Murs-athon pt. 5 - Varsity Blues EP

(Well, looks like I did find the time for a Murs-athon post anyway. I guess I just couldn't wait!)

Following the release of his underground album Murs Is My Best Friend (a project I actually really enjoyed, despite its complete obscurity), Murs went through a darker period in his life, having a panic attack, and in general feeling a bit more serious and less jovial than he was when making Good Music and Murs Rules the World. He was inspired by this to create an EP entitled Varsity Blues, which not only dealt with his own troubles, but also intended to help young black men and teenagers through their hard times. On the cover it even stated at the bottom: "for colored boys who've considered suicide when the Hennessy and chronic ain't enough", serving to display the deeper message of the project. Whether Murs was aware of the 1999 sport comedy of the same name is anyone's guess, but let's hope that he came up with it himself. Now, this is not a studio album, but rather an EP, and is therefore quite short, at 6 tracks and just over 20 minutes, so be prepared for a smaller write-up than usual. I won't be doing all EPs in his discography, mind (I've already missed some), but since this one seems to be a fan favourite I thought I'd better check it out before getting to his work with Definitive Jux (a period of his career that I am very excited for, by the way).

The project included production from previous collaborator Mum's The Word, as well as Ant of Atmosphere, and then a slew of underground producers who we'd never really heard of before. The album remained featureless aside from one track with The Underbosses (who also appeared on Murs Is My Best Friend), meaning Murs was left to his own devices to express his emotion, probably for the best since this seemed to be such a personal work. He also made sure to include the word "blue" or "blues" in every track title, so that everyone would forget which song was which - yeah, that wasn't a good idea, was it? Still, I'm pretty damned excited for this effort, as Murs has already proved himself as fantastic when he does the more personal tracks, evidenced through songs such as "My Story", "Rescue" and "Angels". As I stated before, this write up will inevitably be shorter than usual, but at least that will save my energy for ....The End Of the Beginning, which is a good thing, as that album is long. Anyway, let's get to it.

1. Varsity Blues (prod. Mum's The Word)

The title track was pretty much what you could have predicted would be the content on this album, but it's still great nonetheless. Mum's the Word provides a brilliantly haunting and sad instrumental for Murs to spit his various problems over, and even though the hook could have done with trimming to be shorter, the verses make up for it with some excellent lyrical content about cheating, addiction and how just because you're making money, doesn't mean you're going to be happy. Murs always brings it with the content, and this is one of his absolute best displays of it. Excellent track.

2. Belief's Blues (prod. Belief)

On this track that's named after the producer of the song, Murs talks about how black men were still being treated differently because of their skin colour, even after the new millennium had already struck, and also how other black men would assume he was in a gang just because of his skin colour. The instrumental on here from Belief (who would go on to work with Murs more in the future) was excellently chilled out, and Murs' lyrics were actually pretty hilarious on here and very engaging. I liked this even more than the first song. "Your light turned green like thirty seconds ago!"

3. County Blues (prod. Ant)

Murs sends a letter out to his mother after having been locked up for a reason only explained in a weird but funny twist right at the end of the track, and the results are absolutely brilliant. Murs flows over this beat perfectly, and I've always been impressed at his ability to engage the listener with content so easily. Not to mention, Ant's beat is straight fire. This one was a lot more light-hearted than the previous two songs, but for my money it was all the better for it.

4. Writer's Blues (feat. The Underbosses) (prod. Bones)

The only track on the album with features, and it's with The Underbosses, who appeared on "Jebediah" on Murs' last album. And it appears with this one we're back to the melancholy stuff, as Murs and the one guest (presumably a member - why would one person call himself "The Underbosses"?) both reflect on their depression, and the reasons for it too. The hook is a little repetitive, but the powerful production is excellent, and both Murs and the guest (who I believe is Luckyiam.PSC) deliver some great verses on here. The line "'cause making good music is all that keeps me alive" was truly goosebump inducing. Great stuff.

5. A Friend's Blues (prod. Justin Martin)

The emotional high of the record, and even if this one was a little more mainstream and less alternative than most of this EP in terms of production, I still found it pretty great, especially the second verse where Murs appears to mourn the death of a young member of his family who passed away while he was out of town. Murs' vocals on this are more passionate than ever before, and the beat, while it's a little sappy, still works very well with the subject matter. The little bassline part at the end was nice too. This was great.

6. The Deepest Blue (prod. Black Panther)

Producer Black Panther provides a more rock-inspired instrumental for this one, that's pretty good, but does feel a little bit generic, y'know? Murs' flow was a little dull here, but it did fit the lyrics, so I can't fault him for that. Still, I found this to be just alright, and sadly in the midst of these other tracks that's not quite enough. Still, not a bad way to end things. 

Varsity Blues, while short, was actually a really great listen. After listening to the first song (which I still really liked, mind you), I was worried that we were going to be getting constant depression, but the two songs after that were a little more light-hearted in their own ways, making for in my opinion the two best cuts on the whole thing - Murs was always good at the humorous stuff. The second half definitely got a lot darker, but by then it felt appropriate, and there was more excellent lyrical content and production work to be found there. Sure, the outro track wasn't fantastic, but as for the rest of this thing? Really, really good stuff. Murs is an incredibly charismatic MC who constantly comes with brilliant and relatable content, and his ear for beats is also constantly working overtime to give us the best musical backing possible. The results are that this ended up being a really entertaining EP with some of my favourite songs in the Murs catalogue so far. This has made me even more hyped for ....The End Of the Beginning, and if there's any Murs fans out there who forgot that this project ever existed, make sure that you go back and check it out - it's pretty bloody great stuff.

Expectations: Matched

Best Track: Belief's Blues

Worst Track: The Deepest Blue

Check out all the other episodes in the constantly growing Murs-athon here.

Nas - Stillmatic

(My 50th post!! And, as a side note, I haven't been able to continue the Murs-athon this weekend due to me having no time, but rest assured I'll be back to it next weekend - I worked on most of this particular post throughout the week. Enjoy!)

Now, viewers of my last post, focused on Jay-Z's excellent 6th (!) studio album The Blueprint, may have noticed that (amongst the large and perhaps over-the-top praise) I discussed a certain squabble between the aforementioned Hov, and the man once known (ridiculously) as Nasty Nas. After a bubbling resentment fueled by Jay's insistence on sampling Nas' voice and fucking his girlfriend, the beef rose to a new high with the release of the aforementioned The Blueprint record, on which was a long and brutal track entitled "Takeover", a 5-and-a-half minute onslaught where Hova attacked not only Prodigy of Mobb Deep, but also Nasir Jones. And it seemed that he'd picked exactly the right time for the killshot - by September of 2001, most hip-hop heads had lost faith in the man who once created the album often given the title "best hip-hop album of all time", Illmatic - 1999's I Am... was generally received as simply      alright, but then Nastradamus dropped, and... well, we all know how that one turned out. Since then, Nas had remained fairly quiet besides the QB's Finest compilation, an album that actually had some pretty solid Nas joints ("Find Ya Wealth", "Self Conscience", etc.), unfortunately overshadowed by the horrible, horrible radio single "Oochie Wally", a song that somehow managed to lower Nas' status to an even deeper chasm than the one he was in when Nastradamus came out. He had then stayed pretty much silent for a year, and that was when Jay dropped the diss.

Dark times.

Following this incident, Nas was filled with such an indescribable rage that he walked straight into the managers office at Columbia, where the heads were enjoying a cigar and a stripper, threw a copy of Nastradamus into their faces, and shouted that he was done doing commercial shit, and that he actually wanted to make some dope hip-hop for once so that other rappers would stop picking on him already. He stated that if he wasn't permitted to do this, then he was leaving the label and retiring to focus on his gardening hobby, and of course the label bosses couldn't have one of their money-makers (remember, Nas sells a hell of a lot of records, despite most of his stuff being an antithesis to the popular mainstream sounds) running off on them, so they struck a deal. Nasir was permitted to make a proper hip-hop record with no commercial or weird shit on it, under one condition - he had to give it a poorly photoshopped cover with lots of bling and swagger, in order to make the mainstream audience (who were still loving the Cash Money and No Limit projects around this time) want to pick it up. Nas agreed, and after a few months in the studio, his 5th album Stillmatic was born.

