Published: Wednesday - May 16, 2007
Words by Jay Casteel
Murs (Photo: Record Collection)
Over the course of the past couple years, Living Legends member Murs has emerged from his group to become a bonafide solo underground staple. Garnering his most successful album to date in 2006's Murray's Revenge (a second collaborative album with Little Brother's 9th Wonder) and the inception of his Paid Dues concert series, the rapper proven that you cannot ignore the little guys on the indie scene.
Murs' Murray's Revenge was received so well by critics that Warner Bros. scooped up the Los Angeles native before anyone else could, so is Murs changing his tune, now due to his major label affiliation? Not a chance says the rapper. He's still the guy who will take a picture with every fan at the show and that will never change.
As he gears up for his Warner Bros. album, Murs For President, and the Paid Dues nationwide tour, the rapper sits down to talk about the future, the past, and why no one can say he hasn't paid his dues. So anyone looking for a canidate for President, Murs is running.
BallerStatus.com: You are the creator of Paid Dues, a massive indie hip-hop festival. Why did you decide to put together a show like this in the first place?
Murs: Because we as independent hip-hop artists needed a platform to perform instead of opening for... like Rock The Bells always gave us a chance to open for somebody bigger, but [this is] something for us, for our kids to feel like this is our sh--. We have our own thing, so we needed our own stage. I always had the idea. I went to Rock The Bells and saw how well Guerilla Union handled their business, so I was like "I wanna be a part of this, I want them to facilitate my dream." They did it.
[Paid Dues] is a good place for kids that are 14 or 15 to go to their first hip-hop show. It's a safe environment, it's during the day and it's a lot of bang for your buck. You spend $40, you can't even get a pair of shoes for $40, instead you get 14 hip-hop acts.
BallerStatus.com: Are you happy with the success of the festival so far. Both seem to have been very successful.
Murs: Yea definitely. I wish it would have grown a little bit the second time, but it's not gonna grow until our genre grows. I'm not just focused on growing Paid Dues, I focused on growing independent hip-hop throughout, so this can be bigger. Even if we grow slowly, you have to be thankful and I'm very thankful.
Every show, we'll keep some of the same people. But we'll move them around, and do something new always. Every year another group becomes eligible. I'm not gonna put anybody on here who hasn't paid any dues obviously. I'm not exclude new school people either. Originally, I just started it as a club for my friends, but I'm open to let people in now. Like I wants kids to see this as an inspiration like, "I gonna be an independent artist. I don't need to be signed 'cause we have this now."
BallerStatus.com: Being an indie artist, it's hard enough keeping your own career going, so how does it feel to be on the other side, helping people with the creation of a big event like this.
Murs: Aw man, it feels like sh--. I never liked rappers to begin with man. I'm one rapper who can't stand rappers. I can't f---ing stand them. Now, I'm dealing with them all day. I thought it'd be different dealing with my friends. That's another thing, people think indie hip-hop is... it's all love and it's not as business as mainstream America, but it's still business. I've heard some cold sh-- from my friends. It's cool, I decided to make this a business and this is part of it.
BallerStatus.com: Now, you're planning a nationwide tour with Paid Dues right?
Murs: Yes, it was my plan from the beginning, but Chang (of Guerilla Union) told me that we gotta take baby steps. This is the first year we're taking it nationwide, starting at Rock The Bells in New York in July.
We'll always have an annual one in March in Los Angeles. The March one will be more back to what I wanted it to be, which is me and my friends. Next year, it will be a little more diverse. I know a few local acts were offended this year and I didn't intentionally offend them, but I can't put everybody on. To show them that, I didn't even put my own crew on. Next year, I'm bringing my crew back, I'm bringing Hiero, Project Blowed, People Under The Stairs, etc.
BallerStatus.com: You're last album was Murray's Revenge, which had the single "L.A.," was pretty successful. Were you happy with how the album did?
Murs: No, I don't think L.A. radio got behind it, but that's because my label didn't pay them money to get it played. It still wasn't supported by a lot of local DJs. Like Julio G openly bad mouthed the record on the air, but like why? He just said "It's ok. My friends have songs about L.A. that are better and I don't play theirs, so I'm not playing his." He said that on the air, like, wow, way to treat someone up and coming. It's the game though. It's L.A. politics because I never kissed anybody's ass. To be real, there's a lot of motherf---ers that build a lot of fame -- and I don't hate anybody, but I am out here. I was really out here selling my tapes. Anybody from any hood knows. I'd be down at Venice Beach or on Melrose slanging my tapes, like I started that sh--.
