U.Okay.-based digital producer Mura Masa and rising pop singer-songwriter PinkPantheress have been shut collaborators for a pair years now — in each the inventive partnership sense and the extra literal one. “She lives 10 minutes down the street,” Mura Masa, 26, tells Billboard with fun. “She has a pal who lives proper subsequent to me, so we’re at all times bumping into one another.”
It was that mixture of proximity and kinship that led to the 2 cooking up “Boy’s A Liar” over a few hours collectively final yr — an enthralling synth-pop twinkler born, Mura Masa says, of “borderline-misandrist tendencies” shared by the 2 artists. A minor chart hit of their nation and a modest stateside streaming success, the track blew up earlier this month following the discharge of its “Pt. 2” remix, which provides a verse from New York rap phenom Ice Spice. After debuting on the Billboard Scorching 100 (dated Feb. 18) at No. 14 — an eye-popping arrival for 2 artists with restricted historical past on the chart — the collaboration leapt to No. 4 the next week and ticks as much as No. 3 on this week’s record (dated March 4).
“Ice Spice is essentially the most thrilling artist proper now, alongside Pink,” says Mura Masa, who provides he solely discovered in regards to the new model when movies of the 2 of them filming the NY-set video went viral on TikTok. “I texted [PinkPantheress] right away and I used to be like, ‘Yeah, genius, big-brain transfer. That is gonna be nice.’ ”
Under, Mura Masa dives additional into the method and inspirations behind the largest world smash of his and his collaborators’ younger careers, how the track’s success may result in future U.Okay. hits crossing the pond and extra.
You’ve labored with PinkPantheress for some time already. Are you able to speak about how that relationship began, and the way it has developed over time?
I believe I first heard Pink’s music round like “Ache” and “Break It Off,” after which I used to be reaching out to folks to attempt to discover out who she was and the place she lived as a result of there’s not a lot details about her on-line. And it turned out she lived 10 minutes down the street from me. [Laughs.] We began hanging out quite a bit after that, and it’s very easy for us to drag up on one another.
[The] first time we labored collectively, I believe we made “Only for Me” that day. It was most likely the primary concept that we labored on, and I believe it was very apparent that we’ve an identical set of influences, and I actually see her in a very nice method. We share plenty of the identical concepts. Very often she’ll knock on the door and be at my home, like, “Hey, I used to be within the space…” There’s slightly studio on the backside of my backyard — that’s the place we made “Boy’s a liar” and “Only for Me” and numerous different issues which will or will not be launched.
How did “Boy’s A Liar” come about?
We’re oddly not very verbal with our communication. We simply kinda hang around and possibly one phrase or phrase will get tossed round, after which I’ll begin a beat. I want it was a extra exceptional story, to be trustworthy, nevertheless it was made in a few hours, like most issues that we do. She took the thought and went away and labored on it by herself, and restructured it, wrote some completely different elements. However mainly, the ultimate document is what we did in these few hours, which I really like. I believe that’s actually vital.
She mentioned one thing within the press launch about the way you each needed to write down a track about how boys are liars — which she mentioned was a very widespread theme “this time of yr.” Do you’ve gotten any thought what she meant by that?
[Laughs.] Yeah, I believe we share equally borderline-misandrist tendencies. Identical to, “Males are sometimes problematic and might’t be trusted” — however I strive to not contain myself an excessive amount of within the lyric-writing with Pink as a lot as I’d do with different artists. She’s so shaped already and has such an important thought about what’s going to hit by way of popular culture. By way of getting Ice Spice on the document, it was fully her proactive, genius mind.
A lot of the track is in regards to the melody of that title phrase. Did she give you that? And if that’s the case, did you acknowledge instantly that it was one thing particular?
The primary iteration of the track took place in a short time, after which I despatched her the instrumental. The entire “boy’s a liar” bit was truly one thing that she wrote on her personal. I believe the subsequent week, she had leaked it herself, which she’s susceptible to doing — that’s the primary time I heard that model. I texted her and was like, “Yeah, that’s it! That’s the hook! That’s higher.” Full credit score to her for that.
