Mura Masa is a creative genius, a Grammy winner, and one of my favorite producers of all time (see photo below).
The Mura Masa name is home to 24-year-old, Guernsey-native (you’re going to have to look that one up) Alexander Crossan. You probably know him by his massive hit, “Love$ick” with A$AP Rocky, or even “1 Night” with Charli XCX. He’s a global icon for sui generis music production and has artists lining up at the door to work with him. Did I mention he was only 24??
Alex began toying around with his own beats via Ableton around the age of 16, but had been in a number of bands before that. One year later and his Soundtrack to a Death mixtape was being picked up by Zane Lowe and Annie Mac on BBC1 (you may know “Lotus Eater” and “Hell” off that tape). His notoriety and recognition sure has changed, but him as a producer has not. In a FaceCulture interview he humbly states that he did not have a studio growing up and to this day still does not have one….let alone a pair of nice speakers. All he needs is his laptop and headphones. Pretty inspiring for young artists.
I want to focus on Mura Masa’s 2017 track “Messy Love”. On a completely stacked album with songs like “Love$ick,” “1 Night,” and “All Around The World” this one is my favorite. He doesn’t feature anyone else on vocals…it’s just Mura, a sprinkle of autotune, and what sounds like a futuristic xylophone.
“Messy Love” is simple in nature, but so complex at the same time. To be completely honest, I hate that I said that….BUT, if you listen a few times I promise you’ll see what I mean. There’s just so much going on all throughout the track, especially near the end. You’ve also gotta dig the “wubwubwub” randomly placed around the first half as well.
Another reason I love this track (and Mura) is because he forces you to focus on such a small group of lyrics without taking away from what’s behind them. I barely realized it before, but there’s only 1 verse outside of the chorus. You’re fixated on that one verse and I think that’s his goal. He does this on many other occasions in this album as well.
Mura also came out with his second album at the beginning of this year. R.Y.C (Raw Youth Collage) focuses on the faults of our generation and how we can’t help but to keep looking to the past. It definitely is a switch-up from Musa Masa and “Messy Love,” but its pretty damn good. If you’re a Masa fan you’ll enjoy it.
In the meantime, binge “Messy Love” and carry on.
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