Murs Interview

Murs has definitely been one of the West Coast's most prominent indie hip hop artists over the last several years, best known for his straightforward beats and sitcom-style lyrics. The famously (former) dreadlocked rapper has been all over the planet, touring from places like New York and Canada to Japan and Budapest. And when he's not traveling the world, Murs is in the studio working on his next big project.

His latest album Love and Rockets, Volume 1: The Transformation has just hit the road with his new Hip Hop & Love tour. Lucky for us, IGN was able to catch Murs between shows for an exclusive interview where the young artist caught us up on his new album, his work at Ski Beatz' Camp BluRoc as well as a slew of upcoming projects...

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IGN Music: So first off, I want ask about your tour. You've been on the road for a few weeks now. How have the shows been going?

Murs: Everything's been going pretty good, man. We've been giving some pretty decent performances... I hope.

IGN: Are you looking forward to any particular venues coming up?

Murs: Aw, man. That's not fair! I don't want to offend anyone. Me personally, I look forward to all of them. I try not to separate and have a favorite. Saluting Canada's gonna be good. I'm looking forward to Toronto.

IGN: And Love and Rockets, Vol. 1: The Transformation dropped last week. Can you tell me a bit about what it was like recording at Camp BluRoc in New York?

Murs: Aw, man. It was an interesting experience, a lot of creative people surrounding me that are in administrative roles and are still very creative. A lot of good energy. Some of the people in the group play country, some people play folk, some people do electronic house music. Some people are playing, and others are making t-shirts or bringing in loads of vintage clothes for the vintage shop we're starting up. There were just all kinds of creative energies going on. It's pretty fantastic.

IGN: This was also your first collaboration with Ski Beatz. How did you two initially get in contact?

Murs: Dee-1 and Damon Dash wanted me to do a record with BluRoc. They invited me to BluRoc and Ski's house. So it was kind of like an arranged marriage.


IGN: Did you guys have a compatible workflow recording together blind?

Murs: We're still developing. It was a challenge on both of our parts, but I think that made for a really great album. We're touring together, actually playing the songs that we created together. I think we're building a definite connection.

IGN: As far as labels go, you've worked all over the spectrum. What have been some of the major differences between working with larger places like Warner Brothers and something more independent like BluRoc?

Murs: Money. The more money you have to do things, the more people there are to sign off on it. It kind of spoils the creativity. BluRoc is kind of just do what you want, when you want, but there may not always be money to make it happen. Same thing with any indie label. With Warner Brothers you can have great ideas, but it may take two years to make it happen... It can make a big difference.