Stillmatic marked a new chapter for Nas. Gone were the days of albums with pretentious intros, and covers depicting a close-up of the man's face and city blocks in the background. Stillmatic, as the title implies, intended to prove to the world that Nasir Jones wasn't a washed up old rapper making silly club tunes and songs that sampled Toto's "Africa", but instead was an MC as fresh as he had been all those years ago when he unleashed the unanimous classic Illmatic on the listening public. With this in mind, he ditched the Ginuwines, the Diddys and the sex songs, and instead hooked up with DJ Premier, Large Professor (yes!!) and a slew of underground producers who he obviously thought were making the best music out there. With Stillmatic, Nas did not give a singular fuck about radio play, as evidenced by the two biggest singles, the street banger "Got Ur Self a Gun" and the incredibly introspective "One Mic" - yes, the label forced him to team up with Amerie for an '80s nostalgia bait cut with "Rule", but Nas proved them his point of this being a proper rap album by not pushing that single at all - hell, it didn't even receive a music video. Features (aside from the aforementioned Amerie) were kept to "Life's a Bitch" guest AZ and an uncredited Millennium Thug, and one other chap on the bonus track, but that was it (side note: the album was initially pressed with a cut featuring Mary J. Blige and Bravehearts, produced by Swizzy Beatz of all people, but I, like most, am forgetting that one existed). This was to be an all-out Nas record, and when people saw this tracklist, they were pretty hyped. Still, no-one could possibly have predicted just quite how much of a comeback Nasir Jones was about to make, and how fans of the genre were about to unanimously regain not just faith in, but also love and incredible appreciation for, the man who almost, almost, fell the fuck off.

Oh yeah, there's a Jay-Z diss on here as well.

1. Stillmatic (The Intro) (prod. Hangmen 3 Productions)

Instead of spending time needlessly faffing around with a two-minute-plus rap album intro, Nasir decides he's had enough, and gets straight to the music, with this one verse track spit over a brilliantly uplifting instrumental from Hangmen 3 (who, if I'm honest, aren't normally this good at their beats - have you heard Raekwon's "Planet Of the Apes"?). As for the rhymes, Nas seems to have bounced from the Nastradamus low with an enormous vigour causing him to rise right back up again to It Was Written heights. Nasir spends his short-ish time on here talking about how he has far more longevity than all these rappers getting hot off one or two songs, and basically how he is back. It seems truer words were never spoken - even in his old and older age, Nas never made an album as weak as Nastradamus again, and from now on continued to add to what, in my opinion, is one of the strongest catalogues in hip-hop history. This song is not only great then, but also perfectly predicted his future, making it sound even better today. Brilliant stuff.

2. Ether (prod. Ron Browz)

"Fuck Jay-Z!!"

Track two on Stillmatic is the one and only response to Jay-Z's "Takeover", a brutal and vicious attack on not only Jay's artistry, but his appearance as well, spit with a catchy hook over an intense Ron Browz (yes, the "Arab Money" guy) instrumental that, for some reason unknown to me, people seem to dislike. Now, conversations about "the best diss track of all time" have frequent contenders thrown around in them - Ice Cube's "No Vaseline", 2Pac's "Hit Em Up", Boogie Down Production's "The Bridge Is Over", or more recently Pusha T's "The Story of Adidon" and Kendrick Lamar's "meet the grahams". Some may even consider "Takeover" for the top spot. I, however, am a firm believer that the best diss track in the history of hip-hop is this right here - Nas' "Ether". While this beat isn't as soulful or lively as that on "Takeover", it's a lot more haunting and eerie, which immediately gives this more of a brutal atmosphere than Hov's track. But, really, it's Nas' lyrics that put this to the number one position. Nas insults everything about Shawn on here, from Jay-Z's lips to his stage name to his consistent retelling of Biggie lyrics, and even the parallels between his Roc-a-Fella empire and Puffy's Bad Boy label. And, while "gay-z" isn't the most intelligent of insults, it was pretty hilarious, and is frequently used by the man's haters to this day when they make attempts to remove him from all-time lists. A lot of people might not know that this song had an original version that was even more brutal, and Nas was forced to reword some of it to make it fit for human consumption. Listening to the song now, it's difficult to imagine how Nas could have made this any more vicious than it already is. The intro to this album was dope, but this was the song that really let everyone know that Nasir was back, and arguably better than ever before.

3. Got Ur Self A... (prod. Megahertz)

I do find it odd how Columbia didn't allow the word "Gun" to make it to the back of Nas' album cover, but at least it doesn't hurt the impact of the song - in fact, the ellipsis at the end makes the track even more exciting when you get to it. This song was the lead single to Stillmatic, and after Nastradamus, this was like musical lotion to the beaten and sore ears of Nas' fans. Utilising a sample of The Sopranos theme song could have turned out corny as hell, but here it most certainly doesn't, with the catchy hook intertwining with the excellently bouncy beat perfectly, and Nas also connecting the sample together with catchy lyrics making for an overall great hook. Nas also finds the time to diss Limp Bizkit in here, which I obviously disapprove of, but he goes on to dismiss Kid Rock too, which re-values his statement - that guy fucking sucks. As for the rest of the lyrics, they contain the vigour and lyrical ability that we should expect from Nasir - these verses are brilliant. This is a classic track.

4. Smokin' (prod. Nas & Precision)

It's funny. Compare this with most of the material on Nastradamus, and even half the material on I Am..., and it's light years ahead both lyrically and sonically. On Stillmatic, however, this stands out as one of the less inspired moments, especially with the chorus that seems to go on and on forever. That's not to say this is bad at all, however - Nas' self-produced instrumental is surprisingly potent, and fitting for a smoker anthem, and the verses themselves are pretty fun and light-hearted, which is always appreciated from Nas, since these type of cuts tend to be in small doses on his records. So, while this isn't incredible like most of the album, it's still pretty damn good.

5. You're da Man (prod. Large Professor)

Large Professor supplies the first of two beats in a row for Nasir to spit his rhymes over, and this one might be the best on the whole record. Powerful drums teamed with what I think are violins (I could be wrong though - I never was great at GCSE music) make for one of the most haunting yet ethereal beats Nas ever picked, and boy does he do it justice. Broken up by samples that sound like the title yet actually say "sugar man" apparently, Nas reflects on his life, and the dark thoughts that were going through his mind as every hip-hop fan under the sun was ready to just let Nas go. "I saw a dead bird flying through a broken sky" is one of my favourite lines on the record, and it sets the tone for the sad lyrics that we can now listen to with ease, knowing how Nas dug himself out of the slump to regain his position at the top. This is really good stuff.

6. Rewind (prod. Large Professor)

Easily one of the dopest storytelling tracks in the entire history of hip-hop. Nas infamously "spits a story backwards, it starts at the ending", and somehow manages to make everything work, and make it incredibly clear what is going on throughout. I mean, sure, some of the description he goes into is a bit, umm, fucking disgusting, but he makes up for that by showing charisma and fun to contrast the darker feelings of the last track. I also love the way that, as he spits a quote in the correct order as the final line, the beat begins to spin backwards - that is a nice, nice touch. And did I mention this Large Pro beat is simply wonderful? This is one of Nasir's best songs, the end.

7. One Mic (prod. Nas & Chucky Thompson)

How this ended up being a single, and one with a music video at that, is beyond me, but you can be damned sure I'm happy if it meant more people heard this absolute masterpiece. Firstly, we have the production touches throughout this song, that have both the instrumental and Nas' vocals getting louder and quieter as the stories get more intense, one of the more creative ideas in the Nasir catalogue. Then, we can talk about the beat itself, which is mesmerisingly powerful and well crafted, and ties with "You're Da Man" for best on the album. But really, it's the Nas verses that make this one, as the man expresses his anger for both the dangerous situations people face in the hood from each other AND from the law, and also at the disloyalty of people in his own life, who stopped rocking with him as soon as he lost a lot of his popularity. This is a fantastic listen, and ends what is easily one of the most incredible and entertaining opening album runs in history. Seriously, remove "Smokin'", and you've got six tracks of phenomenal perfection. This is incredible. 

8. 2nd Childhood (prod. DJ Premier)

Unfortunately disappointing for the only DJ Premier produced cut of the evening, an opinion I know will have most of my readers foaming at the mouth whilst reading it. Sadly, that's just how I feel. This song isn't bad though, as Nas' lyrics are pretty stellar and the scratching in the hook is also a nice underground touch. I just wish the beat had a little bit more life, y'know?

9. Destroy & Rebuild (prod. Baby Paul & Mike Risko)

Nas gets back to the dissing on this one, but (aside from a small shot towards the end) he isn't going at Jay-Z - instead, he's aiming his gun at Cormega, Nature and (funnily enough) Prodigy of Mobb Deep. Having two of the most well-respected and popular hip-hop artists in the industry dissing you can't help the mental state much, which does explain P's performance on Infamy I suppose. Anyway, this track is absolutely great, and has actually grown on me quite a bit over the years. Nas' bars are hilariously clever, especially the ones directed at Cormega, and this instrumental, while it hasn't aged as well as some of the others on here, still sounds really fun and bouncy to me. The hook, which interpolates "The Bridge Is Over" by BDP, is also brilliant, despite the fact that Nas actually does diss all the most popular QB rappers on this track, thereby disproving his point - I mean surely if there's only one dope rapper there, then it kind of is over? Still, I enjoy the song. 

