*Tisha Campbell Martin admits she was not prepared for the immediate response to her new single “Steel Here,” which received 6000 hits within the first two hours of its arrival on SoundCloud last month.
“I’m still overwhelmed and it’s still a little surreal,” she told EURweb exclusively.
The smooth, mid-tempo head-nodder was co-written by Martin and the song’s producer B.Slade, formerly known as gospel artist Tonex. He heard Martin during one of her weekly performances at LA’s Xen Lounge, the restaurant she co-owns with hubby Duane Martin.
“[B.Slade] came in and said, ‘I know what to do with your voice,’” recalled Martin. “I was a little leery because the music business, there are so many people, producers who have come and said, ‘I know what to do with you, call me tomorrow,’ and then they don’t call you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow” would come about two months later, when Martin called B.Slade to remind him about his promise…and then this happened:
“I don’t have a big machine behind me, I didn’t have a big record company driving this song,” Martin said, still floored by the amount of interest in her new music. “Literally people responded so incredibly.”
B.Slade went on to produce the entire album, also titled “Steel Here.” A release date has yet to be announced.
“It’s R&B, but more hip-hop influenced,” said Martin, 46, of the album’s direction. “It’s really a celebration of myself and coming through all of the obstacles and not considering my age, or whether I’m put in a box or not. I just wanted to sing.”
Below, the former standout on “Martin” and “My Wife and Kids,” and co-star in the upcoming ABC sitcom “Dr. Ken,” says she has only been 100 percent sure of one thing in her multi-faceted career:
“Dr. Ken” premieres on Friday, Oct. 2 at 8:30 p.m. on ABC. Watch the trailer below:
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
