Mura’s a sound investment

Grammy award winner Mura Masa, whose first album shifted a staggering half million copies and has been tipped by Forbes magazine no less as a star to keep an eye on, will no doubt become an even bigger name in the coming weeks and months thanks to the release today of his second album, RYC (Raw Youth Collage). Mura, whose real name is Alex Crossan and took his unusually sounding stage name from a legendary 15th Century Japanese swordsmith, is relishing life in the fast lane. Mura, who is dating Irish artist Bonazi, aka Cosha, has been enjoying a major wave of success ever since his song Lovesick reached number one spot on Spotify Viral chart in both the USA and UK, as well as winning a Grammy. The new album includes guest artists such as Clairo, slowthai, Tirzah, Georgia, and Ellie Rowsell from Wolf Alice. While Alex himself steps out as lead-vocalist on new single Teenage Headache Dreams, which is out now. Mura clearly likes collaborating. His debut album includes big names like Damien Albarn from Blur and A$AP Rocky. He told The Beat: “It’s a super important part of what I do, (which) is tapping into what other vocalists do. Collaboration is one of the key parts of my entire thing.” He also once worked with Nile Rodgers. “That’s probably one of the craziest things that has ever happened to me. The guy is a living guitar legend,” he told The Beat. “He invented a whole technique and whole kind of sub genre of his own. Yeah, working with him was amazing. He’s such a humble dude. “He’s so ready to work with young people and new artists. “The only thing that he really gives a s **** about is music. He’s not into it for any other reasons. It was a really easy process and a really bizarre one all at once.” If his popularity keeps growing, he might even one day get to collaborate with Bono and The Edge. “I’d be super interested to meet those guys. I’d certainly love to have a conversation with them about music.” Growing up in Guernsey, He was a big fan of U2. “U2 are amazing. I loved U2 growing up. Also, I love Enya. That’s a big vibe,” he said. “My favourite U2 song is Bloody Sunday. Obviously it’s an important track for Ireland, but I love the message of that song and the emotion that’s poured into it and the instrumentation.” He’s certainly poured a lot of emotions into his own songs on RYC, which is well worth checking out.