10. The Flyest (feat. AZ) (prod. L.E.S. & Staff)

A supposed sequel to "Life's A Bitch" (right down to the L.E.S. production credit) that sounds absolutely nothing like it, but that's a compliment, as rehashing stuff rarely works anyway - think "Ice Cream Part 2". The uncredited chick on the hook does a pretty great job at providing some catchy notes, and Nas and AZ both clearly understood the assignment, as they both go in with some braggadocio, and some conscious rhyming too. Kendrick Lamar famously cited this as a standout when talking about Stillmatic, and while I personally don't think it hits the heights of the astonishing first half of the record, it's still pretty great.

11. Braveheart Party (feat. Mary J. Blige) (prod. Swizz Beatz)

Now, I've never actually heard this before, due to the fact that it was removed from pressings post-2001 after Mary J. requested its removal. And not because of sample clearances - no, because she didn't like it. Requesting the albums to be reprinted and redone, costing presumably quite a bit of money, just because you don't like the song you appeared on sort of suggests that this is going to be maybe a little bit bad, but you never know - I'll check it out now.

I'm not gonna lie, I didn't hate this, but whoever the fuck decided that this fit on Stillmatic needs to immediately have their mouth wired shut, incase any more fatal ideas happen to seep through the lips. While Swizz Beatz' drums are predictably tacky, the melody isn't that bad, and Nas' verse certainly has a hell of a lot more energy than it did on the more poppy cuts on Nastradamus. And, yeah, the Bravehearts suck, but we all knew that was coming. I tell you what, though, I would take this over "Oochie Wally" any, any day of the week. This ain't bad, but there's a reason everyone forgets that it ever existed.

12. Rule (feat. Amerie) (prod. Track Masters)

I believe this was released as the lead single, which makes sense, as it's easily the most radio-friendly song here (with the exception of the previous song, which doesn't count anyway), but for some reason it received absolutely nil promotion, which is a shame, as I quite enjoy this track, despite the fact that it heavily interpolates Tears' For Fears' "Everybody Wants To Rule the World", in one of the earlier examples of what is now known as "nostalgia bait". Nas' verses are actually pretty powerful, and the hook is catchy (obviously), and even the production is pretty interesting, and is a bit of a departure for Nasir, which is appreciated. Yes, it shamelessly aims for radio play, which is supposed to be what this album was not trying to do, but even so it still has it's place in the Nasir catalogue. 

13. My Country (prod. Lofey)

Despite what the back cover may lead you to believe, this song actually features Nas' weed carrier Millennium Thug (sometimes known as Nashawn), not that anyone will care, as no-one has heard from him since. Surely his name's appearance on the back cover of Nasir's comeback album could have done something for the man's career, Nas? What the hell, man? Anyway, this song stands out as the weakest here simply thanks to the horrifically bad sung hook, which displays some of the worst attempts at "singing" I have ever had the misfortune of hearing. Could you not even hit one note, Nas? The rest of this politically charged song is solid, but you'd never catch me or anyone else bumping this in public - I mean, that chorus is simply embarrassing. 

14. What Goes Around (prod. Salaam "The Chameleon" Remi)

Nas ends the record on a rather serious tone, and it's a good thing, as while the previous few tracks have been slightly iffy in some way, this one truly stands up to the phenomenal pieces we heard towards the beginning of this album. Nas' lyrics on this song talk about all the injustices faced by those living in the hood - whether that be the school system, drug usage, or even doctor's prescriptions, which is something heavily discussed in his hook. While some aspects of the song come across as a little overdramatic, it's made up for by the haunting instrumental (the first from Salaam Remi on a Nas record) and Nas' introspective lyrics that further prove him as one of the best conscious rappers out there. Keon Bryce's short bridge is also highly appreciated, and fits the vibe well. This is a truly excellent way to finish the album. 

The following song is, for some reason, listed as a bonus track, despite the fact it appears on all pressings of the project.

15. Every Ghetto (prod. L.E.S.)

Once again, the guest star goes without credit - this one features a heavy contribution from Blitz the Ambassador, whoever the hell he is. This motivational cut is spit over a futuristic and slightly menacing instrumental that does fit with the album's sound well, and the lyricism is truly excellent on here, with Nas reflecting on how flaunting is cars, money and guns can only have a negative effect on the youth that he was once a part of. Blitz helps with this by speaking on the life he was leading at the time living in the projects, as he presumably wasn't living the lavish life that Nasir was. The hook is iffy, but other than that this is really great, which begs the question - why was this relegated to a bonus track?

While Stillmatic has some consistency issues, I still absolutely love this album with a passion, and I truly think that it's one of the best hip-hop albums of the 2000s. I mean, this thing contains arguably the best 7 track run of all time - tracks one to seven are all absolute perfection besides "Smokin'", and even that one's pretty bloody dope by itself. And yes, while after that not every song hits one hundred percent, it's still undeniable that this album has some of the best and most iconic hip-hop songs released, as well as some of Nas' best album cuts. From the dark and haunting beauty of "You're Da Man", to the fun and enormously clever "Rewind", to the venomous and brutal "Ether", there are a lot of moods covered here, and they all work. And, even if some of the beats and/or hooks during the second half of the album falter, Nas never lets up, delivering brilliant verse after brilliant verse, with some of the best and most energetic performances we ever heard from the man appearing throughout. There are moments we could have done without - the hook on "My Country", the drums on "Braveheart Party", the disappointing Preemo beat on "2nd Childhood" (a song I don't hate - it just should have been better) - but these are small nitpicks, and when put into context with the excellence seen all over the rest of this album, they pale in comparison. Also, "One Mic" is one of the most astonishing songs I have ever heard - if you ain't got time for this whole record, at least check that one out. But if you do have time, then definitely, definitely listen to this album - every song has it's place, and if I'm entirely, entirely honest, I think I prefer this to Illmatic. Yup, I said it. This is my favourite Nas album, and showed the world that Nasir was not only back, but was ready to become the best rapper alive once again. And, on top of that, he managed to beat Jay-Z at the height of his popularity. This album is incredible, and I highly recommend it. Incredible stuff.

Best Tracks: Stillmatic (The Intro), Ether, Got Ur Self A..., You're da Man, Rewind, One Mic, Destroy & Rebuild, The Flyest, What Goes Around, Every Ghetto

Worst Tracks: Braveheart Party, or "My Country" if we're talking the version most people have heard

Check out some other Nas content here

Image for "Rewind" single taken from Mass Appeal

Jay-Z - The Blueprint

2001 was quite the year for Mr. Shawn Carter, a chap known as "Jay-Z" to most people (even if he seemed to prefer "Hova" around this time). The man seemed to have gotten it into his head that any successful rapper born in or around Queensbridge deserved to be entirely removed from all the popularity they had garnered for themselves during their time in the game, and set it upon himself to demolish the careers of both Prodigy of Mobb Deep, and more famously, Nasir Jones. He went about this by embarrassing one (P) on the stage of Summer Jam while simultaneously teasing the other (Nas), only for him to then drop a killshot at Nas on the full version of his "Takeover" track, which appeared on the subject of today's post. One of these guys managed to fight back and win, but the other never managed to return to the greatness he had built himself to in the previous years. See if you can guess which one's which. Jay-Z wasn't only hungry for beef, though - he wasn't impartial to a bit of vegetarianism, and performed an unplugged set around November (c'mon, that's a good metaphor) that went down about as well as, well, a Jay-Z unplugged show possibly could - people liked it. A lot. Jay-Z wasn't quite a household name yet, as he would only meet Beyoncé in the next year, but pretty much everyone who even was remotely into mainstream hip-hop was probably bumping his shit by now. 

To capitalise off of the fame he had garnered from hits such as "Big Pimpin'", "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)" and "stabbing someone over leaking an album", Jay-Z unleashed his joker card by releasing his 6th studio album The Blueprint on September 11th 2001, and it was all anyone could talk about- oh, wait. Yeah, I wasn't lying with that release date. This album couldn't have picked a worse day to have been put out (R.I.P. to all the victims of the tragedy, by the way), and yet and still this thing was bumped to high heaven, and it's triumphant, victory lap nature seemed to offer just the right mood to get people out of the shock and utter horror over what had happened in the country. The album charted at number one, and was successful enough in the eyes of its host to warrant two sequels, both of which miserably failed to capture the magic of this album. A shame.

For this new record, Jay was clearly done promoting his Roc-a-Fella label mates (after The Dynasty: Roc La Familia, which had them crawling all over it), and instead invited the only rapper in the world hotter than he was to be the only guest on the entire album - that would be Eminem, the unusually pale face of hip-hop in the early 2000s. For production, he enlisted Timbaland, the newly popularised Just Blaze (anyone else find it weird how he did a track on Prodigy's solo album just the year before?), Bink, and Kanye West, who was still making his way around as a little-known producer back then, which was certainly a better place for him to be than promoting Hitler, of all people, to an enormous audience of his fans. But I digress. The album was also as concise as Jay's earlier work, being 13 tracks, a lot shorter than his previous two records, and of similar length to his classic Reasonable Doubt, and the underrated In My Lifetime, Vol. 1. These facts I just listed made for promising stuff, and... well, you already know what the verdict here's gonna be - I mean, what fan of hip-hop doesn't like this album? Let's get to the review.

