Groundwaves
Skyline Mansion
Tulsa
May 9, 2024
The music industry is in shambles. Music labels across the nation are either closing up shop or consolidating departments in an effort to become more profitable and put more of those profits back in the pockets of their shareholders. The staff and the artists are the people most affected by this mess, as it means there is no longer a place for artist development. A creative platform called Groundwaves is taking on the challenge of solving this problem and helping hip-hop artists find their way, at a time when they have largely been left to figure it out on their own.
Groundwaves is an open mic and artist mentorship event that occurs annually in Springdale, Arkansas; Denver, Colorado; and Tulsa, Oklahoma. It’s the creation of legendary rapper Murs, a Los Angeles native whose achievements include the Guinness World Record for rapping for 24 hours non-stop during a live stream on Twitch, being signed to Warner Bros., and multiple music tours around the country.
Murs visits each city in the Groundwaves orbit once a month for three months in a row. Each visit includes an open mic performance night followed by a day of mentorship for the artists who performed, who walk away enriched by Murs’ knowledge of the industry. Groundwaves is now in its third season in Tulsa; this year’s edition was again held at the historic Skyline Mansion and hosted by Murs, Steph Simon and DiscFunktion Djz.
With a name like Groundwaves, it’s fitting that the open mic portion of this event would also have some ground rules. First: no hate speech. Second: you can only perform one song, no longer than 5 minutes. The third rule is called the “bye-bye” rule: it states that if an artist is bad, then the audience has the opportunity to wave them off stage respectfully by saying “Thank you, come again.” In three years of Groundwaves in Tulsa, no one’s applied that rule. I like to think it’s because Tulsa’s talent is just that good, but in actuality, Murs said it’s because the Tulsa crowd is too nice. Either way, these artists have such an appreciation for this event that some expressed their thanks during their performances because of the impact Groundwaves has had on their careers.
Some open mic nights, you’re fighting the sound system. On this night, the artists were fighting a brown rug with the words “Skyline Mansion” on it in big lettering, which lay in the middle of the stage and caused multiple artists to slip or lose their balance. But like true professionals, they kept performing.
Groundwaves brings in a mixture of new talent and established names. Da’juan Dupri is one of the veterans of the Groundwaves family. He walked through the crowd performing his song “145th E.” as if he knew this audience and what it took to make them move. Newcomer Blue Heron walked in the room with long curly hair and a brown and orange trucker hat; there were no designer shoes or even a gold chain, which goes against every popular definition of what a rapper wears, but by the time he finished his version of SZA’s “Snooze,” there was no doubt that not all definitions are accurate. JayRaine traveled all the way from the Arkansas Groundwaves chapter to network and perform, delivering a high-energy performance that let the Tulsa chapter know it’s in good company alongside other strong artists taking off across the region.
As a platform where artists can showcase their talent and get guidance from someone who’s been there and done that, Groundwaves has translated into local rappers putting on better shows — and, just as importantly, reaping the benefits of a network that helps get them booked in the first place. Artists that sign up for the mentorship sessions get thirty minutes to ask Murs about anything from touring to merch to monetizing their brand, and get personal answers from an independent artist who has been through every stage of a rapper’s career.
This tight-knit community has become like a seasonal show, and not every show is lucky enough to get a season three. Murs announced during the May event that 2024 will mark the last Groundwaves in Tulsa, which leaves the field open for local industry pros to create artist development platforms of their own. Though this might be the last season of this highly successful experiment, it’s a finale that Murs can be proud of.
Next for Groundwaves: 2024 Edition Round 2, June 6.
