MURA MASA UNVEILS “RISE” VIDEO

Today, Platinum-selling, Grammy-winning artist Mura Masa shares the high-powered video for his latest single “rise,” shot entirely DIY on an iPhone 15 Pro Max by Mura Masa’s ongoing visual collaborators, The Reids—watch it here. The track was first released back in October as the A-side to groundbreaking double single “rise / gimme,” now currently sitting on the BBC 6Music B-list. Alongside today’s video, Mura Masa confirms a vinyl pre-order for the double single, marking the first physical release on his own imprint, Pond Recordings—get your copy here.

‘rise’ completes a triptych of videos that The Reid brothers have co-directed alongside Mura Masa, and their natural synergy as collaborators led them to winning a UKVMA for Mura Masa’s debut release on his own Pond Recordings, “Whenever I Want.” Today’s visual continues their blueprint of creating incredibly high-quality videos with minimal resources. It’s a kinetic, monochrome and viscerally aggressive play on rhythm, featuring cameos from Mura Masa and the track’s sampled vocalist, NADIAH.

Speaking on the video, Mura Masa explains…

“I really love this video because it germinated from an idea I had that’s very hard to achieve without the right tech; the ability to make direct, aggressive contact with the point of view of the camera. That kinetic charge and force was always the motivator behind the movement of the video (as per the energy of the song) and we could only really achieve that by taking advantage of the iPhone’s small footprint and new video capabilities. We built our own self-righting/protective rigs for the phone, invited a lot of fans and friends down and had fun. It’s a scrappy, low budget, simple video that looks way more artful than it ought to and I think has a lot of beauty in it thanks to the Reids. I think it’s an essential compliment to the song and a great exploration of my current obsession with simplicity and execution.”

Directors, The Reids add…

“‘rise’ is the third video we’ve made with Mura Masa and we think it’s our strongest too. It was very fun to direct as we decided to shoot solely on the iPhone 15 Pro Max so we kept the whole production very small. Collaborating with Mura Masa continues to be extremely creatively fulfilling for us because it always feel like a genuine collaboration which is rare in the world of music videos.”

The last year or so has pulled Mura Masa into focus as one of this generation’s most influential figures in electronic music. He produced a global hit with PinkPantheress and Ice Spice, “Boy’s a liar Pt. 2,” collaborated extensively across Shygirl’s Mercury Prize-nominated Nymph, remixed the likes of Georgia and has credits ranging from J Balvin and Eliza Rose to Gretel Hänlyn. He’s also hard at work on The Pond, a creative hub and arts space in Peckham that will serve as a base for emerging artists.

Amid these new beginnings, Mura Masa has also gone back to his roots. Following the futuristic pop of his third album demon time, his recent singles have connected the dots between those DIY Soundcloud-era drops with his own take on a new wave of dance music. “Whenever I Want,” for instance, was followed by a tour of massive sets at Coachella and Primavera couple with intimate club shows, while “Drugs” featured Peruvian artist and Young Affiliate Daniela Lalita.

With a huge global audience—2 billion streams and headline shows from Alexandra Palace to Warehouse Project—Mura Masa’s purpose remains one constant in the young star’s trailblazing story thus far: to capture “that” moment in pop culture, to make it Mura Masa’s own and to push things forward.

Additionally, Mura Masa will DJ the Boiler Room in Berlin tomorrow, November 16.

Ralph Greco, Jr. is the devilishly clever nom de plume of professional writer/musician Ralph Greco who lives in the wilds of suburban New Jersey. He is also a podcast co-host, but as everyone has a podcast these days, this fact is of very little consequence.Ralph can be reached by writing [email protected]