1. The Ruler's Back (prod. Bink)

Following a smattering of conga hits, Bink's instrumental on this track starts itself up with a bang, and you already know that you're in for a treat. This triumphant beat, with the pounding bassline, loud horns and nasty drums is one of the best Hov ever gave the green light, and to say he did it justice would be an understatement. The lyrics on here are some of the finest braggadocio ever heard on wax (this will be a theme throughout the record), and Jay's effortless flows mesh so perfectly with the instrumental you would think that Bink and Jay were conjoined twins. "It's nothin' new to me, sue me: fuck you, what's a couple dollars to me?" is a standout line, but really I could pick anything from here blind and I would come out with something incredible. Sure, the title is taken from an '80s Slick Rick cut, but that's not to say Hov doesn't make it entirely his own - because he does, and with ease. The best Jay-Z intro track? Quite possibly. 

2. Takeover (prod. Kanye West)

So, as I mentioned in the introductory paragraphs, Jay took it upon himself at the Summer Jam in 2001 to diss the fuck out of Mobb Deep's Prodigy, with two verses performed on the stage over the same beat we see here on the album. The first verse is all subliminal (with a couple of uses of the word "dunny" to forewarn us of the target), but in the second verse, Jay gets to absolutely destroying poor P, with some phenomenal bars that you'll want to memorise almost immediately. At the end of this verse, though, Jay spit the line 'You guys don't want it with Hov, ask Nas, he don't want it with Hov, no!!", a moment that had the hip-hop world biting through it's nails in anticipation of who would strike next. And, on the album version of "Takeover", Jay delivered two more verses, the first of which was a long, long attack on Nas, who was admittedly in a bad place at this time - sure, QB's Finest had some joints, but Nastradamus was poor and "Oochie Wally" was arguably the worst song Nasir had ever come through with. Jay uses all of this to diss the fuck out of Nas, in what was very nearly a career-ending verse - Jones had to come through with the greatest disstrack of all time (yep, I said it. The greatest) a couple of months later to regain a stance in the battle. It's a shame Prodigy couldn't do the same - the Mobb's album Infamy was weak as a runt piglet, and the diss on there wasn't much better. As a whole, "Ether" was the better diss, but the impact I feel when listening to this, knowing that Jay ignited the game with one track, is definitely telling - this is incredible, and Kanye's beat helps it along enormously.

3. Izzo (H.O.V.A.) (prod. Kanye West)

And then he follows that up with one of the biggest hip-hop hits of the entire year. What a move. Kanye's samples The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" to perfection, managing to not remind me of the millions of times I had to play the drums for that shit in my school band (ahh, those were the days), and Hova takes this one and delivers astonishing brag raps and conscious bars - "Like I told you sell drugs - nah, Hov did that, so hopefully you won't have to go through that" being a personal favourite. This hook is one of the best I have ever heard too, being both catchy and incredibly iconic to the genre. I absolutely adore this song.

4. Girls, Girls, Girls (prod. Just Blaze)

Easily one of the best hip-hop songs dedicated to the ladies, simply for how utterly unique the verses are. Jay tells of all of his different women, but instead of being dull about it, or simply listing their names DMX-style (not saying that wasn't impressive, by the way), he instead lists the positives and/or flaws of the women he is with, and all over a wonderful Just Blaze instrumental. Hov also bought in the veterans for this one, with Q-Tip, Biz Markie and Slick Rick all taking turns throughout to provide the hook. I liked this idea, as without that interesting aspect the hook would be dull, but with it the track becomes even more interesting. Sure, some of the stereotypes used here haven't aged all that well, but even so, they're still pretty goddamn funny, and that sense of humour is something I think goes under-appreciated from Hov. I really love this joint.

5. Jigga That Nigga (prod. Poke & Tone (aka The Trackmasters))

It's interesting how people always go on about how Jay has two songs titled "Anything", but forget that this track effectively steals it's title from the earlier Hov cut "Jigga My Nigga", which appeared on the Ryde Or Die: Vol. 1 compilation from Ruff Ryders, and his own 1999 album Vol. 3 (as a hidden track - the review will be linked somewhere). Anyway, the song. I do enjoy this one quite a bit, even if the beat is a little bit cluttered. The chorus (that reminds me, weirdly, of Nas' "Oochie Wally") is pretty catchy, but it's Jay's incredible bars that really make you want to return to this one. They're pretty great, but as a whole this song isn't as engaging as most of this LP.

6. U Don't Know (prod. Just Blaze)

I've got a confession to make, readers, and prepare yourself, because this is going to be quite a disturbing revelation for most - "U Don't Know" used to be my least favourite song on this album. Of course, now I look upon this track with marvel, and I think it's incredible, but for some reason the sample on this one really irked me when I first heard this album, and I just couldn't get past that. However, I have to give it up now, as Jay's verses are some of the best he's ever done (and considering I first listened to this album when I was about 13, in the foundation stages of my hip-hop passion, I probably cared more about the beat than the rhymes anyway). "I am a hustler, baby, I'll sell water to a whale" is one of the iconic hip-hop lines, and Jay's shout of "fucker" towards the end just gets me goin' crazy, man. This is a great track.

7. Hola' Hovito (prod. Timbaland)

Surprisingly the only Timbaland beat on the entire album, made more surprising by the fact that this wasn't a hit single. Stupid title and goofy breakdown towards the end aside, this track is just dope. Hov drops many funny and clever bars over this groovy instrumental, and the hook on here is all kinds of catchy. This isn't as iconic as the majority of the songs here, but it's a damned great album cut nonetheless.

8. Heart Of the City (Ain't No Love) (prod. Kanye West)

I first heard this track on an episode of Rap Critic (legendary YouTube channel, by the way), where he criticised the opening lyrics: "first the Fat Boys break up, now everyday I wake up, somebody got a problem with Hov". This short snippet, despite those lyrics admittedly not making much sense, compelled me to check out this whole song based on the brilliant sounding production and Jay's flow, making this the first Jay-Z song I ever actually payed attention to. Piece of history right here. Anyway, this song itself might well be my favourite on this entire album. Hova's lyricism on here is purely astonishing, with some hilarious lines thrown in there such as "sensitive thugs, y'all all need hugs" and "I pack heat like I'm the oven door", meanwhile Kanye's celebratory yet poignant production gives the song almost a live feel, only without all the shouting and poor mixing that comes along with actual live recordings. This song is phenomenal, one of Jay's absolute best.

9. Never Change (prod. Kanye West)

This track is most remembered for being (I think) Kanye West's first vocal appearance on a mainstream record (I wouldn't take my word for it though), as he pops up to provide a fun and catchy hook to break up Jay's reflective verses. Vocals, however, aren't the man's party piece (most of the time), as that would be production, and with that in mind the beat here is utterly phenomenal, and easily one of the best Kanye ever created. Jay's lyrics on here are nice too, as he reflects on his life in the street, and as much as it's difficult to believe that he's living the same life now (well, in 2001) that he was in the early '90s, he convinces us of it here just fine. This is a classic.

10. Song Cry (prod. Just Blaze)

Jay's emotional ballad dedicated to a woman that he was in a relationship with, a relationship that split apart once Jay became famous. While this song doesn't give me the goosebumps that a lot of people claim it's a catalyst for, I still can't fault Just Blaze's excellent production work, and Hov's powerful lyrics, tied together by a very interesting hook. Still, if you ask me, the similar song "Soon You'll Understand" from his previous album is slightly stronger. Go ahead and plunge a large butcher knife into me now if you like, but that's just how I feel.

11. All I Need (prod. Bink)

Jay follows up arguably the most heartfelt song of his entire career with this fairly simplistic brag rap tune, and yet it still works, what with this being Jay's playing field and all. After some more tom-tom tappings that remind me of the intro, Jay gets to rapping about how he now has access to all the stuff he needs, and over some fun production from Bink that is unlike what the man usually does. Jay also bites the hook of 2pac's "Me and My Girlfriend" during one of the verses here, and not for the first time either (y'all know what I'm referring to). Anyway, I enjoy this a lot, even if it would have fit better earlier on in the tracklist.

12. Renagade (feat. Eminem) (prod. Eminem)

Whether the title is intentionally misspelt on the back cover of this CD or not is anyone's guess, but what's not is the fact that this song is astonishing - it just simply is. Let's talk background first - this song was originally a track recorded by Eminem as a collaboration with his fellow Detroit rapper Royce Da 5'9", but Jay hooked up with Em and decided that he wanted the track for himself. Eminem might have been sceptical giving his track to a man who namedropped him two years prior over his close friend Royce, but Jay got to waving a bag of money (or more likely, since this is Eminem we're talking about, a bag of shroomz) in front of him, and from then on it was no competition. Much to Royce's dismay, Em deleted all of his verses, and allowed Jay to rap over them, turning the song into the classic we know today. To start with, Eminem provides a beat to stand alongside the best of Kanye and Just Blaze quality wise on here, with a phenomenally haunting instrumental. While, yes, Eminem's verses are astonishing, Jay's are pretty incredible too, and he would probably have stood out more if prime Eminem wasn't his competition. Eminem still manages to embarrass himself here, though, by sounding almost exactly like Fred Durst during his singing parts of the hook - trust me: listen again, and you won't be able to un-hear it. Nonetheless, this is a generational track, and deserves all the respect it has garnered. A legendary team up.

