Martinez was born in Astoria, Queens,[5] to parents of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent.[6][7] Her family moved to Baldwin, New York, on Long Island, when Martinez was four.[5] She listened to Brandy, Britney Spears, Shakira, The Beatles, Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls and Christina Aguilera growing up,[8][9][10] and wanted to be a singer from a young age.[11]

Martinez attended Plaza Elementary School, crediting her teacher Mr. Nadien with teaching her how to sing,[5] and in kindergarten, Martinez began writing poetry.[12] Martinez says she had few friends growing up and was a homebody, as she was "very emotional" and found it difficult to explain her feelings, crying when overwhelmed.[13] She practiced photography and painting.[14] Due to her emotionality as a child,[13] she claims to have been referred to as a "cry baby" by others, which sparked the creation of the titular character of her debut album, Cry Baby.[15][16][17]

At 14, Martinez taught herself how to play guitar by studying chord diagrams of songs that she enjoyed, which she found online, and wrote her first song by adding her poetry to one of the chord diagrams,[13][18] but claims that playing guitar "eventually got stale".[14][16][17][19] At 16, after watching 101 Dalmatians, Martinez dyed half of her hair blonde, in the same vein as Cruella de Vil.[9][20] Martinez graduated from Baldwin High School,[21] where she had received criticism from her classmates after appearing on The Voice.[22]

In 2012, during her junior year of high school, Martinez participated in the MSG Varsity Talent Show, a televised talent competition. She sang "Money (That's What I Want)" by Barrett Strong and "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" by The Four Tops. She was eliminated in the second round.[23]

In 2012, during her junior year of high school, Martinez participated in the MSG Varsity Talent Show, a televised talent competition. She sang "Money (That's What I Want)" by Barrett Strong and "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" by The Four Tops. She was eliminated in the second round.[23]

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Later in 2012, Martinez auditioned for the third season of The Voice. She had not watched the show herself prior to the audition.[13] The initial, untelevised audition was an open call, held at Javits Center. She recalls that while she and her mother were driving to the audition, her mother's car broke down before they reached the Midtown Tunnel, and the two were forced to "hitchhike" a taxicab in order to get there. Several months after the initial audition, while at Roosevelt Field Mall, Martinez received word that she had advanced to the "second round". She then received multiple callbacks until she was finally selected to audition on the show itself.[5]

Martinez auditioned singing Britney Spears's "Toxic". Three of the four judges, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton, hit the "I Want You" button for her. Martinez chose Adam Levine to be her coach.[24]

In the Battle Round, Martinez competed against Caitlin Michele. They performed a duet of the Ellie Goulding song "Lights". Martinez won and moved on to the Knockout Round. Caitlin Michele was stolen by Cee Lo Green and also moved on. In the Knockout Round, Martinez was paired with Sam James. She chose to sing La Roux's "Bulletproof". Levine eliminated James, and Martinez moved on to the Live Rounds as one of the five remaining members of Team Adam. In week one of the Live Rounds, Martinez sang "Hit the Road Jack". Public vote saved Team Adam members Amanda Brown and Bryan Keith.

Levine then chose Martinez over Loren Allred and Joselyn Rivera to remain in the competition. In week three, Martinez's performance of "Seven Nation Army" finished the voting period at #10 on the iTunes Top 200 Single Chart, causing her iTunes votes to be multiplied by ten.[25] This occurred again in week four, when "Too Close" ended the voting period at #6.[26] Martinez was eliminated by audience vote in week five, along with the fellow Team Adam member Amanda Brown, leaving Levine with no artists. In response, Martinez said, "I never expected to get this far and this is beyond what I've ever dreamed of. I'm just so glad I got to express who I am as an artist and really touch people's hearts because that was the ultimate goal."[27]

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