thaFormula.com - If you were a new artist trying to come out in 2007 how would you approach the game?

Murs - I couldn't even imagine what it would be like. If I was a new artist it would be so crazy though because there is so many more opportunities man that I have. If I was a new artist, I would be getting out and doing as many shows and creating fans and merchandise and maybe giving away music. Have a web site. Make sure your music is tight and give away CD's or sell them. I don't know, I would be pimpin' the fuck out of Myspace I know that because that's a fucking blessing man. Don't limit Myspace to your city or to your bedroom trying to get laid, man I would be all around the world right now. We toured around the world before there was an Internet. If we would have had the Internet and email, we could have found so many more people. We would just go perform in Germany and someone would see us and be like "yo, I have a Wednesday night in France, if you guys can get the train fare up, you can sleep at my house and perform." We could have planned all that out on the Internet through Myspace first. So I would just say, it's not about money man, your gonna have to be broke for at least shit, 8 years and yeah I think I might have had a easier time 'cause what really helped us was Napster when people started downloading our music for free. It helped us blow up, so I would say if I was in the game right now, I definitely wouldn't be focused on trying to get a god damn record deal because this shit is about to explode man.

thaFormula.com - But with that said, why did you decide to go with a major?

Murs - Because I'm in a position where I built a solid fan base so I got to man, because there is no more challenge for me here really. I hit the glass ceiling and I could sit here and get comfortable like some of my homies have chosen to do which I respect, but to me I still have it in me to try something new and if I can have a shot at the mainstream, then I'm gonna take it. You get your shot at the big time and you take that championship fight.

thaFormula.com - Now I know you are working with Nottz for your major label album…

Murs - Yeah, now I got the money to go out and work with whoever is willing to sell me a beat and I'm gonna do me on it. Like I said, you can take the championship fight, but you've go to fight the fight that got you've here. You've got to fight the smart fight and the smart fight is being myself.

thaFormula.com - But what do you do when you get mainstream producers man and your hardcore fans don't accept that? I mean what would you do if that happened?

Murs - I don't know, I haven't even thought about it. I don't think that will be the case though because I did the Living Legends thing, I did the Def Jux thing, then I did the 9th Wonder thing and people thought it was good. I'm a song writer and people like what I say and as long as I'm saying what I have always said uh, I think people feel all kinds of music as long as the music is dope. I think the only thing that turns people off about commercial music isn't the beat, 'cause the beat is something natural, you feel the beat. You can't listen to the Young Jock song and tell me you don't feel the beat? You may not feel it that that muthafucka is going "eenie meenie mynie moe," but you can feel the beat. So I don't think anybody is gonna have a problem with the beats 'cause the hottest producers are respected by the Hip-Hop community. People respect Kanye, people respect Will I Am, people respect the Neptunes, and people respect Nottz. They just don't respect the rappers, so I think I'm the perfect solution.

thaFormula.com - Have you gotten a good enough budget to mess with the producers you have wanted to?

Murs - Yeah, they gave me a budget where I could fuck with Nottz. I'm trying to work with whoever I can but I don't know who is going to end up on the album. Like, I sat down with Premier, I sat down with Kwame, and I sat down with a lot of different people. You know Showbiz, Buckwild, 1500, Terrance Martin and all kinds of people. I've just been taking beats from everybody. Ric Roc, Droopy, and I'm taking any and everything. I'm almost finished but you know…

thaFormula.com - Do you think that eventually independent numbers will be considered good numbers with the way sales are going at the moment?

Murs - Yeah, but I think even our numbers are declining.

thaFormula.com - You think so?

Murs - Oh yeah, I know our numbers are declining so I don't know. A lot of my homies records aren't selling as much as their last record.

thaFormula.com - But what about your records?

