Here are 5 things to know about Mura Masa
Courtesy of Shore Fire Media
Mura Masa, a 21-year-old British artist, is signed to his own record label, Anchor Point Records, along with other British artist Bonzai.
Singer, songwriter, DJ, multi-instrumentalist and record label owner Mura Masa will headline the first concert of this year’s Bandersnatch Concert Series hosted by University Union.
The concert will take place Saturday, Nov. 11 at 9 p.m. in Goldstein Auditorium. Here are five things to know about the British Isles native.
His stage name comes from Japanese swordsmith Muramasa Sengo
The 21-year-old artist goes by Mura Masa, a name he borrowed from a Japanese swordsmith named Muramasa Sengo. His real name is Alex Crossan. Similarly to Sengo, Crossan wants his music to “cut like a knife,” he said in an interview with the BBC.
He was born on an island off the coast of Normandy
Growing up in Guernsey, an island in the English Channel near the coast of Normandy, Crossan was exposed to a wide variety of music. In high school, the artist played bass, drums, piano and guitar and sang in local hardcore, deathcore, punk and gospel bands.
Mura Masa is now a DJ, electronic music producer, instrumentalist and songwriter. He studied English at the University of Sussex in Brighton, England.
He is signed to his own label
Mura Masa signed to his own label, Anchor Point Records, in 2015. He’s partnered with Polydor Records in the UK and Interscope Records in North America as distributors. The only other person signed to Crossan’s label is fellow UK artist bonzai.
He sent out an old beat — and Charli XCX picked it up
Mura Masa’s collaboration with Charli XCX happened by chance. He had a beat he made just laying around, so he decided to send it out to a few people and see if anyone wanted to use it.
What is now Charli XCX’s “1 Night,” started with the British singer receiving Masa’s beat. Then, Charli picked it up and just did “her thing” to create the song, Mura Masa said in an interview with Vibe.
‘Lovesick’ reached number 1 on Spotify on two continents
Mura Masa’s best known song is “Lovesick,” which reached the top of Spotify’s Viral Charts in both the United Kingdom and the United States. The song came from his 2015 extended play record “Someday Somewhere.”
Published on October 23, 2017 at 10:23 pm
Contact Lydia: lnilesst@syr.edu
