Baller Alert Exclusive: Murda Beatz Talks #StepUp Talent Competition With Triller, Starrah, Quavo & Takeoff

Murda on the Beat, so it’s not nice! If there’s one producer who’s killing the game, it’s Murda. The Canadian producer is best known for his work with Drake, creating the beat for one of his biggest songs to date: “Nice For What.” He also did Migos, Nicki Minaj, and Cardi B’s “MotorSport,” French Montana’s “No Shopping,” 6ix9ine, and Nicki’s “FEFE,” and many more.

Now, he’s teaming up with Triller for their new Step Up to the Mic campaign, a first-of-its-kind digital, elimination-style contest to find the next big superstar. Aspiring artists from all around the world can submit audition videos on Triller with the hashtag #StepUp, given a chance to win a grandiose grand prize that’s never been done in talent show history. The winner will receive a one-year major record label and management deal, an original song written by Starrah and produced by Murda with features from Quavo and Takeoff.

In an exclusive interview with Baller Alert, Murda reveals the whole squad came up with the concept. He states, “I’m excited honestly. I’ve done so much work with my boys and so much work with Starrah, it’s going to be exciting to build a record with someone who wins the contest.

The 26-year-old expressed his appreciation for the Triller app, which focuses “more for the artist and more for the music.” Speaking on what he looks for in someone with that star quality, he states, “It’s all about confidence. They have to be so confident a lot of people are mistaking them as poppin’. That’s really big, also having a different voice that can differentiate you from all of the crazy stuff that’s going on. There’s so much music being made every day, how can you differentiate yourself?”

This will be Murda’s first time judging a talent competition like this, although many have hit him up for judging beat battles. Speaking on the rest of the talent on board, Murda explains, “Quavo and Takeoff, I’ve been working with them for 8 years. I met Starrah a few years ago. She wrote that record for Jeremih “Pass Dat” record, she was on the hook. I thought, ‘this girl is fire.’ Then she wrote a couple records for Kevin Gates. We have a lot of stuff, a lot hasn’t come out yet. It’s going to soon.”

Murda has many wins to celebrate as of late: hitting 2 million followers on Instagram, putting out his own single “Banana Split” featuring YNW Melly and Lil Durk, teaming up with one of China’s biggest singers Lay, and even putting out a quarantine pack on Splice that went #1 effortlessly.

Speaking on how “Banana Split” came together, Murda reveals discovering YNW Melly early on. After going to the studio for the first time in 2018, they made 5 records together in the studio. “Banana Split” ended up being one of the ones he didn’t use. Murda states, “Melly was just freestyling in the studio, he chopped it up and made it a record. It’s fire.”

And it was nothing to get Lil Durk on the record. Murda states he’s been a fan of Durk’s since the Chicago drill days. As far as his forthcoming debut album, Murda states, “I’m on my young Murda shit! Everything I do, I want to go Platinum. Pressure makes diamonds.”