Murs - My records stayed the same. Like I said, I hit the glass ceiling. Nobody's growing. I might outsell my last record by 5,000 records, so I think I'm in a unique position where I keep growing, but a lot of my peers aren't growing. They are either staying the same or selling less. I think people are just buying less music. As crazy as it sounds, I trust the white people to get it under control because white people ain't gonna let people fuck up their money for too long and I'm not in it to make the money. I'll let them create the new way to make money and I'll create my little hustle around it. I'm not into technology, I'm just a rapper so I'm just gonna keep my relationship with my fans good and hopefully that will keep me working. I'm concerned with that relationship. My relationship with the stores and my relationship with the Soundscan is whatever. I'm just trying to keep my relationship with my fans intact and all I can do is continue to write songs that I think they will feel and give them a voice and give them something to feel akin to and keep doing dope shows for them.

thaFormula.com - Now the last time I spoke to 9th, he said that you are really the only rapper that he can tell "okay this is the beat that you are gonna rhyme over," and you will do it, why is that?

Murs - Because I am a rapper and like I said, I am a songwriter for real. I am not a producer. I don't know anything about music and if I came to 9th wonder to make a Murs album, I would be wrong. I came to 9th wonder to make a 9th Wonder and Murs record. What Murs does is write, so if he tells me he wants me to write a song about purple aliens that grew up in North Carolina and moved to the moon over a beat that I think sounds like shit, it may hurt me and take me a long time to write but I'ma do it. One of the best songs I did with Nottz was a song that I didn't even wanna do. My manager picked out the beat and I sat there for hours and was like "oh god I hate this beat." It wasn't that it was bad, I just wasn't feeling it. I just made myself write to it and the record came out amazing because I let the producer do what they do and I was so into what I was doing like I got to write a song and make the song dope cause I'm not really merging with the beat so I'ma come on my side and make the dopest song I can and Nottz made the dopest beat. 'Cause the beat is dope to everybody but me, I just wasn't feeling it. I go to every producer and they go "what are you looking for?" 'Cause everybody comes with I want a hit or I want this. I say give me what you think and usually they give me a beat, I do the first song and they understand where I'm coming from and then the next song is perfect 'cause they understand where I'm coming from and they know what to give me. Like Premo and me, we sat down and I could have taken a couple of Premo songs but I didn't take them and I might not have a Premo song on my album because it wasn't right. I could just take any old Premo beat but he's like "I know what I want out of you and this is not it, so lets come back and work again tomorrow, this is not it." You know? We will just keep working until it's what the producer wants because that's why they are a producer and that's why I'm a songwriter. Elton John doesn't sing his own words. Bernie Taupin writes all of Elton John's songs. But only Elton John can sing them and only Bernie can write them and that's what I feel about me and 9th wonder. We make great albums together. The whole thing is I'm not concerned about who he gives his beats to because no one is gonna be Murs and that's kind of how I used to be with women. Like you can find any guy you want, but your relationship with me if we are truly connected is not gonna be like it is with anyone else. You could go fuck whoever else you want, I'm not to pissed off about it because we share something beyond that and I hate to equate male and female but that's how it is with 9th and that's how it is with most producers. Give that track to anybody else, they are not gonna come up with a great song like I'm gonna come up with. He could have gave the beat I did "L.A." over to anybody else and the song would have meant whatever they meant, but it wouldn't have been what I did to it.

thaFormula.com - So lastly, why is it that most of the dope MC's just do not know how to choose a beat?

Murs - Because we hear what we wanna rap to. We are hearing from a songwriters ear and not from a producers ear so I think that just why. Like our ears hear what we wanna rap to and that may not necessarily be what people want to hear. They might want to hear our words but they might wanna hear our words over a different beat so it's better to get with a producer you know and who knows you and that you score with. I think rappers get like guys and they just wanna fuck around and fuck around but nothing beats a strong marriage. When you find someone you work good with, you stick with that. When you are turning out goof records and the people like them, uh that's why as soon as me and 9th did a record I done went back and did another one and we are gonna keep doing them. Every November we do a new record no matter what 'cause people liked that and it worked and I'm gonna stick with that and as the relationship grows it's only gonna get stronger and better and the music is gonna get doper.

thaFormula.com - So when are you looking at dropping your major label album?

Murs - August or September and it's called "Murs for President." I want to give a shout out to my boy Savant Young who fights for the Tokyo Sabres from the IFL. He knocked a nigga out at the Forum. My boy is hard, fuck with him. I fuck with the IFL, Rampage and you know I fuck with Mixed Martial Arts man!

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