Tucson rapper Robert Dominic Lee Harris’s music career has picked up steam since he hooked up with rapper Nick Carter — aka Murs — a few years ago.
Not that Harris is ready to quit his day job at University of Arizona Medical Center, where he works in the sterilization department. But he can see his career becoming something more than a passionate hobby.
“I just want to be able to create quality music and just live not even an extravagant lifestyle — just enough for me and my family to be happy and live off of,” said the 30-year-old father of four who goes by the stage name Cash Lansky.
This weekend, he and fellow Tucson rapper Marley B will open for Murs and hip-hop outfit Mayday, who are bringing their “Mursday 2014” tour to Arizona. The show played Flagstaff Wednesday and stops in Mesa Friday before hitting The Rock on Saturday.
We chatted with Harris, a Pittsburgh native who spent his teen years here and graduated from Rincon High School, about Tucson’s hip-hop culture, his music and Saturday’s show.
His music: “I just touch on real life experiences, something that the everyday person can relate to. Nothing about flashy, bling-bling. It’s just different stuff that we go through. I just try to connect with people on a more personal level than anything.” (Early this year he released an album with Marley B on Murs’s Label 316 and has released mixtapes.)
Rated PG-13: “I’m not a heavy cuss-worder. I don’t believe in dropping f-bombs here and there if it’s not necessary. I feel like I put it in a place where it deserves to be to get my point across.”
Tucson’s hip-hop/rap scene: “It’s actually thriving. It’s moving forward. I felt maybe like five years ago it was kind of stuck at a standstill and nobody knew what to do or how to do it. But it seems like everybody is kind of coming together to work together to put out quality music that people are proud to say ‘They are locals.’ The scene went from nobody wanting to go to local shows to people asking, ‘When’s the next local show?’ I see it moving in a positive direction.”
So what is Tucson rap: “I think it’s the culture here. I don’t think there’s any place else in the world that’s like Tucson. I’ve lived in the big city and I’ve lived far out in the woods and I come here and it’s a completely different culture out here. The music gives people something to be proud about. Tucson is home to me; I want them to love it as much as I do.”
Taking the show outside Tucson: “I did a 10-city tour with Murs at the beginning of the year. Since then I’ve been getting a lot of networking with people outside of Tucson. I went to South By Southwest this year; I submitted again this year so hopefully next year I’ll get to go. Since signing with Murs a lot of people outside of Tucson have reached out to me.”
What’s next: “I’m working on something now and it should be done by the end of September. I’m actually going tomorrow to LA to do a show called ‘Chaos.’ I just got back Sunday from Riverside from a show with Curis King and Noah James. They’re on Murs’s Label 316.”
What you can expect from the show: “A lot of excitement, especially Murs and Mayday. They give a lot of energy and we usually just try to feed the crowd before they get there. I like a lot of energy and I like to interact with the crowd, just give a good show. People pay good money to go to these shows and they want to see you really perform. They don’t want to see you rap over your lyrics. They want to see a show. That’s what you’re going to get.”
