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
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