It’s not enough to call Nur-D just a rapper. One of the Twin Cities’ most in-demand live acts is also a marvelous singer, a clever lyricist, a high-energy performer, a fun-loving personality, and a swagger-filled mover and shaker. It certainly makes sense why Nur-D (born Matt Allen) attracted the attention of the prestigious Minnesota Orchestra to put on two epic shows. See him utilize all his gifts on Friday, April 5, and Saturday, April 6 — at downtown Minneapolis’ striking Orchestra Hall.

The Current captured a preview of Nur-D, DJ Hayes, and four members of the Minnesota Orchestra days before the big shows. Local Show host Diane also chatted with Allen and Hayes about history of Nur-D, leadership and teamwork, show “secrets,” and more.

Interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Diane: Notorious B.I.G. Andre 3000. Old Kanye. Kendrick. Jay Z. Q-tip. Seventh favorite rapper here — Nur-D. It's him! But I don't know after today's performance, you might be my first favorite rapper.

Nur-D: Oh, my goodness! We bumpin' up! 

Diane: This is was a tremendously amazing —

Nur-D: Take that, Jay-Z. I'm coming for ya.

Diane: [I'm] just a huge hip-hop nerd jammin' to you, and four string players. and DJ Hayes — what up? Matt Allen, Ryan, what up? 

Nur-D: Hello. 

Diane: And we are promoting that you are performing with the Minnesota Orchestra.

Nur-D: Yeah!

Diane: Oh my gosh, that's incredible ... I was studying up, and I was just thinking about how you came from doing hip-hop battles and winning them. 

Nur-D: Yep, yep. Open Mic — shout out to Shut Up and Rap [from] the former [radio station] Go 95.3. You know, we out here. And that was when I started just, like, on the pallets at Modist Brewing just doing my best to rap. And I didn't even know [DJ] Hayes yet. I mean, I barely had two songs to rub together at that point. But that was only, what, five, six years ago now.

DJ Hayes: I think six years ago now. Would have been 2018. 

Diane: And then onto Soundset. Then onto Best New Bands. Then onto Paisley Park. 

Nur-D: Yup, everywhere. Timberwolves. The State Fair. We opened for Ludacris. We've done so much in a six-year period. It's kind of wild to think about.

Diane: I feel the fun and the energy. Yeah, tell me about what's making this one especially special. The Orchestra? 

Nur-D: Yeah, I've never performed this scale of musicianship — concert pageantry. It's more than just a show. Me and Ryan, we've both been working really hard to put this thing together, along with [arranger] Andy Thompson and [conductor] Sarah Hicks and everybody at the Minnesota Orchestra, really, to expand what both a Nur-D show can look like, and what a Minnesota Orchestra show can look like. It's super dope. I'm very excited. 

Diane: You're just surrounded by musical virtuosity — in large numbers. They're just everywhere. 

Nur-D: Everybody! Yeah, chock full of it. Just talent on talent on talent on talent. It's fantastic.

Diane: Does anything intimidate you these days?

Nur-D: Well, honestly, when I got the email, I didn't think it was real. I said that a million times. Because, you know, here I am ... I'm doing a lot of stuff. But you just don't expect it like, hey — a Grammy Award-winning symphonic orchestra hitting you up in your Gmail, like, "Hey, do you want to come and do this thing?" And I was just like, okay. But then it was real! And so, the imposter syndrome is real. I think it's definitely been hitting at certain points. But again, it's the collaboration, it's the talking, and them assuring me. Them being so willing to do kind of anything that we wanted to try and do has been so helpful in helping me realize that, "Hey, this weird thing that you got going on — people are interested in it. They actually want to vibe with you." And so, these professional musicians doing it is just a cherry on an already really delicious sundae that is my career.

Diane: Do you anything you'd add about this experience?

DJ Hayes: Yeah, this whole experience has been definitely new. Just for me, beat matching the drum tracks to an orchestra is definitely an intimidating task, a little bit. But even after today, everything feels like it's way more easier. I'm way more prepared than I thought I was. And yeah, they've been very helpful too, creating the click tracks, and getting all of our gear set up, and all that for what we need. So yeah, it's been an awesome experience. And in the hip-hop space, it's something that you don't really think of as an option when you start setting your goals. So yeah, like he said, having them reach out, versus this being something that we have to beg for, is definitely crazy. 

