CRYSTAL MURRAY

First spotted in 2016 among the Gucci Gang fashion group, Crystal Murray has honed her musical style in the years since. In her new video series Hotel Room Drama, the French singer explores alternative sounds inspired by her love for London nightlife.

Crystal Murray loves green, black, red and the distorted images of fairground mirrors. A year after the release of her first EP, I Was Wrong, she has completely changed tack, diving head first into the sultry atmosphere of London’s nightlife. This is the departure point for Hotel Room Drama, a series of videos that allows her to unveil her new tracks without worrying about the usual calendar of album releases. In a scarlet glow, somewhere between a Moulin-Rouge à la David Lynch and the crazy visuals of Janet Jackson, Murray perfects her transformation, mixing the jazz, house and soul of her beginnings with what she secretly cherishes most: the underground world of freaks. After the glitter of the Gucci Gang – the fourgirl fashion group where she débuted in 2016 –, and her début hits, After Ten and Princess, Murray has finally found herself. Numéro caught up with the Parisian native.

NUMÉRO: You were born in 2001 and you make constant reference to your generation. How has it marked the music industry or disrupted its codes?

CRYSTAL MURRAY: I believe my generation has proposed an openness and a hybridization of genres that the labels themselves weren’t prepared for. We refuse to be put in a box. Streaming platforms should stop classifying music by genre. Why do they confine me to the R’n’B/Soul category? Why do they call it “niche music”? Many artists are tired of these classifications, like Tyler, The Creator, one of my favourite artists. I’m fascinated by his evolution – he’s managed to create his very own pop music from scratch.

Today, countless artists reach stardom before they even finish secondary school. What made you choose music?

My parents were part of the scene, so I grew up with free jazz, gospel, sheet music and sax solos at home. But for a long time, since I didn’t play an instrument, I thought there was no way I could make it – it didn’t occur to me that singing was enough. Finally, I realized that my voice was indeed an instrument, so I started humming melodies to musicians who composed everything with me, from A to Z. I didn’t want to sing on anonymous productions.

During an interview, you confided that you were totally fed up with the label of “young mixed-race woman with good vibes” that people seem determined to stick on you. Does the French press grate on you?

Yes, I’m really tired of being called a “little sunshine” by the media. In retrospect, I also regret having taken part in certain French TV shows, because I was too young back then, and lacked confidence. Obviously, that showed on screen – I don’t think I came across as very likeable. Moreover the questions were always about the same old subjects: my father, my skin colour and the comparison with Jorja Smith...

Let me stop you right there before I get fired: Jorja Smith is on the cover of this magazine... [Laughs.] I respect her enormously, but she’s not the sort of woman I identify with. I’ve often been asked, “So what’s it like being the French Jorja Smith?” For heaven’s sake, you don’t ask questions like that! [Laughs.] The comparison almost certainly came from the fact that my first EP was strongly influenced by soul and jazz. So I made sure my next project was completely different. I wanted to celebrate the culture that fascinates me: techno, raves, grime, punk, UK garage and the atmosphere of London’s nightlife – the paradise I discovered after escaping from the Gucci Gang to go party in the world of London squats…

Since leaving the Gucci Gang, you’ve still kept one foot in the world of fashion. Would you say it’s an easy environment in which to flourish?

Yes, but only if you’re strong. If you lack experience or are too malleable, you can quickly become a marionette, a simple object to sell until the public becomes tired of it. I hate all those manipulators who, by writing great big cheques, have spoiled our generation, making us into robots who spend all day posting on social media. If you’re not mentally strong, if you don’t have the right state of mind, fashion will slowly eat away at you. Now that I’ve understood that, I only collaborate with trusted houses that I choose very carefully, like Balmain for example. But I’ve already been invited to travel on the condition that I post three photos on Instagram – I tried to negotiate but was coldly told: “Sweetie darling, you have 10,000 followers – others have accepted who are much more popular than you!” Naively, I thought I was being invited for who I am. Since then, I’ve declined most invitations – I think I’ve missed out on a lot of cash! [Laughs.]

You come across as being resolute and rather inflexible. Is that the case?

Not at all! I’m plagued by doubt every day of my life. But I have to embody a role so that I don’t get stepped on. Last year, I let my uncertainties show and people immediately took advantage of that to send me down paths I didn’t want to follow. Since then, I’ve become more confident and I’ve realized that my ideas are good, that I need to take back control of my career – because, after all, it’s my music we’re talking about.

Would you say that you’ve made mistakes?

Of course. For example, we had to make a video for my track Easy Like Before [from the album I Was Wrong], but the first lockdown came along just as we were supposed to get started on it. So we decided to shoot a 3D iPhone video – the worst idea of my life! When I saw the result, I realized it was a disaster. But nonetheless we still released it…

Do you do well on your own or would you say solitude is a bit of a nightmare for you?

It wasn’t before – in fact I even needed it. But, since I fell in love, it’s become impossible for me to be alone. I’ve also learned not to worry about what other people think, even if criticism touches me. And believe me, since I’ve become a public figure, everyone seems to feel the need to come tell me what they think of my work without any particular reason!

I believe you’re a supporter of the singer Yseult, who has often come under fire for saying what she thinks and discussing subjects such as fat phobia or racism in France. Do you think you might follow her lead and venture onto more political subjects?

When I left the Gucci Gang, I really needed to find the community of people of colour that I didn’t have the chance to get to know while I was attending a private Catholic school. For a long time, I was happy being the only girl of colour, but then I got tired of being just a media quota. As for Yseult, I don’t think she’s going about things in the right way. In France, if you want to talk about issues like that, you need to do it with a lot of tact and pragmatism, and above all without anger. You have to don the velvet gloves and try to educate those you’re speaking to – browbeating 60-year-old white people is not the answer.