Christopher Martin was born in Queens, New York and is a graduate of the High School of Art and Design, in New York City. The name Play comes from his original MC name, Playboy, which originated with a group called Quicksilver and the Super Lovers. ... (more)It was with this group that he met Christopher "Kid" Reid, who was using the name "Kid Coolout" with a group called The Turnout Brothers. In time, all of the members of their respective groups moved on while Martin and Reid decided that they could work together. By shortening their nicknames, it would lead to the start of the legendary group Kid 'n Play. With Kid, Play recorded three successful albums and starred in four hip-hop based comedy films: House Party, House Party 2, Class Act, and House Party 3. Their other achievements include a NBC television cartoon series, a Marvel Comic book series, and national commercials for Burger King and Sprite. After the duo split in 1995, Play became a born-again Christian and focused on Christian hip-hop. Martin taught hip-hop at North Carolina Central University and now teaches at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. He is the founder and CEO of HP4 Digital, a pre and post-production multimedia company for film, digital media, and theater and devotes his time to the non-profit group Campaign 4 Change.