Murs Brings Hip

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When it comes to hip-hop festivals, Murs has the Midas touch.

In 2006, the rapper had the crazy idea to create Paid Dues, an all-day, outdoor live music event packed solely with underground hip-hop acts. Not only did the inaugural concert sell out, it spawned a 10-city tour the following year. With its bill ballooning to include artists like Macklemore, Juicy J and the whole Top Dawg Entertainment crew, last year's Paid Dues was the biggest and most profitable to date.

No wonder the Sunset Strip Music Festival, which has been dogged by rumors of financial distress, asked the L.A. native to curate its hip-hop stage this year. And he's delivered: The diverse roster includes a little something for every hip-hop head, from DJ Quik and Bun B to Riff Raff and Iamsu.

In advance of the event, we talked to Murs about SSMF's troubles, being a daddy, why Paid Dues was cancelled this year - and if it will ever come back.

West Coast Sound: How did you get involved in the Sunset Strip Music Festival?

Murs: A young lady named Claire Takamatsu gave me a call out of the blue. I'd worked with her on a couple Guerilla Union events, and she said, 'I know you're probably going to say no, but just hear me out.' And I probably should've said no, 'cause I was knee deep in my record, but I couldn't. The opportunity was too great for hip-hop and Los Angeles.

Sunset Strip is legendary. It's where I had my first sold out show in L.A., at the Roxy. But I also feel like hip-hop hasn't cemented itself in Sunset Strip history. We all perform there, but to be invited now? We have arrived. When I look at the flyer and see Jane's Addiction next to DJ Quik, it makes my day.

Usually, they don't do hip-hop because the SSMF is a week after Rock the Bells, so it doesn't make sense. But there's a void - there hasn't been a Paid Dues or Rock the Bells this year. I'm just glad they thought of me.

WCS: Speaking of Paid Dues, I know you released a statement in earlier this summer about the festival not taking place this year due to financial difficulties. What went wrong? Paid Dues seems so successful.

Murs: Yeah, no, Paid Dues was absolutely successful. Guerilla Union encountered some financial difficulty outside of Paid Dues. Paid Dues has and continues to be profitable every year. Usually I go curate the talent, I find a date, I do somewhat of the easy work and Guerilla Union has the infrastructure to support. I don't think they were able to do it, so we had to step back for this year and regroup. Hopefully we'll be back stronger than ever next year.

WCS: When did SSMF ask you to curate the hip-hop stage?

Murs: About a month ago.

WCS: Wow. How did you pull together the lineup so quickly?

Murs: A lot of it is friendships built through the years. A lot of good people at the Agency Group who went to bat for me when I sent an email saying, 'Who's available?' My go-to's are like, Atmosphere or the Rhymesayers camp, but they're booked for the fall. So many people were like, 'We'd love to do it, but we're booked for Halloween, we have contractual obligations.' So it was difficult. Killer Mike is somebody I really wanted. He randomly called me a few years ago and was like, 'You don't know me, but my son's a big fan. We love you over here, if you ever need anything.' So I was like, 'Hey, man. I know it's short notice...' I was able to pull some strings.

WCS: I read you're a dad now too. Last time we talked, you were in the middle of the adoption process. What finally happened?

Entities 0 Name: WCS Count: 4 1 Name: Guerilla Union Count: 3 2 Name: SSMF Count: 3 3 Name: L.A. Count: 2 4 Name: Riff Raff Count: 1 5 Name: Sunset Strip Count: 1 6 Name: Mike Count: 1 7 Name: Macklemore Count: 1 8 Name: Murs Count: 1 9 Name: Sunset Strip Music Festival Count: 1 10 Name: Los Angeles Count: 1 11 Name: Midas Count: 1 12 Name: Jane Count: 1 13 Name: Claire Takamatsu Count: 1 14 Name: West Coast Count: 1 15 Name: Agency Group Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1mhsaVK Title: Oaktopia music festival branches out this weekend in Denton Description: Last year, University of North Texas students Matt Battaglia and Corey Claytor decided to throw Denton's inaugural Oaktopia music festival on a whim. In just three months, the duo created a booking company, corralled more than 40 bands and scheduled a day's worth of concerts at venues around the Denton square.