I didn’t actually discover it till a handful of instances listening to it, however the beat does form of have that Jersey membership bounce to it, which is attending to be a prevalent sound in pop music — particularly on this facet of the pond. Is that one thing you’re drawing affect from as of late, or had been listening to whilst you had been making it?
Yeah. It’s actually cool what’s taking place with Baltimore and Jersey and these actually localized American genres which are having moments. “Simply Wanna Rock,” the [Lil Uzi Vert] track, is the largest instance of that. If I bear in mind accurately, that’s one thing that we talked about that day, however I actually didn’t wish to go totally into that and make a pastiche of one thing that I’m not regionally part of. However yeah, there’s mattress squeaks in there, there’s the kick [drum] sample, issues like that.
When me and Pink work collectively, we’re by no means making an attempt to make one thing that’s pastiche-y — it has to suit into her world. It’s fascinating that you just mentioned you didn’t even discover it till lately, as a result of that’s a superb factor in my head.
Mainly the track is left as-is on the remix, except for swapping the second verse for Ice Spice’s verse. Was there any considered altering it in any respect?
I left that as much as her. She’s an excellent producer in her personal proper, and she or he was capable of take the stems of what I did and work it round what Ice Spice did. I’m simply joyful to even be a distant a part of what she’s doing.
What do you concentrate on the remix is lending itself to this sort of success?
I believe it’s simply the mix of two extraordinarily zeitgeist-y artists. There are fascinating through-lines between them as artists: they each have an fascinating emotional heart to what they do. It’s only a match made in heaven, and the video that makes the chemistry super-obvious. However so far as why it’s doing so properly, I simply suppose it’s an excellent track, and Pink’s an important songwriter.
Is its chart progress one thing that both you’re monitoring, or your staff is holding you knowledgeable about?
No. I wouldn’t say it’s one thing I don’t care about, nevertheless it’s not one thing that I’d usually comply with actively. In reality, it was a textual content from a pal of mine out of New York — it was a tweet from one among these pop chart accounts, like, “Oh, it’s gone in at No. 14!” or no matter. I used to be like, “Wow, it’s so wonderful that it’s ascended to form of that stage.” One in every of my publishers texted me out of the blue, like, “Nicely finished.” I used to be like, “Oh, I should be doing one thing!”
PinkPantheress reacted to the track’s chart success within the U.S. with shock, and I do know a variety of U.Okay.-based artists really feel equally in regards to the challenges of touchdown that form of an accomplishment. Why do you suppose that’s the case?
I may give an hourlong reply in regards to the construction of radio within the U.S., and the necessity to break sure native markets earlier than you get worldwide success. However for many U.Okay. artists, it’s only a style factor, an accent factor, or one [other] factor that’s holding them again. It’s been fascinating seeing Central Cee actually sport the system. He did an entire freestyle in regards to the variations between U.S. and U.Okay. slang. I like it when somebody makes it their mission to interrupt [into] the U.S. [market].
Was breaking the U.S. one thing you notably cared about?
It’s a particular milestone for everyone concerned. It’s fascinating, like, post-Britpop and these form of historic moments the place the U.S. is tuning into what the U.Okay. is doing. However within the streaming period, it’s changing into extra borderless and much more potential for worldwide artists to interrupt within the U.S. I don’t are inclined to see it as divided by territories. I simply suppose a stream is a stream.
Do you suppose that the success of the track may result in different alternatives, both for you or for like-minded U.Okay.-based musicians?
Completely. PinkPantheress is a big instance of that, the place sounds that originate out of the U.Okay., like drum’n’bass and U.Okay. storage, are resonating with U.S. audiences in the mean time. One thing like this getting a chart place prefer it has is proof of idea the place folks actually do get pleasure from this. “Boy’s a liar” is an fascinating track as a result of it feels prefer it has a U.Okay. sensibility, however finally it’s form of within the form of a U.S. track. It’s my favourite form of factor.
A model of this story initially appeared within the Feb. 25, 2023, concern of Billboard.
