MURZ NEVER COUNTS HIS EGGS

Kelvin Egonu also known as Murz, a 25-year old emcee of South-East (Anambra) origin, but born and raised in Port Harcourt (South-South). The young cat’s love for the city that raised him was very obvious in the early stages of the interview as he shared “I’ve never been to Anambra in my life. I can’t even speak Ibo, save for 3 words; biko, bia, and gawa.” He goes on further to paint a picture of PH city from his perspective; “It is a lot of things to people outside; Loyalty, Love, and plenty gun violence. Right now, it’s safe, people go out and come back home safely. It’s a great place to grow up in.”

Murz hit the hip-hop radar with the release of his alternative hip-hop project, Space Boy – EP, and since then he has been refining his craft with features, a single, and cover/freestyle videos. The Pitakwa emcee has something special, and we hope you can get on his train right before he owns and master’s his sound.

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FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH HIP-HOP

[sighs] This is a bit hard. I don’t know the exact time I started listening to hip-hop. But what I can remember is that my dad… he had this, ehh… Is it VAR or this 3-loader. He had CDs of like Craig David, Ja Rule, 50 Cent, Ludacris, Backstreet Boys… They were just many, many CDs. So, I grew up listening to these songs. I didn’t have any passion for music at the time, I was just listening. You get me? Something my father played almost every Sunday. So, I listened to them Ja Rule and Ludacris and all.

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WRITING HIP-HOP

My first hip-hop verse wasn’t even on a hip-hop beat, it was on an Afrobeat. Yeah! I had like 3 friends, we were in a group, and we made an Afro song. I wrote my verse and that was the first time I wrote my verse.

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FROM HIP-HOP HEAD TO HIP-HOP EMCEE

I think that should be my SS1, the time I wrote my first verse. So, I had 2 friends; one could sing very well, the other loved lil Wayne, so he could rap. And me I was just there, I just loved music. I wasn’t listening to music to learn, I was just listening to enjoy.

Basically, I started listening to this music now to learn, based on my friends had these amazing talents; one could sing, the other could rap, and me I was just there like “Why? Why can’t I do it with them?” From then, I started listening to music to learn. After then, I started falling in love with hip-hop more, more and more, and more. I listened to The Game, went back to listen to 2Pac, Ja Rule, Game’s Documentary… I listened to everything.

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MOST SLEPT ON SONG/VERSE

My most slept-on song has to be, errr, Very End. I think Very End on my last EP (Space Boy – EP) is my most slept-on song. It also has my most slept-on verse.

At that time, the song was basically about everything that was happening in my life. So I think people in Nigeria don’t really listen to those types of songs. Everybody just listens to songs that are jiggy and make them dance. If it is a rap song, it must be like a trap song or a drill song. As far as the beat is jiggy.

You see songs like Drake‘s You & The 6, an average Nigerian won’t really f*ck with the song. They just listen and move on. So I feel a Very End is my most slept-on song and verse.

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WORST SONG/VERSE

I really don’t have any worst song or verse. Any song I do, I like it, even though I don’t put it out and it will just be there. I really do not have a song I do not like. If it’s a verse and I don’t like it, I won’t complete it and just let it go.

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PLANS

I have a joint album with a producer. It is a rap album with a producer Wav Skinny (@WavSkinny on Twitter). I have other songs and my own personal EP.

You know the saying “Don’t count your eggs before they hatch”, in that manner, I don’t like talking about my plans. I’d rather strategise and look for the best way to deliver these plans. Hopefully, by the end of this year, I’ll know where I’m at.

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