13. Blueprint (Momma Loves Me) (prod. Just Blaze)

The closing song on The Blueprint takes on a somber and reflective tone, or at least after Jay finishes his loud ad-libbing, which he seems to think was necessary to introduce such a song. Over a smooth and calming beat, Jay does his thing, rapping slowly about his past, and finding the time to shout out two producers who made his early work so great - Ski and DJ Premier. Anywhere else, this might have seemed underwhelming, but serving as the closing credits this works absolutely fine, and slots in perfectly as a calming closer. Great ending.

The end... or is it? Following "Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)", we hear pure silence, followed by... more silence, and then a song starts, or rather two, that are hidden tracks. Yay! And unlike on Vol. 3, they were actually unreleased tracks, rather than random soundtrack/compilation cuts. The two appear in the following order.

- Breathe Easy (Lyrical Exercise) (prod. Just Blaze)

For this metaphor-filled track, Jay spits over what seems to be a precursor to what we would eventually here on his next album, The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse - anyone else think that about Just Blaze's dark piano keys? Anyway, this track is certainly a whole lot better than most of what we heard on that album, with Hov's bars being intriguing and incredibly clever, as well as this beat being very memorable. Also, did anyone recognise that "I am focused, man" line to be similar to a verse from a certain Curtis Jackson club hit released two years later? No? Well, fuck y'all, I did.

- Girls, Girls, Girls Part 2 (prod. Kanye West)

Jay continues the musings he begun on (you guessed it) "Girls, Girls, Girls" from this very same album, and while I think the production is on a similar level of greatness to the original, I never really found Jay's lyrical content on here to be that interesting, especially as we already heard a similar but more well executed idea on this song's "part 1". Also, the hook doesn't sound anywhere near as good on this one as the original. This ain't bad, but it's also not a worthy closer to such a brilliant record. 

The Blueprint was actually the first Jay-Z album I heard, as I bought it when I was just getting into hip-hop via Eminem, and wanted to branch out to other artists, but preferably if they had an Em collab to settle me in. "Renegade" I already knew was a banger, and as I mentioned above I loved "Heart Of The City" too, and so in HMV I picked this one up on CD. This album (along with Nas' Illmatic and 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin', but mostly this one) effectively was the starting point to my branching out from full-on Eminem Stan to full-on hip-hop head and collector (I ain't listened to an Em project in a while, but I still think he's one of the best of all time), and for that I am forever grateful. For a while I underrated this, placing it below a few albums in Jay's catalogue, and while I still don't think it's his best, relistening to this thing today and reviewing it has enlightened me once again to just how damned good this album is. Yes, it's not perfect, and there are a couple of merely solid songs, but for the most part this album is impeccably produced, wonderfully sequenced and, most importantly, a display of some of the greatest rapping I or you have ever heard and will ever hear. Give all the props you want to Kanye, Just Blaze, Bink and Timbaland, and they do kinda deserve it, but the real star of the show here is Jay, and the fact that the phenomenal production work doesn't overshadow him here is testament to how brilliant of an MC he is. To all the motherfuckers hating on Jay-Z (and trust me, I've met a few): stop it right now. He is one of the best ever, perhaps THE best ever, and there's nothing anybody can do about it. Definitely listen to this album - while September 11th 2001 will continue to go down as one of the worst days in the history of everything, just remember that every cloud has a silver lining (or whatever that saying is), and this, ladies and gentlemen, is that very shiny silver lining. 

Best Tracks: The Ruler's Back, Takeover, Izzo (H.O.V.A.), U Don't Know, Heart Of the City (Ain't No Love), Never Change, Song Cry, Renagade, Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)

Worst Tracks: Girls, Girls, Girls Part 2

Whether you're a fellow Jay-Z defender, or a hater that needs a little more convincing, here's all my other Hov posts that you can check out.

Murs-athon pt. 4 - Murs Is My Best Friend

Yesterday, I uploaded the review of Murs' Murs Rules the World album, and while I didn't think it was quite as greatly consistent as the man's first two records, I have been getting more and more enjoyment out of the project on subsequent listens, and I can now safely say that most of the songs are very good. Now, for the first three projects, they were pretty easy to find - all up on streaming, with obviously a couple of the Good Music extra cuts having to be tracked down. The next project in his discography, however, doesn't appear to be quite so simple...

According to Wikipedia and AlbumOfTheYear, Murs Is My Best Friend is the fourth studio album by Murs, released at some point in 2002, a couple of years after Murs Rules the World. Unfortunately, this album is absolutely nowhere to be found on streaming services or download sites, and there's currently only one copy up for sale on Discogs, and at a pretty high price for an album no-one seems to give a shit about (maybe the forty quid will be justified if I really, really enjoy this album, but I can't really see it). However, I have managed to find a YouTube video that claims to include the entire album - unfortunately, the tracklist presented in the description is in a completely different order to the one on the CD pictured on Discogs, and there are some songs missing too. Presented below is the tracklist that appears on the original album:

1. Mums Meets Murs

2. Mumspeople Murs

3. Brainbuster (feat. 2Mex)

4. Sixshooter (feat. 2 Mex, LMNO, Kombo, Kazi & Dr. OOP)

5. Heaven

6. That's On Me

7. It Could Be You (feat. Living Legends)

8. Murs and Moleman get Mean

9. Murs Meets Len

10. Rescue (feat. Slug)

11. Lokey (feat. 3MG, EL-P & BMS)

12. Big Chicken

13. Jebediah (feat. Underbosses & Basic MC)

Sadly, that's not the tracklist in the description of this video - we're missing "Big Chicken", "Heaven" and "Sixshooter" for starters. Anyway, I'll be, shall we say interested to see where this goes. I'm not expecting anything enormous with this record, mind you, as it appears to be just some kind of random compilation released while he was trying to secure the Def Jux deal (also, the album title and cover are both horrific as a demonic pig), but hopefully I'll be able to get a couple of songs out of it at least. If not, then I guess Murs isn't my best friend after all.

Having finished this review, I would like to apologise for its cluttered nature. As a warning: the tracklist in the description was a bit wrong.

1. Mums Meets Murs (prod. Mums the Word)

The first track in the description is at least the same as the first song on the CD, so that's something. This title refers to the fact that producer Mum's The Word was behind the boards here, and you can see that there are other songs with similar titles done by different producers later on. For this joint, Murs takes a hardcore and intense instrumental in order to "catapult" his rhymes right atcha, and the results are fantastic. This is a truly incredible opening track - I was not expecting this!

2. On Me (prod. 45ACP)

The description lists this (presumably "That's On Me" from the CD) as the second track, so let's just roll with that for now. This song ended up appearing later on the "Walk Like a Man" soundtrack that Murs did in 2005, only it was titled "That's On Me (A Tribute to 45 ACP - R.I.P.)", which obviously means producer 45 ACP passed away at some point in-between - rest in peace to him, clearly a brilliant producer, not only evidenced by his work on Good Music, but also his beat here, which is intense and exciting. Murs himself rips this one up with anger and rage over his lack of recognition, and of course at other whack MCs around him, who he does seem to have quite an enormous hatred of. This cut was brilliant. 

3. Mums People Murs (prod. Mums the Word)

Over a fairly chilled out instrumental, Murs delivers some pretty simple content through very clever lyrics that were very enjoyable to listen to. This track was fairly short, but it certainly left an impact, and that's gotta stand for something. I really enjoyed this track.

4. Brainbuster (feat. 2Mex) (no producer credited)

We're basically going in the same order here, only with "On Me" thrown in there I guess. On this track, Murs and guest star (who I've never heard of) 2Mex bring some boxing metaphors in for their rapping abilities, and oh man was this shit good. The instrumental, produced by a completely uncredited producer, is bouncy and fun, and both Murs and 2Mex display astonishing lyrical ability all throughout this cut. I absolutely loved this song - it might well be the best one yet.

5. It Could Be You (feat. Living Legends) (prod. Eligh)

By this point, I have realised that this tracklist is in exactly the same order as the original, only with the three tracks mentioned at the top removed, and "On Me" moved to track two. How did I not see that before? Anyway, on with this track, which includes guest appearances from the whole double-L crew, it would seem. 

5. Rescue (feat. Slug) (prod. The Opus)

Well, I believe that there's been a mistake. That sounded much more like it would have been "Rescue" with Slug, and the track times match up as well. I'm going with that. Whoops! For starters, this was easily one of the best instrumentals on this whole thing so far, with the intense synths and fast paced drums making for a hard but powerful listen. Murs and Slug both reflect on their troubles here, and it's just absolutely incredible to listen to them both get so personal with it. Not only that, but this was one of the best hooks on a Murs song I've heard, ever. This was truly fantastic, and worthy of more than a page on Genius that I had to create myself. Was this not good enough to make the 2002 Felt album? Then how damn good must that album be??