Diane: Yeah, we were talking about the first time y'all played here. It was 2019. Just the two of you doing "Take My Picture" and "Black Wizard Wave." I remember watching that video and being like, "Wow! This dude's rad!"

Nur-D: [Laughs] That was so fun. I remember when those videos came out ... I had people in the comment section, someone said, "This is the best episode of Rosemont High School's Irish Update that I've ever seen." Because I used to do the morning announcements! 

Diane: Oh, really?

Nur-D: That's what they thought — they're like, "Wow! Look at this!" And so to think like — it's fun to bring that energy to this new stage. We're bringing so many people from my past, even, to the show. And I don't want to give it away. And we totally already had everything written and it's done. But there's a lot of really cool stuff. From my past and our past and our present and future. It's gonna be really cool.

Diane: Well, I heard via video that Yo-Yo Ma is going to be doing face painting in the lobby. So obviously, you don't want to miss —

Nur-D: Along with Dame Judi Dench? If I remember correctly?

Diane: [In a British accent] Dame Judi Dench.

Nur-D: Yes, that's exactly — that one. Her and Michael Caine, if I remember correctly, they're doing a b-boy class, as well. So if you're into those things, sign up.

Diane: This might be something worth your time.

Nur-D: I would be into it. 

Diane: What is so fun, also, about this is you have the leadership experience of leading a band. Your band is big.

Nur-D: Yeah, there are 13 of us altogether. Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Band, shout out.  

Diane: And so now of course, you're having to execute your leadership qualities to a bigger degree. You're not obviously doing the conducting or the arranging, but you're still — this is your music. Tell me something about leadership to you and how that might look as a bandleader? 

Nur-D: It is very different. I think, when you work with a group of people that are your friends, you've known forever. A lot of us kind of came up doing high school band or church band, and we just sort of, like, decided to keep doing that ... But this is a different sort of energy. I'm thankful for Sarah [Hicks] and her leadership abilities, and Grant [Meachum] for his leadership abilities, for this massive amount of people. 

I think a lot of it is coming in with humility. Remembering, like, "Hey, this is someone else's house." The orchestra has been a staple, been a foundation for such a long time. I'm a guest. I'm coming in. But just like that, hip-hop is a black art form. And then so for them, for many of the players, they are guests in this genre. And it's kind of a mutual respect for each other's homes, and then working in that environment. And, just, communication, being cool, being willing to just go, "I don't know that. Teach me," I think is a amazing leadership quality. And that's what I tried to emulate. 

Nur-D: Do you think I do that, Ryan? I lead you often.

DJ Hayes: I think you do that well.

Nur-D: I told him to say that.

DJ Hayes: [Laughs]

Diane: Yeah, Ryan, you two are usually the core of the group. Tell me more about this experience [being a] part of this. And then growing your band, and being in all different iterations of performing with Nur-D.

DJ Hayes: So, I think — how many people was the band when we first started?

Nur-D: When we first started, I think it was 5, 6.

DJ Hayes: Yeah, it's been really cool to see the band grow, not only in size, but also just like in skill through rehearsing and through leadership from Matt — to the point now where we're all doing solo sections and we're vamping out tracks. Because when we first started it was like, go to the end of the track and then we're done ... So it's been really cool seeing how your leadership qualities have grown, everybody as individual instrumentalists, and then also, just in general, as musicians. But, yeah, combining that with this experience with the Minnesota Orchestra — he's one of those guys that's always got everything up in his head. So you're like, "Oh, I know exactly what you're trying to go for." And then sometimes you're like, "What did you just ask me to do?" [Everyone laughs] 

Nur-D: I'm very much the person who tells everybody what they want through sound effects. That's kind of my vibe. So I'll be like, I kind of want it to go like, "Ba boo do boo boo. And then a whoosh. Do you know what a whoosh is?" And then the light guy goes, "None of my things make noise. So I'm gonna need you to use a different form of communication."

Diane: [Laughs heartily]

DJ Hayes: That's a perfect way to put it.

Nur-D: I'm like, "Okay, all right. I'll figure it out." So yeah, that's definitely our bit. 

Diane: This is so great ... Of course, there's gonna be surprises there. 

Nur-D: Oh there's plenty of surprises.

Diane: I love the teasers that have been coming out — the dancing [promo video] with the violas. Obviously, intonation is needed in an orchestra, but so is choreography ... maybe give me a little bit of secrets — what do you want to share? 

