It’s adding up for trio of Irish rappers, Rusangano Family

A FRESH voice has emerged on the Irish music landscape. It takes the shape of Zimbabwean MC, God Knows, and his Irish producer, MynameisJohn, and their remarkable debut album, Rusangano/Family.

Wed, 01 Apr, 2015 - 01:00

Don O’Mahony

But as fans who have witnessed their explosive live shows will know, there is a third element to that collaboration.

Based in Limerick and of Togolese decent, MC MuRli has become so much part of the set up that Rusangano Family has been adapted as the name for the trio.

Before reconvening to make new tracks under that moniker, MuRli released his debut EP, Surface Tension, which features production from MynameisJohn and from Galway scratch wizard, Naïve Ted.

It draws musically on MuRli’s African heritage and smoky French lounge grooves to tell his story. The spirit of MC Solaar hovers in the background.

“I found his stuff really poetic,” he says of the France-based Senegalese MC.

The seeds of MuRli’s interest in music and rap were sown in Togo, by his grandfather, who would sing traditional songs at funerals.

“Those are my early musical experiences,” says MuRli.

“Him singing at funerals. I happened to have been to one of those and saw him sing, and I was really impressed, because their way of singing is the closest thing I can find to rapping in rural Africa, in rural Togo anyway, because they told stories, and since a lot of the African story, or history, is not written, it’s passed on through the generations through songs.

“So my grandfather would be one of those guys who sing the history of his people.”

MuRli arrived in Ireland as a 12-year-old in 2003 and, as his understanding of the English language grew, so too did his appreciation of Anglophone hip-hop, through his introduction to such artists as Method Man and Ludacris.

“That’s when my interest in hip-hop started to grow a little more, because lyrics started to make sense. Then, I started to understand that there is more to this then just the flashy side, the part that they try to sell to us, the audience.

“So I was like, ‘Okay, so there is more to hip-hop than just the bling-bling stuff’. So that’s sort of how I got into it,” he says.

After school, MuRli, did a course in music and media performance technology at the University of Limerick. It was then that his path crossed with God Knows, and they began recording mixtapes in MuRli’s bedroom.

In common with his Rusangano Family bandmates, MuRli is involved in community-based music projects.

“I’m still working with Music Generation, doing youth work and teaching a lot of kids. And John and God Knows are also doing the same thing,” he says.

He conducts workshops alongside other musicians in primary and secondary schools and around different areas of Limerick.

In the light of Bressie’s recent TV show, Teenage Kicks, MuRli feels there is more to come from that city.

“I think there is definitely something boiling in this place, at the moment. I’d say a lot of this stuff has been missed throughout the years, so that’s why you hear all the negative stuff.

“I think Limerick has been a great place for creative art, there’s always been that around the city, but last year, with the city being the city of culture, people started looking into the city to find those things.”

“There’s a lot of stuff I come across on a daily basis that’s so inspiring. I think it’s good. That’s why you have the whole Limerick and Proud thing, at the moment, as well,” he says. And Murli is more than willing to play his part.