Dre Murray Interview: SXSW 2010

Spittin' rhymes and perfecting his poetry for more than 20 years, Oklahoma-based rapper Dre Murray is on the grind and making a name for himself in the rap industry. With his original flows backed by gritty beats, Dre Murray recently released an album entitled 'Manumit,' and he's set to win new fans at SXSW. Spinner recently talked with the rapper about everything from his writing process and his musical influences to his surprising musical guilty pleasure and his biggest vices.

Describe your style.

Classic hip hop with a lot of melody. As for content, emotionally driven.

When did you begin rapping?

I started rapping in the fourth grade for a school project. It's been about 20 years now that I've been creating music and writing poetry and creating rhymes.

Who are your musical influences?

Everything from Prince to Run-DMC to old school and new school hip hop.

What are some of your must-haves while touring?

My iPhone or some form of an iPod, so that if I'm walking around, I can constantly have music in my ears. That's the one thing I must have with me wherever I go.

What are your musical guilty pleasures?

Folk music. I like a lot of artists (where it's) just them and the guitar. It's really dirty sounding. Just stripped and raw emotions; it's probably one of my favorite styles of music.

What's the craziest thing you've seen happen at a show?

I was in Memphis, Tennessee, and there were probably around 200-250 young people in the place where we were having the concert. While I was performing, a lot of the kids were reciting my lyrics, from front to back, to where I didn't have to perform the song. It was an overwhelming, crazy experience to see my music having an effect.

Tupac or Biggie?

I would say Biggie. When I was in eighth grade, I wasn't supposed to have it, but I had 'Ready to Die' on repeat. That was a hard question.

Describe your writing process.

As far my writing, it's my life experiences and emotionally-driven, usually how I feel at the time. I have the music on or let the music kind of pull the emotion out, whatever the music is saying. From there, I come up with some type of concept and storyline, and just try to go from there. A lot of my music is story-based.

What do you enjoy more: recording or performing?

Recording. I can stay in the studio all day and not even eat anything, which I have done, when I was younger.

What's your biggest vice?

Eating sweets. I'm a semi-vegetarian, and I try to eat healthy, but I can't stop eating Honey Buns and cake and ice cream. I'm trying to stop, but I can't.



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