New England Patriots’ former tight end Martellus Bennett is more than just a Super Bowl champion.
Bennett, who won a coveted Super Bowl ring with The Patriots last season, is an accomplished illustrator and musician.
Off the field, he’s the “Creative Director of Awesomeness” for The Imagination Agency and Martellus has used his artwork to share his perspective surrounding the NFL player protest movement.
He’s also the author of two upcoming books “Hey A.J., It’s Bedtime” and “Dear Black Boy.”
In addition to winning Super Bowl rings and writing books, Martellus Bennett is also an accomplished musician and budding rapper.
Bennett just dropped his latest mixtape, “Polka Dots: The Mixtape,” with help from rap legend Snoop Dogg on the track “Take A Flight.”
“Marty” wrote all 9 songs on “Polka Dots,” which is the follow up to his sixth album, ironically titled “I’m Not a Rapper But Some of My Friends Are.”
AllHipHop.com’s grouchygreg Greg caught up with Martellus Bennett aka “MartysarusRex,” to get a little more info on how he linked with Snoop Dogg, his latest mixtape and his musical ambitions just before his former New England teammates take on the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 52.
grouchygreg Greg: How did you link with Snoop?
Martellus Bennett: I was in L.A. doing some press and I dropped by to do Snoop’s YouTube show GGN Network and whole the crew was giving me a tour. They were like “Snoop is actually in the studio right now, do you wanna go back there?” And of course, I was like “yeah,” walked in and he was working on some music.
When he stopped for a quick break, I was like “we should do a song together.” He kind of laughed it off like “hahaha you funny,” and “I was like nah I’m serious bruh.” He was like “you rap?” I said, “yeah man I got a few bars.” He said “let’s do it then” and we went thru a few beats, picked one, I pulled out my pen and notebook, and [the single] “Take A Flight” was born.
grouchygreg Greg: What was it like recording with Snoop?
“Working with Snoop was easy. He’s a great dude. I was a little nervous because he rapped first and it was smooth as f##k.”
Martellus Bennett: Like butter melting on the instrumental. After he rapped I threw out my first verse and wrote what you hear now. He was dope to work with, I think he was pleasantly surprised, because he came in the booth when I was struggling with my wordplay in one section and said “You got this, you got bars. Which is very true. I do have bars!”
grouchygreg Greg: How long have you been rapping and releasing music?
Martellus Bennett: This is my seventh musical project. I’ll release two or three more this year. I grew up in band playing different instruments and stuff and I’ve always rapped as long as I can remember.
grouchygreg Greg: What makes you different than the other athletes who have dropped mixtapes?
Martellus Bennett: I don’t know. I don’t consider myself a rapper, I just try to express myself and my creativity in as mediums as possible. This is just me creating.
Take a listen to Martellus Bennett’s new mixtape “Polka Dots: The Mixtape” below.