6. Murs and Moleman get Mean (prod. The Moleman)

"But now you jump around stage looking gay as can be" - didn't that age well. Murs drops a one verse wonder over some truly mean Moleman production, goin' in on the fake ass rappers who pretend to be down with the underground, even though they're signed. You know, them punk ass motherfuckers. This gritty track was as great as can be. What a banger.

7. Murs Meets Len (prod. D.J. Mr. Len)

Now, I'm not sure whether Murs was condoning or acting against the disturbing thing he was talking about in the middle of this verse, but I'm just going to hope and pray to God it was the latter, and move on (probably should have been paying more attention, but I was momentarily distracted for a second there, and only heard a small portion of the segment). Murs appears to diss himself during this one, with the line "Before I finish your career by giving you a whole verse" - I mean, stating that your verses are so bad they could end a career isn't the most standard way of bragging, but you do you, I guess. Anyway, this instrumental was great, and Murs' rapping here was brilliant. I loved this joint.

8. Lokey (feat. 3MG, EL-P & BMS) (prod. Eligh)

While this was supposed to be "Rescue", we've already heard that one, so this song actually ended up being "Lokey", a track that I've done a bit of research into. I've found that this was originally a Company Flow song that appeared on the soundtrack to documentary Tags of the Times 3 - who knew? After an incredibly intense intro, this very long track starts, and you already know you're in for a great ride when the (uncredited) Mr. Lif comes with a phenomenal opening verse that really just sets the tone for this track. Every single verse, every single one, is straight up dope shit, and this instrumental is one of the best I've heard in a while. The sooner I get into Company Flow, the better, it seems. I loved this.

9. Big Chicken (prod. Eligh)

Alright, I have absolutely no idea what this next one is going to be, but I guess it's up to me to work it out. And, after speculation lasting through the entire song (teamed with a look at the track time), I've decided that this must actually be "Big Chicken", despite the fact that no features are credited for this one at all, and yet there are clearly guests (similarly titled "Chico's Chicken" from Good Music has the same issue. Coincidence? I think not). The subject matter would certainly match up with the title - this track is all about them bitches, and it even interpolates the Dr. Dre classic "Bitches Ain't Shit" for the hook. The storytelling in the verses was admirable here, and the instrumental was actually fantastic. I was a massive fan of this one - great stuff. (And, no, I won't pretend to know who the features were - I'm not familiar enough with Living Legends yet (assuming it was some of them)).

10. Jebediah (feat. Underbosses & Basic MC) (prod. Quietstorm)

Since the protagonists explicitly state that the title of this song is "Jebediah" towards the end here, I think we can safely roll with that. After a weirdly abrupt start that kinda threw me off, I really got into the groove of this song, and despite the directionless subject matter, the track has a really nice groove to it. It's a shame they had to ruin it with an overlong and incredibly annoying outro. Still, I didn't mind this song at all - I just wish it wasn't so bloody long.

Well, I must say that it's a damn shame that this isn't on streaming services, because the version of the album that I just heard (that admittedly is in the wrong order and excludes three tracks) was bloody dope as hell. This was just ten tracks of straight dope rhyming over fantastic production that truly made me wish I could listen to this properly and with the full tracklist - still, I might wait for a cheaper CD to come up on Discogs at some point before I consider making the purchase. Every single song on here was dope as hell, with the production on tracks like "Rescue" and "Lokey" being some of the best of Murs' entire career, and the rapping on the album being always fun and memorable. Sure, this doesn't feel as complete as some of his other work, and does give off more of a mixtape/compilation vibe, but I will say that this was a lot more consistent than Murs Rules the World, and I might have to say that it was actually better. Perhaps it was my fairly low expectations, but this thing was a pleasant surprise, and I can assure you that I'll be bumping this one a lot. As to why the only score on AlbumOfTheYear is rating this as a 40, I don't know, but I must say that that person was clearly missing the point - as a Murs studio album, this is alright, but as a Murs underground compilation, it's a fantastic release. I loved this.

Expectations: Exceeded

Best Track: Rescue

Worst Track: Jebediah (because of the horrible outro)

Catch up on the other episodes of the Murs-athon!

Pt. 1 - F'Real

Pt. 2 - Good Music

Pt. 3 - Murs Rules the World 

Murs-athon pt. 3 - Murs Rules The World

Having decided that Murs' first two albums, F'Real and Good Music, are incredible projects that I just want to bump all the time, whether I'm at college or at home, I've made a decision to make this Murs-athon a weekend treat, at least for the next six or so albums. I'll be doing one every Saturday and Sunday for his upcoming releases, and remember - I'm only doing his solo work and collabs with producers. That means no Felt, 3 Melancholy Gypsys or Living Legends - I know it's important to his legacy, but I want to save that stuff for after I've looked at the albums that are just him. Who knows, maybe I'll do a "Felt-athon" in the future. Anyway, on with today's post.

Murs released his third solo studio album, Murs Rules The World, in late 2000 - in fact, exactly one year after his previous album Good Music, at least according to Wikipedia. Ain't that a hell of a coincidence? This project has exactly zero featured artists, though, and it's also about half the length of his previous project, so at least that should mean that this doesn't take a ridiculous amount of time (even if I did really, really enjoy that Good Music write-up). One thing that does slightly turn me off is the album cover, which is all kinds of dismal. The Guinness World Records font, teamed with his sitting on the letters like this is some godawful motivational DVD and the actual globe replacing the "O" in the word "world" all come together to make a full-on assault on the eyeballs. I mean, what the hell is up with this artwork? 

Still, I don't think this album's music is going to reciprocate that - quite the contrary. I am ashamed to admit that, when I first decided to get into Murs, I went to listen to some of his songs, and this was the first project I headed to. I listened to "All Day", "Making Music" and the stupidly titled "Slob My Nob", and had them on repeat for a while. They're really, really good. Those three songs certainly make me want to listen to this record, and the shorter length also leads me to believe that this will be a far more concise listen than Good Music - whether it's going to be better than that, I don't know. I've got pretty high expectations for this now, though, so let's just hope it delivers. Almost the entire thing is done by producer Mum's The Word, too, so maybe it will have more of a consistent sound (not that that's a complaint I had regarding Good Music).

A side note: this project was initially released with blank spaces where the track titles were supposed to go, and a pen inside the jewel case for you to fill in your own song titles - that's pretty damned inventive if you ask me. Since then, proper song titles have surfaced, so I'll be using those for the write-up. Right - let's get it going!

1. Murs Rules The World (prod. Oso)

The first title track of Murs' career, and it certainly deserves that accolade, because this song was incredible. Over an intense instrumental from newcomer Oso that sounds like something DMX might have rapped over at this time, Murs drops one long, long verse full of phenomenal rhyming and memorable bars, often broke up with a quick chant of the title, which happens just enough to amp you up, and still not be annoying. I also found it interesting how he expressed hate for the typical "verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse" set up that rappers normally use - it'll be interesting to note the structures throughout the rest of this project. (I'll also forget that the song "Tomorrow" from his previous album had that exact structure). This was a great opener, and not at all like what I was expecting.

2. Living Legend (prod. Mum's The Word)

This one takes it's title from the group that Murs was in and constantly promoting around this time, Living Legends, who made up pretty much all of the guest appearances on his last two albums. On this track, Murs spits two braggadocios verses over a really nice boom-bap instrumental from a producer named, ridiculously, "Mum's The Word". I mean, what kind of stage name is that? Nonetheless, his beat on this track is something to admire, as it switches between two melodies, both as good as the other, and Murs manages to spit some pretty funny lines on here, despite his lyrical content not consisting of too much. I also enjoyed the scratching in between verses. This was dope.

3. I Hate Your Boyfriend (prod. Mum's The Word)

Ughhh... based on that title, I really don't know how I'm gonna feel about this one. And, it looks like I'm psychic, because this shit sucked. Not only was the chorus dismal and corny, but during the verses Murs comes across as a sad and jealous asshole who thinks he's a way better person than he actually is. And during the third verse, he goes off on a random tangent talking about some sexual act that I, quite simply, don't give a shit about. Also, besides the little beat-boxy bit that was interesting, there was absolutely nothing to this beat other than annoying drums and poppy synths. This is the sort of song an already established rapper would make when he has nothing to say anymore, not something an underground artist trying to make his way should be creating. C'mon, Murs, what in the hell was this?

4. All Day (prod. Mum's The Word)

It's a good thing I already know that the next three tracks are dope. This was the point where I started listening to the project before, and therefore "All Day" was the first Murs song I ever heard where he was the lead artist. Ain't that somethin'? This track is just brilliant. Murs delivers his always down-to-earth lyrics with conviction on here, and I love his admitting to not being perfect or rich, and how he is unashamedly unafraid to embarrass himself - "smoke some cigarettes, watch some TV, or maybe it's a porn that I rent on DVD". Not to mention, the instrumental on here is groovy and smooth, and the sampling (which includes some De La Soul) is just so much better than it was on Good Music. This is a banger.

