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:
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!
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