Born in Jamaica Queens, New York, Christopher “Play” Martin always had dreams of making it big. And with his childhood friend, Christopher “Kid” Reid, he did just that and formed the popular 80’s and 90’s hip-hop duo, Kid N’ Play. While Play had multiple success through the “House Party” movie franchises, Kid N’ Play cartoons and merchandise, something was missing.
“I was literally an accident waiting to happen,” the now 60-year-old Play confesses.
“Every car, every piece of jewelry, every relationship…I was fooled into thinking that if you had this kind of woman in your life, this jewelry and this care that I’d be happy. But I was wrong. It was me trying to fill a void that only God can fill. I had to grow…I had a lot of growing to do.”
“Coming up in the streets of New York, you didn’t have the images or the inspiration that you have today, especially in hip-hop because it didn’t exist. Matter of fact, it was an era and a time believe it or not on this planet where hip-hop didn’t exist, and when it did begin to come, it wasn’t even called hip-hop. So I wasn’t really relating to what was happening in the schools, I was more attracted to what was happening in the streets because that’s what looked like success for a young black boy or teenager. I was attracted to a lot of the negative elements in the streets, and that was becoming my aspiration and inspiration. My father was doing his thing successfully or so I thought in the streets, so I wanted to be with him and then combine that with the images I was seeing in the movie theaters. I was just going to be the best, I guess, criminal I could be and I flirted with that, tampered with that, and thank God he used something to save my life.”
“It’s not easy. But thank God that He is God. There are times that I am weak. So that’s when I call upon the Lord.”
“All your faults, all your shortcomings, all your weaknesses are really blessings where you can be a blessing to someone else. God is not a God on second chances, He is a God of many chances.” See more of Play’s transformation including sex addiction.
Martin is a recipient of the New York International Film Festival Award for best feature documentary for his production on “Welcome to Durham”. Christopher has received a Grammy and…
… Stellar nomination for his production contribution with “Taking the Gospel to the Streets” Volumes 1, 2 and 3 compilation cd series and the successful release of “Holy Hip Hop the Movie” a DVD documentary.
Among his entrepreneurial ventures, Christopher now serves as Professional in Residence at Florida A&M University in the Music Industry & Hip Hop Institute and development content in the School of Journalism and Graphic Communication.
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