They called him weird. Can you blame them?

In the past couple of years, most major label rappers haven’t exactly been seen as “great artists.” So, seeing one make an effort to be artistic may actually be seen as strange by some. In the game today, weak emcees are plentiful and dissectible lyrics are scarce. Conceptual rhymes are almost unheard of and jewelry/automobile love ballads flood a major percentage of the rhyme books held by young spitters. Search the Los Angeles area and find that a major rapper who doesn’t smoke weed is as hard to find as a snowy day. In today’s rap world, there are few emcees bold enough to begin their major label debut by stating that kids are dying in Sudan and that rappers need to care about it. “At least I’m trying,” he says before “I’m Innocent,” his first track begins. This is all weird because independent rapper-turned-Warner Brothers recording artist Murs is releasing Murs for President in a rap world that sees him as an oddity and an anomaly. A successful independent rapper with a large underground following and a fanbase worldwide, Murs is finally ready for that close up. With no chain that hangs or rims that shine, Murs for President is his introduction to the mainstream world, of course, with his traditional “What up, though?”

It is also his reintroduction to longtime followers. Since the early '90s, the underground Mr. Carter (whose real name is Nick Carter) has released a slew of successful solo projects on top of various group albums with many crews including The Living Legends, the 3 Melancholy Gypsies and Felt. He’s gone from ciphers on Los Angeles sidewalks to creating, promoting and throwing Paid Dues, his very own annual independent music festival, one that has already garnered more and more notoriety since its inception. After releasing many videos, a movie, his own DVD magazine and a comic book, Murs has gained more than enough recognition, respect and accolades from the underground world of Hip Hop. Now, it’s time for that spotlight.

As he gets set for what could very well be a career and industry shaking debut, Murs took some time off between Rock the Bells dates and promotional events to speak with HipHopDX about everything that is about to happen. Since his declaration that he would go major at Paid Dues, message boards, blogs and ciphers have been going off on how he would change, stay the same, fall off or get better. He spoke to us on progression and his inspiration to go major with a deeply educational tone. With such a political title and with the current political climate looming overhead, he spoke on the election and his surprising take on the world, foreign policy and how he plans to make a change for himself. He also went into detail about his work with various producers, friends and legends like DJ Quik and Snoop Dogg. As is usually the case with the self proclaimed “weird” Murs, he also spoke on how he plans to disrupt the game and why he feels he has no competition in the mainstream rap world.

HipHopDX: You’re embarking on a life changing journey with this album. Was your approach with this LP different at all? Did you see it as “I’m about to tear up the mainstream?” Did you attack it in any different way or was it the same technique to keep continuity?
Murs: Definitely different. I’d be a fool to just do the same thing. If I wanted to do the same thing, I would have just stayed independent. So, I definitely attacked the album differently, knowing I would have a lot more people listening. Sadly enough, there’s never been a successful, black, independent artist. Some have been successful on their own, but to achieve some type of superstardom, you always have to go to a major. Sadly enough, even Scarface [click to read] didn’t get a classic record, even though Mr. Scarface was to me, classic, but The Fix wasn’t deemed classic until it was on Def Jam. It’s a sad thing for the black community because there’s a lot of good singers, even in Doo Wop, there’s good singers everywhere. But, in order for them to be considered official, they have to be on the radio. We have good singers at church and everybody knows a good rapper, but until you’re put on TV and backed by most likely a white company or a big company, whether it be Def Jam or Warner Brothers, you’re not respected in the community because everybody can rap and everybody can sing. Everybody can play basketball, but until you’re on an NBA team, you’re not considered to be great.

I feel this is a step I had to take for my people because no one is really making that effort to be the KRS-One [click to read] or the De La Soul or A Tribe Called Quest [click to read] because all of us are saying, “We want to be independent,” because we’re too proud. Actually, it’s better money to be independent but I didn’t feel I was reaching the kids that I needed to reach because they’re getting spoon-fed garbage. Also, I want to be a good songwriter. This album may not be front to back the greatest, because I have different producers on it. I’m hearing a couple critics say that. That’s cool with me because I went to the jukebox the other day and it was just Frank Sinatra. It didn’t say what song or what album. It just said Frank Sinatra. No one can tell me Frank Sinatra’s greatest album and no one can tell me, really, Elton John’s greatest album. You just know that if you put together all their best songs, you’re gonna have some shit. I’d rather be on of those people because I make three albums a year. I wrote 60 songs for this record. This is just the 14 best of 'em. I'm not concerned with ratings or first week or all the numbers. I just wanted to make a good, positive record and write some good songs just to showcase my skill, of course, 'cause this is rap but also just to contribute to the Hip Hop legacy and the overall oral tradition of music. And yeah, part of me does want to kill the mainstream because all these dudes suck. None of them are a better rapper than me. None of them are a better live performer than me. Hands down. I will shame anyone on any major label, on my label, on any label. Continued on page 2 »