Adam Murphy is more than just a hip-hop head and savvy businessman. The mixtape mogul is a father first and foremost. Get to know him.
As the owner of Midwest Mixtapes, how has the current social climate affected the way you moderate content?
To be honest. it hasn’t affected me at all. I don’t tell the artist or DJs what to do as far as the creative side. Midwest Mixtapes just here to distribute the music to the public.
How do you balance your entrepreneurial goal with fatherhood?
Other than Sundays, because I have to get music for my radio show, I usually don’t touch my computer until she goes to bed. She’s more important to me than music. Over the years I’ve brought her to music events with me so she can see what I do. She seems to like it.
Share with the ways you utilize your platform to help with social change.
Right after Ferguson Uprising, I started donating money to a few STL based non-profit organizations. Hands Up is run by T Dubb O, Mentors in Motion is run by producer ICU, and The Royal Family of Saudi 5% btw of D-Ex. What I like about all three of them is the fact I know the gentlemen who run it and they all three main focus is the youth.
Do you feel that artists should speak out against injustice?
Hell yeah! Artists, DJs, Media outlets all should be speaking up! People can only take this bullshit for so long. I just wish more artists would be more for it when it’s not trendy. Get off the sidelines, put in some work, or put your money where your mouth is. Tef Poe, T Dubb O, Bo Dean, Darren Seals (rest in paradise), and a few others from STL didn’t stop after the cameras left Ferguson. I encourage everybody to checkout Tef Poe’s “Black Man Build” more info on IG @BlackMenBuild. He was recently on Breakfast Club with his cohorts speaking on it. Reach out to T Dubb O on IG @TDubbO and he can get you information about HandsUp.org.
What changes would you like to see put in place when it comes to law enforcement?
Longer training and mental checks up once a quarter. The problem where I’m from is they like to ride around in unmarked cars or SUVs and just jump out on you. Nov.2018 the police fractured my wrist and they never even reported any contact with me that night.
With the emergence of streaming platforms, how important is it that mixtape platforms remain independent?
To be honest mixtape platforms better learn to adapt or they gonna go… You know “go” as in dead. One way we have adapted is to be able to use Spotify players on our site. We do a monthly Midwest Mixtapes Spotify playlist. We have 50 plus followers at the moment, it’s a start. Look up Midwest Mixtapes in the Spotify search engine, you will see our logo pop up. We change out the music monthly. My job is to help get artists paid for their craft.
Tell us what we can expect from you and Midwest Mixtapes in the immediate future.
We just updated the look of Midwest Mixtapes. It’s a new decade we needed a new look. With Summer in effect, I’m hit the streets with posters and flyers, the old street way. Nobody is doing that so it’s a wide-open out there. We also have several records coming out. We did a record with KC artist Dre Perez and STL’s Richie Stacks that we dropped last year and got a good response. That record is called Midwest Mixtapes ft Dre Perez & Richie Stacks “Automatic”. Literally just dropped a record with Core DJs DJ King Robb ft AK of Do or Die, Cold Hard and Wildstyle of Crucial Conflict, & Black Magic Tudda Dirt called “Welcome to The Midwest” produced by FingerRoll.
BE’N ORIGINAL
