Mura Masa

Updated on Nov 17, 2023

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Birth name Alexander Crossan Name Mura Masa Years active 2014–present		Occupation(s) Producer DJ Also known as Mura Masa Role Instrumentalist


Born April 5, 1996 (age 28) Castel, Guernsey, United Kingdom ( 1996-04-05 ) Genres Electronic hip hop R&B dance Labels Anchor Point Records Jakarta Records Polydor Albums Someday Somewhere, Soundtrack To A Death, Muramasa Profiles SoundCloud Twitter

Mura masa love for that feat shura official video

Alex Crossan (born 5 April 1996), also known by the stage name Mura Masa (sometimes stylised as mura masa) is a Guernsey-born DJ, electronic music producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His stage name is taken from Japanese sword-smith Muramasa Sengo.

Mura Masa Mura Masa announces UK tour DIY

He is best known for his song "Lovesick", which reached number 1 on the Spotify Viral charts in the United Kingdom and the United States. He also co-wrote "First Things First" on Stormzy's Gang Signs & Prayer, which entered the UK Albums Chart at number 1 on 3 March 2017. The track also entered the singles chart at number 25. On 14 July 2017, he released his debut album Mura Masa.

Mura masa firefly feat nao

Early life

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Alex Crossan was born and raised on the small island of Guernsey. After playing guitar, bass, drums, piano and singing in local punk, hardcore, deathcore and gospel bands as a teenager, he discovered Ableton Live at the age of 16 and began making trap.

He entered the electronic music scene after learning about Hudson Mohawke. He streamed music via YouTube and discovered James Blake, Cashmere Cat and SBTRKT. His influences including Gorillaz and The Smiths, inspired him to write music and learn to play different instruments.

Mura Masa Mura Masa New Songs Playlists Latest News BBC Music

At the age of 17 he uploaded his first tracks, remixes and bootlegs to Soundcloud. The track "Lotus Eater" was picked up by BBC Radio 1 with Zane Lowe, Annie Mac, Huw Stephens and Phil Taggart all playing the song on their shows. After leaving Guernsey to study English Literature at University of Sussex in Brighton, Crossan began playing his music live, with sold out shows at the Green Door Store in Brighton and Electrowerkz in London. Mura Masa started his career by posting a mixtape called Soundtrack to a Death to SoundCloud in 2014. The mixtape was subsequently distributed globally by German label Jakarta Records.

2015

In April 2015, he released his debut EP Someday Somewhere, with lead track "Firefly" being chosen for the In New Music We Trust playlist at BBC Radio 1. He is signed to his own label Anchor Point Records and distributed by Polydor Records in the UK and Interscope Records in North America. Anchor Point Records is Crossan's own label in partnership with Polydor Records and Interscope Records. As well as Mura Masa records, the label has released music by Dublin artist Bonzai. and post-music duo Jadu Heart. His debut EP Someday Somewhere was released on April 10, 2015 via Anchor Point and featured UK vocalists Nao, Denai Moore and Jay Prince. The track "Lovesick" from the EP reached number 1 on the Spotify viral charts in the UK and USA. On 27 April 2015 he broadcast a 60-minute mix on the BBC Radio 1 show Diplo and Friends Alex was long-listed for the 'BBC Sound of... 2016' in December 2015, and placed 5th overall in the shortlist in January 2016.

2016

On 15 March 2016, he unveiled the second single "What If I Go?" from his upcoming album. On 30 September 2016, he released his collaborative single titled "Love$ick" featuring American rapper ASAP Rocky via Anchor Point and Downtown/Interscope Records. The song is a newer version of Masa's 2015 single "Lovesick Fuck". Crossan said he arranged a meeting to discuss the collaboration with Rocky when he happened to be in London for several days. An official music video for the song was published on 3 November 2016 by Mura Masa's VEVO channel on YouTube.

2017

Alex co-wrote the track "First Things First" on Stormzy's Gang Signs & Prayer, which entered the UK Albums Chart at number 1 on 3 March 2017. The track also entered the singles chart at number 25. On 17 March 2017, he released "1 Night", a collaboration with Charli XCX. Speaking about the collaboration, he said “I think I just had that beat lying around for a while and we sent it to a couple of people. Then Charli just did her thing”.