Black music that I’ve been wanting to dive into nevertheless I haven’t had the time,” Martin told MTV News about where he was before working with Wilson. “I didn’t know Ric was that prevalent and informative with soul, home music, disco and all those elements.” Though Martin considers himself long-quarantined by working in his residence studio, he’s also used this particular time of isolation to hone in on his musicianship by reading Miles Davis’s Miles: The Autobiography. His openness to learning extended to his work with Wilson.


“I walked into the studio session thinking, ‘Let’s produce a cool project,’ nevertheless I noticed out he was such a staple with residence music, so it was brilliant. We ended up doing an assignment, yet for me, it was really school [by] being with somebody from the culture, from Chicago, who grew up in that situation. I couldn’t ask for a higher end first introduction than diving into that world with Ric.”


What came from their chance meeting was a six-track glance into Wilson’s velvety, soulful vision of Chicago. Though Wilson plans to perform They Call Me Disco in full by fall, he’s also dreamed up an idea of a drive-in concert before then. While his social-distancing efficiency intentions are still just thoughts, they might organically come into fruition later, much like the recording process with Martin did. “I had to fly to L.A. Just to finish the project,” Wilson mentioned. “We did four sessions, the initial one being a meet-and-greet and vibing. I know a lot of rappers who are like, ‘We did the complete EP in one session!’ And I’m like, ‘OK, it sounds like that.’ We wanted to take our time on it a little and make some shit that’s like the last thing me and [Martin] drop for a while, due to the pandemic — at least it’s some shit we took our time on and are really overjoyed of.”


As newer artists within current R&B pay homage to funk music, Wilson credits independent music platform Soulection with reintroducing experimental production along with references the West Coast for mixing funk and hip-hop in the early 1990s to spawn G-funk. Snoop Dogg, a frequent collaborator of Martin’s, recently took to Instagram Live to discuss funk’s origins with George Clinton of Parliament-Funkadelic, acknowledging Ohio and Detroit for their musical contributions of Bootsy Collins and Motown, respectively. Martin shares these sentiments as well as embraces the Midwest for the rise of funk music because the genre was reinvented through ‘90s West Coast rap.


“I love Youngstown, Dayton, everything in Ohio,” he mentioned. “I’ll mention this about Black music: With everything, there’s habitually a foundation. Whether it’s home music, jazz, rap, it’s all Black music. [Funk singer] Roger Troutman and all of the brothers — we are funk fans, and that is the structure. Just like for them, Parliament-Funkadelic was the structure, and for them it was James Brown, and for him it was the blues, gospel, all those things.”


“We expanded on that sound, and Roger gave us his blessing with Dr. Dre, Battlecat, and DJ Quik,” he continued. “That sound did come from motherfucking Ohio, I can’t lie about that. The way that beat was rocking, that bassline — it had so several Black folks dancing, and the Jheri curl? Come on, man.”


While G-funk kept hip-hop audiences dancing, Wilson is just as interactive with his audience, whether he’s throwing a virtual concert on Instagram or leading impromptu Soul Train lines at live concert helps in avoiding. Knowledgeable of the Black music’s history because the structure of disco, he once tweeted that the genre shouldn’t irresponsibly be credited to the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever.


“I don’t hope to be the spokesman of Black music’s origin. I’d just like people to know that disco music was super-duper dope, super-duper funky, and very, very musical,” Wilson mentioned. “Also, the disco DJs — that’s where the initial MCs got their influences from to rock the stage and rock the mic. All that stuff is connected, and I sort of get annoyed any time people visualize Disco Ric and so they think of John Travolta or think about the ‘Disco Sucks’ shirts they made [on Disco Demolition Night].”


Though Wilson and Martin had a short quantity of time to record They Call Me Disco, Martin grew an aptitude for Wilson’s musical passion and considers him an influence for the next generation of Black music. “I attempt to prepare music that’ll fit [Wilson’s] life, my life, because we resemble a lot of Black America. I didn’t have a lot of time, so day-to-day I had to pay very close attention and just look at him and listen to him and react, not to initiate, however to be reactive to his energy,” Martin said.


“Ric doesn’t care to be the president [of Black music], although he knows it. That’s the variation. He just wants to prepare motherfuckers have a good time [while they’re] unapologetically Black.”