Nur-D: That's a good question. I'll tell you this about the show. You're gonna see a lot of very random stuff. Blast from the past. You're going to see people like you've never seen them before. And also, it is my foray into crafting a show that's more than just 12 songs ... There's gonna be a lot more going on. And shout out to my time in the theater world. I did a little bit of theater in high school. In college, I was Horton, the elephant in "Seussical," if you must know … Spending time in theater and spending time around that atmosphere, and even in the TTRPG community — shout out to my Dungeons and Dragons people. It's been fun to be able to bring that theatricality to the show. So you're gonna see a lot of stuff like that.

Diane: Yeah, what I wanted to expound upon is that your music works well with an orchestra because it is layered, and it's dynamic. Especially you as a front person — you can sing, you can dance, you can rap, you can hype, you can do all these things. And then you have the best facial expressions; and you touch on a lot of different emotions in your music as well. Love, humor, heartbreak, all of that ... Your branding also is on fire. 

Nur-D: Well, thank you! 

Diane: This whole rounded package of Nur-D is so amazing. Take me into what music is to you and how it comes out in so many different forms of emotion and expression. 

Nur-D: I remember when I was young, we were helping a family friend move. And I was like, maybe eight. And I sat in this empty room. And there was a little combination cassette-CD player, if you want to know where we were at financially. [Laughs] And, in there, there was a CD of "Songs in the Key of Life" by Stevie Wonder ... I never heard of this person before because I was young. And I went to track seven and, if I remember correctly, that was "Sir Duke". And I remember sitting there and listening to "Sir Duke" in an empty — nothing else was in the room, and the music came on. And I remember as a kid, I sat there. I couldn't be moved. All I could do is sit there and listen to it. I played it over and over and over again. Because, I said to myself, how does one make something so beautiful? I didn't know that music could do this. I didn't know that sounds could do that. And I just sat and I listened and I listened again. I listened again. I listened again. And I've been chasing that feeling my whole life. You know what I mean, just like, I want to be able — even though my songs are very different. Sometimes they're this kind of way and this kind of way. I talk about a bunch of stuff. 

My hope is that one day there's some kid helping their family friend move. There's a combination, you know, iPod and airfryer. You know, they click on one of my songs.

Diane: [Laughs] iPod airfyer!

Nur-D: I don't know! You know what I mean — the iFryer! And they put on one of my songs, and they sit, and they just take a second to — I can pay that forward to someone else ... Ryan is big into music, the technical stuff, even more than I do. He'll tell me about frequencies and range and stuff. And music can really affect people.

DJ Hayes: Yeah, I guess, for me, it's similar. My favorite part about music is not only just the creating process, but more so the performance, I would say. It's like a release. For me, starting out in music, I was always listening to music when I was a kid. I kind of grew up in a loud home. And so a lot of times music was like, you know, put the headphones on … escape-type situation. So it's kind of like its own world to me. And so that's kind of my favorite part about it. Creating it, performing it. It's kind of like, for a little bit of time, you're building this space. And everybody's kind of sharing that space while that music is happening. 

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Diane: How did you two find each other?

Nur-D: Well, Hayes, how did you find me?

DJ Hayes: So I had been playing a lot of local shows around since, like, 2015, 2016. And I was starting to get into producing more records as well. And so I was kind of making it my job to know everybody who was doing this around town. And then Shut Up and Rap started happening, and I kept seeing his tag on Twitter, like, every week. Like, he won, he won again. He won again! And I was like, "I have no idea who this is!" He came out of nowhere. So I was already intrigued. And so we ended up getting booked on a show together in 2018. Shout out to Christopher Michael Jensen. 

Nur-D: Yeah, CMJ. Legend. 

DJ Hayes: He was throwing a get-out-the-vote show at Honey. And I was the house DJ for the night. And I think you still only had like three or four songs. So you just did a tight 15. And that set, to me, was this — I was like, wow ... Now I get why they're winning all this stuff. The energy was so the opposite of what everybody else was bringing. It was positive. It was uplifting. It made you feel good. And so then I booked him on a show that I was throwing regularly called Bars and Blues at Day Block Brewing. And that was actually really funny. Because the other people I was throwing the show with, I was like, "Don't make him open." Because they were like, "He's new, right? And not everybody knows who he is yet." But I was like, "Don't make him an opener." They did. Big mistake.

Diane: [Laughs] Big, big mistake!