5. Making Music (prod. Diverse)

Another one I've already heard, and despite the short length, it might be the best song so far. Murs delivers the first storytelling lyrics on the album that aren't painfully awkward (see: "I Hate Your Boyfriend"), with some chill bars about spending time with his homies and pulling away from other crews at the lights, and stuff like that, and all over an utterly phenomenal instrumental from Diverse (remember that track "Enjoy Da Ride" from Redman's Malpractice? Well, looks like it's the same guy) that just makes me feel happy inside. You'll also really note on here that Murs' flow sounds a lot more calculated than it did on the previous album. I was feeling this one a lot. 

6. Slob My Nob (prod. Oso)

A heartfelt song with a beautifully soulful instrumental, that... oh wait, no. Still, "Slob My Nob", however bad the title is, is not actually a poor song - quite the contrary. Murs takes on the subject of, as he puts it, "cleaning the pipes" with a fun and typically unique attitude, displaying the utmost respect for all the women he mentions, and also coming up with clever punchlines and wordplay throughout this song - even if the "No Limit, Master P, Uhhhh" part was a bit over the top. This beat was funky as hell too. If Future or Quavo had made a song with this title, then I would beware, but with Murs, it seems, everything's all good.

7. Cha Cha Cha Interlude (prod. Mum's The Word)

Right, I haven't heard any more of the songs on this album, and that includes this track, that sadly appears to be a skit. But hey - it's not! This is actually just a nice little musical interlude to split the album in half. Well, isn't that nice?

8. Way Tight (prod. Mum's The Word)

Murs spends most of this track rapping about either sex or his ability as a rapper, and while he does drop a few great bars here and there, most of it just simply wasn't that entertaining to me. Also, this beat was pretty whack if I'm honest with you. Finally - this has the exact same formula that Murs claimed to hate on the opening track. Yeah, I wasn't feelin' this one too much.

9. In the Zone (prod. Mum's The Word)

The far more soulful instrumental on this track already meant I was going to enjoy this more than the previous one, but thankfully Murs stepped his game up on the mic as well here. Nicholas drops some pretty nice bars about his past, and also about his current situation, and some of his favourite times, as well as his darkest. The repetitive flow (that also instigated an interpolation of EPMD classic "You're a Customer") got a little tiresome, but still, I was a fan of this one. Nice chorus, too.

10. I Did It Like That (prod. Mum's The Word)

Over an instrumental from Mum's the Word that is easily one of the best of the entire album, Murs spits some celebratory rhymes that are actually pretty great - the bit where he talked about his Mum reciting his raps was very poignant. I also thought the sampling in this track was done very well, or at least compared to that done on Good Music. This was easily one of my favourite songs yet. 

11. You Want My Move? (2002) (prod. Mum's The Word, co-prod. Javier Mosley)

Hey, look - Murs has finally decided to do a storytelling track!! On this song, Murs spits two verses, both with different storylines that may or may not connect. In the first one, he's at a club, and he notices this guy with an awful dress sense who, in spite of this, is getting all the girls. It's pretty funny, and the other story about a girl pursuing him because he pretended to be a bad dude was equally potent. When that first hook came in, however, I literally thought to myself: "this is the hook??" - it's quite bad. Still, I found this track to be incredibly entertaining, and the instrumental was also pure bliss. This is the type of stuff I want from Murs - I loved this song.

12. Like What (prod. Gandalf)

Mum's The Word eschews production for one song here, handing the boards to Gandalf of all people - I didn't know he was into hip-hop! As for this song... ehhh, I didn't like this one too much. The instrumental sounds like some '80s dance pop shit, and Murs' attempts to spit a bit more quickly during the first verse go down the ears about as well as a large metal rod. This was interesting, but not the kind of interesting I ever really want to hear again.

13. Sucks To Be You (prod. Mum's The Word)

This song was alright, but the high-pitched instrumental was pretty bloody irritating to be honest, and I couldn't really find it in me to pay much attention to Murs' lyrics. Again, it's alright, but the title is better than the actual song.

14. Way Tight Rmx (prod. Mum's The Word)

Good thing that they remixed one of the worst songs on this whole album - maybe they'll give us a better beat. And they did! Lyrics are all exactly the same here, but the much nicer musical backing meant that I was able to enjoy this a hell of a lot more than the original. Aaaaand, we're done.

Overall, this was a pretty great album, even if it's nowhere near as consistent as his first two records. Firstly, most of the instrumentals on this effort are really nice, with some of the smoother beats on tracks like "Making Music" and "You Want My Move?" standing out, as well as the higher energy production on the title track, "Living Legend" and "All Day". Unfortunately, and this is a gripe I did not have with the last LP, there are some flat out whack instrumentals on this album, "Way Tight" and "Like What" being two prime examples. The latter was so bad, it even influenced our host to drag himself down with it, dropping the worst performance I have heard from him thus far, even ahead of some of the amateur verses we heard on his debut. And as a whole, this thing is just nowhere near as consistent as his previous two albums. Up to track 7, I really enjoyed every song besides the dismal (and weirdly incel) "I Hate Your Boyfriend", but in the second half there was definitely a few songs that I either flat out disliked, or I just didn't really give a shit about. One major disappointment here is the lack of storytelling tracks - there were only like 2 or 3, and one of them (again, "I Hate Your Boyfriend") was terrible anyway. Even Murs himself didn't unleash as many great and memorable verses as he did on his last album, but I suppose I'll admit that his performance on most of these tracks was at worst solid, with some phenomenal performances here and there. His flow is also a little more calculated here than it was on the previous albums. Still, I can't say that I'm entirely satisfied with this LP, and considering how short it is, the inconsistency is definitely an issue - Murs sounds like he's attempting to find a new sound, and is making some bad choices during this period of experimentation. Still, most of these tracks are great, and I'll definitely enjoy playing it in the future. It's just a shame that Murs didn't quite deliver on the level I was expecting for this album - but my expectations were probably too high anyway. I mean, Good Music really was bloody good.

Expectations: ehh, I'll say Matched, as I pretty much realised by track three that they had been set too high beforehand. Good Music really was just magical, and that's a difficult feeling to re-create.

Best Track: You Want My Move? (2002)

Worst Track: Like What

Other episodes of the Murs-athon:

Pt. 1 - F'Real

Pt. 2 - Good Music

GZA/Genius - Beneath the Surface

It's been a while since I last covered the career of mr. Gary Grice, and so I thought I would finally catch up on reviewing the man's third studio album, and second after the formation of Wu-Tang Clan. Now, as we know, the late '90s were a difficult time for fans of the Wu. Gone were the days when we could expect albums filled with only RZA production and tons of features from core members - in this period, you could expect perhaps three RZA tunes at most, and a plethora of usually underwhelming guest verses from Wu affiliates who were inevitably nowhere near as skilled as their counterparts. Contrary to the solo run of 1994-1996, pretty much every Wu project from '98 and '99 was heavily disliked by the hip-hop heads, from the lukewarm reception to Method Man's Tical 2000: Judgement Day and Inspectah Deck's Uncontrolled Substance to the downright hatred toward Raekwon's Immobilarity (an album I don't actually mind, but oh well). And in the midst of this tragic fall from greatness, the Genius GZA put out his second Wu LP out through M.C.A. Records, and considering that I found his Liquid Swords to be the best project of the Wu's classic run, I went into this one with reasonably high expectations.

These expectations were perhaps set a little too high though, as the tracklist didn't look entirely right. Yes, we had features from Method Man, Ol' Dirty Bastard and two from Masta Killa, but on the other hand we only had one RZA production on the entire thing - the rest was left up to Mathematics and Arabian Knight to handle, not necessarily a bad thing considering the two were quite possibly better than RZA at this time anyway. The feature list was a little daunting, though - solo tracks seemed to be in the minority, and the guest appearances from Killah Priest, Hell Raizah and a ton of other mediocre Wu affiliates were in their plenties on here. And on top of that, the project had four skits throughout not including the intro and outro, skits that appeared to be sequenced about as well as the adverts on Channel 4's films. Pretty much everything about this, including the cover art that wasn't bad, but at the same time has some serious colour scheme issues (it looks like an Ikea advert), screamed that it was about to be the polar opposite to the wonderful Liquid Swords. But was this to be the case, and more importantly, was this a good album at all? Let's find out. 

1. Intro (prod. GZA)

The music that comes in during the second half (used to better effect later) of this intro is pretty great, but otherwise this is terribly self-important. Yes, the guy made Liquid Swords, but shouldn't we be able to move on from that by now?

