Murs has etched his name in hip-hop’s history books. On Thursday (Oct. 13), the L.A. rapper broke the Guinness World Record for “Longest Rap Marathon,” rhyming for an impressive and unprecedented 24 hours with no sleep.

Initially there was some confusion about the record Murs was looking to set. Unlike rappers Supernatural and Chiddy, who’ve each held records for longest freestyle rap, Murs' feat is based on reciting a mix of prewritten songs and hip-hop classics (see the full song list here). Still, the 38-year-old rapper has set a new mark for lyrical endurance.

But becoming rap’s Jack Bauer is just the latest reason Murs has given fans not to sleep on his skills. In nearly two decades, the prolific spitter has released more than 20 projects, launched his own music festival (Paid Dues), and advocated for LGBT rights in his music before Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “Same Love.”

After Marathon Murs caught a few Zs, Genius phoned the rapper to talk about his latest achievement, its challenges, and why he saw this unparalleled 24 hours as “just another day.”

Genius: What inspired you to go for this record?

Murs: Boost Mobile and I were working on the #WhereYouAtLA campaign. They wanted to advertise unlimited free music streaming and we wanted to do unlimited bars because you have bars for your cell phone. I was like, “You should get somebody to rap for 24 hours.” Much respect to Supernatural, but there was nothing in the budget for it. I was like, “I’m not asking nobody to do it for free so let’s get off that idea.” I had just done a Twitch livestream playing “Overwatch” for 24 hours so I was like, “I can do this. I’ll just rap other people’s songs and maybe combine some of mine and make it a fun thing.” The closer it got, I was like, “What did I get myself into?” I knew I could stay awake and active, but I never thought about my voice having to last. Also, I couldn’t use songs with intros like Snoop Dogg’s “Nuthin’ But a “G” Thang” because I have to be continuously rapping. Me and Company Flow’s Mr. Len had to cut song intros. “Nuthin But a ‘G’ Thang” is a perfect example of how there’s no hook, it’s just music, and you can’t do that either because you have to consistently be rapping. We had to figure out how to chop up songs. We couldn’t do a lot of Gang Starr songs because of that. When we started getting into the Guinness bylaws, I was like, “This is a lot.” There were a lot of songs we couldn’t do that I love—some Lil Wayne songs. It’s hard to find instrumentals for some of the newer cats. I wanted to do “Cha Cha” by D.R.A.M. and “Broccoli” with him and Lil Yachty, but it was hard to find a decent instrumental.

How did you mentally and physically prepare?

Physically, I would do six-hour Twitch marathons. With Guinness, for every hour, you get a five-minute break. Now, I’m not gonna give away too many strategies, but I had to see what worked for me and how long I could go straight. For the song order, I wanted to pay tribute. I didn’t want it to be about me. I like being able to do Tribe songs because Phife’s no longer with us, O.D.B.’s no longer with us, Heavy D. I wanted to share love for people so when Ol' Dirty Bastard or Busta Rhymes come on, I could do them full-force. It was trying to figure out which songs should go where so I could give 100 percent. With Ghostface Killah, learning his cadence and with Inspectah Deck, when you’re learning other people’s songs and trying to re-perform them in their voice and in their patterns—I just got a whole new respect. Also, not eating things for a couple of days that might irritate my acid reflux, trying to get rest because I don’t really sleep that much. It was hard to sleep the night before because I was so anxious. And rapping. Driving from Arizona to L.A. and San Diego to L.A. in the past couple of weeks, I was just rapping the whole time in the car.

Things are different when you’re practicing and when you’re actually competing for the record. What were some of the challenges you experienced during the 24-hour session?

I had a great staff at 180LA, the advertising company, and the Boost Mobile staff that was there. They were really supportive on my breaks. But the hardest parts were technical difficulties and having to pee sometimes. Close to the end, I got to a point where I wanted to drink an energy drink, but I couldn’t because it would make me have to piss. Then, everybody would have to be ready for my break so I’d have to give them warnings but I could only give them warnings in the brief pauses between choruses or I’d have to think of a way to freestyle warnings like, “I’ve got to take a pee / See you in three.” That made it challenging. Then we had a computer crash. That was horrible but it happened when I had [a break] so Mr. Len was able to help. At 3 in the morning, he was able to fix the ProTools, reboot it, get everything back, and he also understood where I left off because we constructed it together so it was a blessing to have him there.

What did you do during those breaks outside of using the bathroom?