Nur-D: I love opening. I'll say this, because I love opening. I love opening sets because it's one of the few times when you get to really be like, "Hey, this room is cold." And you've been there — room's cold. No one's ready to do anything. And it's almost, for me, like, this is how I can know where I'm at without any extra things. You know, because a hype room is hype. So once you get on a hype room, it's kind of just like, don't kill the vibe is your only job. 

But when you're an opener, your job is to set the vibe. And so I liked it. And doing Bars and Brews was really fun, because a lot of talented people [were] on that bill. But it was a lot of like, "Alright, I'll show you." And I just remember the times that we were rocking together. And no one was really scratching like that at the time. I mean, maybe they were. I just didn't get a chance to work with them. But like, no one was really scratching like that. And so I just was like, "Hey, do you want to do that while I'm doing it?"

Diane: Exactly.

DJ Hayes: The Current's Printerstellar in 2019 at Modist [Brewing Co] was the first show we played together. 

Nur-D: Yeah, I was like our first official — and it was a blast. And we did a whole Star Trek thing. 

DJ Hayes: Yeah, I think I texted you a couple of days later. And I was like — because it was more of like a — we'll just do this one. And let's see how you feel about it. Because I was kind of on the fence at first.

Nur-D: And I'm weird. So I was like, just know, I'm weird. So you can just leave if you're not into it. 

DJ Hayes: And I texted him a couple of days later, I think, and I was like, "That's the most fun I've ever had." So I was like, "Let's do it."

Nur-D: And then the rest is history. We've been playing together ever since.

Diane: That's amazing. Y'all are a great dynamic duo. And, okay, I want to ask a funny question that I get, also as a rapper. And it's usually from an older white person.

Nur-D: I love it. Shout out.

Diane: How do you memorize all those words? That's so many words. So many words! I'm sorry. I'm not trying to tease you if you've asked him that. That's fine. It happens. It's like a good question though!

Nur-D: It is a good question because I think — so we're all musicians. We're all, the least, we're rappers. Yep. Are you a rapper? Is there any way that anyone could ever hear you rap, DJ Hayes? 

DJ Hayes: No, there's not. Nowhere. 

Nur-D: If I were to just pull it out from my phone right now, this interview.

DJ Hayes: There would be no way.

Nur-D: Rapping is not easy. It really is a lot to know ... Since I came out in 2018, we have had nine full-length projects. None of which have had any less than 10 songs on them. Not to mention singles. Yeah, one of them's got 20 tracks on them. So, over 100-some songs is a lot to memorize. There's a lot to know. So when people ask me, "How do you memorize all those words?" My answer to them is — I don't. I don't remember a lot of them. Sometimes I have to go in the green room. I'm going over them. I just kind of wrote them and I did it for the album. And then they're not ones that I perform all the time. So —

Diane: But then you fake your way —

Nur-D: You fake your way through it. And sometimes it's just like, I have been on many a show, looking out on a sea of people, and I see someone rapping word-for-word. And I've looked at them, I go like, "That is the next word. Good, good, good." Like, I'll use them as like, okay, yeah, yeah. As long as I'm on step with this person, I think I'll be good. And I've had people look at me, like, "That's not the right word. You got it wrong."

DJ Hayes: Most of the time, if you just say it with confidence, you're fine.

Diane: Well, yes. Again, a majority of the people wouldn't know that. They'd be like, you sound so perfect. 

Nur-D: Just smile your way through it. If someone's come to see you — that's what I tell all the new artists or people who are nervous about that sort of thing. If someone's paid money to see you or even if they've taken they're irreplaceable time out of their life to come see you, chances are, if you say pineapple instead of grapefruit, they're not gonna care. So just have fun. Keep having fun with it. You'll be fine. 

Diane: Exactly. Well, gosh, it's been such a pleasure. 

Nur-D: This is dope!

Diane: What else can I know about y'all coming up in the future that I can look forward to play on The Local Show, etc, etc.

Nur-D: Okay, well, let's see ... we're going to be at Basilica Block Party ... we're going to be the Wild Nights at the Minnesota Zoo ... If you follow me everywhere @nurdrocks on everything, or nurdrocks.com, you can find a list of where our shows are at. We got a lot of really dope stuff coming up. So I'm super, super excited. 

DJ Hayes: And! May 18. I'm starting a new residency at the Uptown VFW, 10-2 p.m. 

Diane: Oh snap! What does that entail?

DJ Hayes: It's called Shake. It's like a hip-hop, R&B, Disco, funk, house night. So it's going to be DJ-focused. We're going to bring some performers in later on. It's going to be a whole party.