I can do a show with 5,000 people showing up, so how are you not gonna play me on the radio? I get at least 5,000 kids showing up to a Murs show in the city and I don't get play on the radio? That's just ridiculous. It just shows how irrelevant radio is becoming. I make more money than -- literally -- 75% of the artists they play on the radio everyday, and definitely 90% of the rappers from L.A. that they play on the radio. I have way more money than them and I'm investing it back in my independent hip-hop culture, my family and into my kids. It's not even about the money. With the help of radio, I could be doing a lot more and a lot more positive stuff, but they'd rather help people that don't even help themselves. I'm out here busting my ass everyday. All I'm asking is that maybe you play it three times a day to see if they like it.
BallerStatus.com: Personally, I liked the song man.
Murs: Thanks man, but I'm not gonna pat myself on the back. I always blame myself, so the song wasn't banging enough. All I'm gonna do is go back and make a better song. You can't blame people.
BallerStatus.com: Back to the independent scene, indie artists have such a loyal fanbase who will travel from city to city to come to your shows. Why is it that the indie culture gets so much love from their fans?
Murs: I would say, on my part, I'm out there man. I threw Paid Dues, so I could sit in the back all day, watch ticket sales and count money, but I'll go out there and take a picture with every fan that came out. My mom was out there selling merchandise. I'm a real dude. I ain't hiding behind anything. I don't have security. I help people. Like if you lock your keys in your car, I'll wait with you while AAA comes. I'm that type of person. I think we show them a certain level of respect and they give back with their loyalty and love.
BallerStatus.com: I see you have this Murs For President campaign. That's the next album?
Murs: That's my next album on Warner Bros., my non-independent album. It's gonna have a commercial presence and have a lot of big name producers. I'm still gonna do records with 9th Wonder, so that's separate from this.
A lot of people within the independent scene, they just complain and complain, saying commercial rap is this and that. So what I'm gonna do is get out there and get in the commercial lane and mainstream and see how I do. Instead of complaining about it, I'm gonna try to change it and be proactive in it. They say the major label thing is all politics, so if its all politics, then I'm the f---ing President.
BallerStatus.com: As far as the music, it's gonna be the same?
Murs: The beats are different. Maybe you can dance to them or maybe they'll play it on the radio, but I'm never changing what I'm talking about. People used to say that I spit gangstar raps just over underground beats, so now that I got the gangster beats, my whole album is about peace and love. There's so much negativity, so all I wanna talk about is peace, love and respect. There's enough people doing gangster rap. The kids need something different.
But, hell no, I'm not changing sh--. The beats might change because I'm a rapper, I can rap to any beat. I've done songs with Rick Rock about peace and love, and I'm gonna do songs with Premier that's not about slanging crack. I'm gonna make songs about taking care of your family and not getting laid because there's sometimes when I don't get laid (laughs).
BallerStatus.com: What else is on your plate?
Murs: Just the upcoming Paid Dues tour and this album. You don't come out and say Murs For President and your music sounds like bullsh--. It makes me nervous because we can all stay here. People shouldn't think for one second that I signed with Warner Bros. for the money because I did not need it. I don't have two cars -- I have an apartment and one car. That's all I need, I can live. All I wanna do is take my money and re-invest it in indie hip-hop. It's kinda like Robin Hood, because if Warner Bros. gives me any kind of money, it's gonna pop right back up on our scene. Why I did it was to see if I can do it. To me, life is about challenge. There's not challenge for me to stay here and be adored by the people I adore. We just circle our love in one little circle, but we gotta grow. Someone's gotta take that step and it's me. I could fail. I could drop a major album and no body gives a f---, but I gotta try.
Like I could have never did Paid Dudes. I could have lost my ass. I was at a point where I emptied out my savings. I had $15,000 in cash in my backpack -- that's all the money I had in the world -- because they changed our venue last year. I had to give that up. If nobody showed up, I was f---ed because I was gonna pay all my friends, the flights, the venue, the insurance, everything. I was f---ed, but sometimes you gotta put your balls out man. It looked really bad, but I had to go out swinging. I ain't no punk.
People always say they're hard, but do what I do. Have a nice safe underground fanbase where you can sell 100,000 records on your own and do 5,000 person show.... have all that money and step out of your comfort zone. That's being a man. At the end of the day, these kids could hate me. They could be like, "You're on Warner, f--- you Murs." But I gotta do me. I gotta go out and try to save our culture man. Hip-hop is in a state... but it's one-sided. I love gangster rap, but there's gotta be balance. It's like if you wife only let you do her in on position every night, you'd get sick of it and want a divorce. That's what hip-hop is giving us -- one position. Missionary, Missionary, Missionary -- you get tired of it.
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