We had a masseuse there, a couple young ladies in shifts. What I realized physically is that my neck hurt because I love it so much. There’s no way I could sit still and rap. Nodding my head for that long actually fucked my neck and back up. When I was practicing, I went through severe pain so I said, “I need a masseuse.” I know it sounds weird, but if I hear [A Tribe Called Quest] or a 9th Wonder beat, I want to nod my head. I can’t not do that. I tried to do it stiff when I was practicing and I was like, “This comes off wack.” At the same time, I love this. I don’t care how many times I hear “Award Tour,” when it comes on, I’m losing my mind.

How does it feel now that you’ve set this record?

It’s cool, man. It was fun, I’m glad people enjoyed it, glad I was able to raise money for my friend that lost his loved one. But I don’t know. Brother Ali and Slug once told me, “You’re the only person that can kill a show for 10,000 people or kill a show for three people, or have the worst show of his life, and afterwards, it’s whatever.” I don’t play too much into hype. I’m glad I did it but it’s just another day, man. I take it all in stride. I’m very grateful, but I’ve got more to do.

Let’s talk about that…

Before we do, I forgot. I don’t credit it enough, but Genius.com helped me with all my lyrics. I copy-pasted all the lyrics from there and had them structured in the same way. I used to go in and edit other people’s lyrics too because some of the kids have it wrong. I had to learn not to let people’s misinterpretations throw me off, but I needed something on the screen that I could reference. Most songs, I knew by heart, but after 24 hours, you start forgetting it. Having the lyrics in front of me helped and I was able to copy and paste them from Genius.

I noticed your family was there. What did they say when you were done?

They were just real proud. My [grandparents] were there. My grandfather’s 88 and my grandmother, I won’t tell her age because she’s a true lady. They’re both very religious. My grandmother’s a Jehovah’s Witness and I know she doesn’t appreciate the lyrics and stuff, but that’s family. My family likes to go crazy when they can support. They were like, “What can we do?” I didn’t even want to tell them where it was. I just wanted them to rest.

Did they surprise you? I know you shouted out your grandma during the session.

Yeah, I got up during my last break and saw my [grandparents] in the hallway. I was like, “Whoa!” And then I had to come in and do Wu-Tang with curse words and shit so I shouted her out and apologized. I was just thankful she was there. I don’t like being the center of attention so it was almost too much but I love the support my family showed and I love that people got to see that so they don’t get embarrassed about having their mother, father, or grandparents come to their hip-hop events. Hip-Hop is a family culture now. It’s grown into that and they allow me to be me, they respect it and take pride in it even if it may be a little vulgar for their tastes.

What did you do afterwards?

I hugged, kissed everybody, said thank you, went to the hotel, laid down, and I couldn’t sleep!

Why couldn’t you sleep? Adrenaline?

Yeah, I have trouble sleeping anyway, so I just slept two hours yesterday. I had to get up to watch the Dodgers game—that was very important. We both won yesterday, a win for the city in two ways.

What’s next for you?

I’m dropping a new album around March on Strange Music, tentatively called Captain California. And a new single called “Rick Grimes is Dead,” because I’ve got the inside scoop on the next season of The Walking Dead. I’m dropping that on Tuesday with a video. It’s a little different, Halloween vibes for everyone, something fun. I’ve learned so much from studying the greats and my older material. I’m a better rapper after the past 24 hours. I can add that to my 10,000 hours of mastery in rap if that’s what it takes to solidify me as a master of this art.

If somebody broke your record, would you try to do it again?

Nah, man. I’m good. I’ve got enough in my legacy. It was fun and I hope it creates something fun for people to try. I think Supernat can set it freestyling. I don’t think that’s necessarily the same thing. I hope Nat doesn’t take any disrespect because he’s somebody I grew up on and was a huge influence on me. When I spoke to him about it, I was like, “It’s two different things, bro. What I’m doing is nothing like what you’re doing.” Mine is like rap karaoke and I think Guinness should respect it as a separate achievement. But if Supernat breaks my time, I’d be honored. There’s room in the Guinness book to recognize different types of rap and freestyling takes a whole different skillset than what I did. There can be a tandem one, too. I just hope this opens it up for people to challenge themselves and represent the culture.

Guinness is a process. I know people had a problem with the way the Grammys turned out a couple of years ago and we’ve gotta get involved in the systems of things if we’re gonna set these records and awards. I look forward to opening the door and having people follow through.