Los Angeles rapper Murs brings ‘Have a Nice Life’ tour to Strummer’s

Murs is looking forward to being normal for once.

The Los Angeles rapper was a kid who skateboarded and grew up around Crips gang members. He was a video gamer with strong love for hip-hop and geek culture. At the time, that made him unique. It also made his lyrical world view a bit fringe.

That’s changing, says Murs, in advance of the Fresno stop of his “Have a Nice Life” tour. He plays Saturday, Oct. 3, at Strummer’s with Red Pill and King Fantastic.

Those self-defined geeks now number in the hundreds of millions, Murs says, and his style of semi-conscious pro-black rap has crossed into the mainstream with guys like Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole. “Songs that don’t objectify women and show emotion are going platinum,” he says.

“I think it’s fabulous.”

Though the rapper was once signed with Warner Bros., he is mostly known as a fiercely independent artist. His Paid Dues Festival ran for five years and featured a who’s who of underground hip-hop including Sage Francis, Andre Nickatina and Tech N9ne.

The latter signed Murs to his record label, Strange Music, last year.

“Have a Nice Life,” his debut album with the label, was released in May. The album see Murs re-establishing himself as a solo artist, after a long string of much-revered collaborative albums, including “This Generation,” a 2012 collab with Fresno rapper Fashawn.

The collaborations were important, he says, and he learned something from each one. But it’s time to put those lessons into action.

Strange Music is the perfect place to get that done, Murs says. The label encourages its artists to be prolific and really define themselves.

“It’s a home for strong, original personalities,” he says.

This story was originally published October 1, 2015 at 3:00 AM with the headline "Los Angeles rapper Murs brings ‘Have a Nice Life’ tour to Strummer’s."