Mura Masa Biography

Alex Crossan, known professionally as Mura Masa, is a British DJ, electronic music producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His nickname derives from the famous Japanese swordsmith Muramasa Sengo.

Early Life

Alex was born and bred on the island Guernsey. As a teen, he played guitar, bass and drums, for local punk, hardcore and deathcore bands. Ulteriorly, he began making trap music. Mura Masa cited Midson Mohawke as his first inspiration. He also admires Gorillaz and The Smiths. At the age of seventeen, he began uploading his first tracks and remixes on Soundcloud. He impressed BBC Radio 1, which played his song Lotus Eater frequently. Eventually, the young DJ moved to Brighton to study and proceeded with performing at various shows in both Brighton and London. Most noteworthy, in 2014, he released his debut mixtape, Soundtrack to a Death. 

Music Career

In the spring of 2015, Mura Masa released his first EP, Someday Somewhere, again gaining attention from BBC Radio 1. It spawned two successful singles, Firefly, featuring Nao, and Lovesick. Furthermore, the latter reached the top the of Spotify viral charts in the UK and the US. In December 2015, Mura Masa reached the short list of BBC’s Sound of… 2016. In 2016, he revealed two singles from his upcoming album, What If I Go? and Love$ick, featuring A$AP Rocky. The second was a newer version of the 2015 single and, additionally, it received a music video. The album is set for release in late 2017 and will be called To Fall Out of Love To. Finally, in March 2017, the DJ released a new song, 1 Night, in collaboration with Charli XCX.

Photo source: BCC