2. Amplified Sample (prod. Mathematics)

Over an airy and loud Mathematics instrumental, GZA gets to rippin' the mic up with some excellent punchlines and use of various random phrases that are so unique to the Genius (see "apparent brightness of exploding stars", or "too late to activate hyperspacial thrust"). This man was really on some other shit. Of course, the effect is slightly decreased by the fact that he seems unbothered to write a second verse for this track, and just repeats the first a second time. I mean, I know writing rhymes can be a tough task, but on the first track? Really?

3. Beneath the Surface (feat. Killah Priest & Res) (prod. Inspectah Deck)

"On a man-made lake, there's a sheet of thin ice where unskilled skaters couldn't figure-8 twice". That's the line that GZA chooses to begin this song with, and it's bloody excellent. That type of random, metaphorical wordplay is exactly why I love GZA, and it's already evident on this album that he hasn't lost his lyrical ability at all. And, while Inspectah Deck's violin-led beat doesn't match up to the production work on Liquid Swords, it's still pretty beautiful, and sounds especially great once the Res chorus comes into play. Killah Priest doesn't fare quite as well as the Genius, but he still performs pretty amicably on here, making this track into the classic it is. This song is wonderful.

4. Skit #1 (prod. GZA)

Here lies the main problem with this album - the skits. This shit has no correlation with the rest of the project, and simply serves to agitate the listener and make them wish the next song would start already. But hey! If you didn't find this skit annoying enough, just look at what GZA has lined up next for you!

5. Skit #2 (prod. GZA)

Oh, for fuck's sake.

6. Crash Your Crew (feat. Ol' Dirty Bastard) (prod. John The Baptist)

Oh, GZA finally decided to give us a song, you say? Why, how kind of him! This was one of the singles released for this project if I'm not mistaken, and it's pretty damn good, even if GZA does throw a shot at journalists somewhere within his long-ass verse. ODB's manic chorus and the triumphant instrumental are the perfect contrast to GZA's more monotone flow, and the structure of this song is also pretty interesting. Nice stuff.

7. Breaker, Breaker (prod. Arabian Knight)

Now, this right here? This has got to be one of the most underrated club bangers in the history of hip-hop music. Arabian Knight's production work on here is simply fantastic, with his pulsating strings and powerful drum beat providing the perfect backdrop for a lead single. Meanwhile, GZA provides a catchy hook and, despite this being a single, some of his most technically intricate bars of the entire evening. I mean, just look at these lyrics: 

"I move bravely, travellin' on a horse
On the battlefield, surrounded by the lost
Of those who plotted with the brains of animals
My high molecular structure be untangible
The name ring a bell, killable two syllable

The Wu is comin' through, the outcome is critical"

Now, if that ain't dope, then I don't know what to tell you.

8. High Price, Small Reward (feat. Masta Killa) (prod. Mathematics)

Stupid song title aside, I found this fairly short track to be pretty great. The intense production provides a nice contrast to the past few tracks, and the team up of GZA and Masta Killa is also easily one of the most logical in the Clan. Hearing the self-proclaimed "Genius" exclaim "What?! Stupid!!" at the end of his verse was highly amusing too. This is an enjoyable cut.

9. Hip Hop Fury (feat. RZA, Hell Raizah, Royal Fam (Timbo King) & Dreddy Kruger) (prod. Arabian Knight)

It seems that GZA saved the most annoying and cheapest sounding instrumental of the evening for this Wu-affiliate posse cut, and when I say "annoying and cheap", I mean it. How the hell did Mathematics produce this and Ghostface's "Mighty Healthy" within the span of one year? That's like Quavo turning into an Andre 3000 rival. Anyway, I don't hate this, but the lyrical ability of most of these guys appears significantly lacking in comparison to GZA, making me wish this had been left for one of those Wu-Tang Killa Beez compilations they did around this time. 

10. Skit #3 (prod. GZA)

Refer to my comments on track 5, only add even more emphasis to it.

11. 1112 (feat. Masta Killa, Killah Priest & Njeri) (prod. RZA)

Seeing as this is the only RZA produced cut of the evening (yeah, he didn't even cover the track he was featured on), most listeners probably had pretty high expectations for it. This instrumental certainly reminds me of Bobby Digital In Stereo, but having GZA, Masta Killa and the actually quite good Njeri Earth rapping over it definitely helps the medicine go down better than if it was Robert himself. This also runs circle after circle around the previous posse cut. Good stuff.

12. Skit #4 (prod. GZA)

Another skit?? Why, GZA, why??? Still, at least this one has correlation with the following track, so I can't fault it on that. Maybe this would be more tolerable if I didn't have to hear another bloody skit two tracks earlier.

13. Victim (feat. Njeri & Joan Davis) (prod. Arabian Knight)

GZA decides to offer up something more in the vein of "Cold World" here, and thankfully the singer he acquires for the hook actually does a pretty great job on it (if there's one thing holding Liquid Swords back from perfection, it's Life's bloody hook on "Cold World"). This track deals with the mindless gang violence that tends to occur in the hood, and GZA's issues with gun control in America (of which there isn't any). The instrumental on this one is bleak and haunting, and both GZA and Njeri do well at addressing this subject. GZA's ending to his verse felt a bit out of place though - "I aimed and blast one shot, and left my name: the GZA". See what I mean? Still, otherwise this is great.

14. Publicity (prod. Mathematics)

Considered as a follow up to Liquid Swords' "Labels", "Publicity" is a one verse wonder where GZA puts as many magazine publisher names into his raps as is possible. The Mathematics instrumental on this one is absolutely brilliant, and GZA's lyrical swords are on full display right here. This is easily one of the best tracks on the album.

15. Feel Like An Enemy (feat. Hell Raizah, Killah Priest, Trigga & Prodical Sun) (prod. Mathematics)

It seems that Gary has popped out of the studio to host the local van driving competition, and so (miserably) the featured guests are left to handle this one all by themselves. While this instrumental is pretty bangin', none of the MCs (including Trigga, of popular sitcom Only Fools & Horses) manage to grab my attention, which, considering what we've heard from them already on here, isn't all that surprising. Still, this definitely could have been worse. 

16. Stringplay (Like This, Like That) (feat. Method Man) (prod. Arabian Knight)

This track was held to a bar almost impossible to reach when this album first came out - being the Meth feature, this was automatically perceived as a follow up to "Shadowboxin'", and when it inevitably failed to reach those lofty expectations, people were not happy, and considered this one of the worst songs on the whole album. However, I actually really enjoy this one. The instrumental is chilled out, bouncy and fun, meanwhile Meth and GZA both destroy this one lyrically, with Meth's "We play for keeps!" gimmick coming across as actually funny rather than ridiculously annoying. Yeah, this is actually pretty damn good.

17. Mic Trippin (prod. Mathematics)

Over an airy and triumphant Mathematics instrumental that actually really fits the vibe of the album cover, GZA drops some bars and knowledge typical of the man by this point. A pretty poignant and smooth way of closing out your album.

18. Outro (feat. LA the Darkman & Royal Fam (Timbo King)) (prod. Arabian Knight)

Oh, but wait! What self respecting rapper would end their album on a song, when you can instead leave with a self-important outro, souring the experience significantly for any listener? Okay, that was harsh - here, the two featured guests do a solid job of rapping over the pretty dark and pulsating beat that we heard in the second half of the intro. I've still got this problem with most outros, though.

If I had been alive back in 1999, and had eagerly anticipated this as a follow-up to Liquid Swords, then yes, I probably would have been a teensy bit disappointed. Does that mean that this album is bad? Hell muthafuckin' no! Beneath the Surface is a fantastic sophomore (well, not actually, but let's forget Words From the Genius for now) release, with a huge offering of great tracks with no truly bad songs in there. Sure, a couple of the instrumentals sound a bit tacky, there's an over abundance of Wu-affiliates, and the skits were really, really not needed, but that's about as far as it goes concerning criticism. GZA's lyrical game remains as potent as it was in the mid '90s when Wu were dominating the planet, and his beat selection is almost consistently fantastic, with both Arabian Knight and Mathematics (among a couple others) making it their mission to give Gary some fantastic backing for his astonishing metaphors and wordplay. GZA thankfully doesn't fall down the "R&B hook" route on this album (that would be saved for the next one), only bringing one singer in, and for a poignant sung chorus that actually fits the vibe of the song it's on. And, thank God, GZA's attempt at a club banger on this record went down a treat, as "Breaker, Breaker" to this day stands as one of my absolute favourite songs by the man. And, despite the 18 tracks we see on the back cover, this thing is less than 50 minutes - take that how you will, I suppose. Anyway, this thing is absolutely worth a listen, and in my opinion it's the second best Wu sophomore release, after Supreme Clientele obviously. There is a lot of value to be found here, and if you can handle skits, then you'll enjoy this a lot. It's a dope album.

Best Tracks: Beneath the Surface, Crash Your Crew, Breaker Breaker, 1112, Victim, Publicity, Stringplay (Like This, Like That)

Worst Tracks: Hip Hop Fury, the goddamned skits

If you would like a bit more GZA to read about, click here, and if you don't really care what Wu member you read about, you just want Wu, then I'll direct ya here (solo stuff) and here (group stuff).