Having released two incredibly successful collaborative albums with producer 9th Wonder, and some other collaborative projects in the underground too (including one with Slug and one with 3 Melancholy Gypsys), Nicholas Carter, whom is referred to by his extravagant hair stylist as Murs, seemed to finally be getting the attention he so rightly deserved by the time the year 2008 was in play. Two years prior, he had come through with yet another 10 track LP with 9th, Murray's Revenge, and it was an excellent piece of work. 9th Wonder's beats were astonishingly produced and arguably the best soundscape Murs had ever rapped over, and Nicholas himself did the beats justice with some of his best MCing yet, exhibiting excellent storytelling skills, powerful messages and a sharp sense of humour to make for one of the best records of the year 2006. And this had gotten him noticed by a certain Warner Bros. Music, a major (!!) label that was to sign Murs for his upcoming solo album Murs For President, which was set for release at some point in the second half of 2008.
But before we get to that, we have to discuss this...
Prior to being picked up by Warner and catapulted into the spotlight like an even hairier version of Sideshow Bob, Murs had teamed up once more with 9th Wonder to release the third project in their series of collaborations, and second to be put out by independent L.A. label Record Collection. And by now, we knew the drill. Sweet Lord, the new record which was released in July of 2008, was a 10 track LP entirely produced by 9th, and this time with absolutely no features whatsoever, making even the sparse guest list of two on Murray's Revenge look overcrowded. The major difference this time was that, to make the artists look savvy to the younger generation (probably), this project was released as an internet only mixtape of sorts for free, with only a very small number of limited edition CDs being pressed for the public. These CDs are now quite rare, so until I can find one for a decent price, it looks like we're back to streaming for this one.
Sweet Lord is far more obscure than the popular Murs 3:16: The 9th Edition and Murray's Revenge albums, and therefore I'm not entirely sure what to expect of this one. It doesn't have any hits at all, and judging by the Genius views there aren't any songs that have taken off in the way "Bad Man!", "The Pain" or "L.A." had. The album cover gives me a little bit of hope, though, as I actually quite like it - the photos of Murs and 9th in their element at the shows teamed with the old school aesthetic makes me think this might retain the feel of the last two, and maybe even be a little more hardcore. Of course, the title gives an opposing feeling to that, but oh well. Still, their last two albums were absolutely phenomenal, so I'm hoping this will be a worthy finale to the days before Murs officially left the underground.
All songs are produced by 9th Wonder.
1. The Intro
After a bit of dialogue between the collaborators that appears to mimic the intro of N.W.A.'s "Express Yourself" (which was pretty hilarious, by the way), this nice-ass 9th Wonder beat comes in, which is a perfect mix of both hardcore and soulful that makes it easily stand up to some of the stuff I've heard from the duo before. Meanwhile, Murs gets to spitting his philosophical, humorous, and occasionally brag-filled bars in a one verse wonder that dispels any doubt about the "third time's a charm" theory that Murs happens to mention. This intro was DOPE!
2. Are You Ready?
9th once again delivers on the production side of things here, offering a soulful and meditative instrumental that would seem to be a perfect backdrop for Murs to spit his philosophical and down-to-earth raps over. Unfortunately, Nicholas does the exact opposite of this and flat-out ruins the song by spitting with a slow and dull flow which still doesn't offer any standout bars whatsoever, broken up on every 7th and 8th line by the sample repeating the title of the song. The female sung hook also practically caused me to jump out of my seat from how shocked it made me - that shit somehow sounds completely out of place. Yeah, I really didn't care too much for this one, and I think that might have been the worst Murs performance since the first verse of "Like What". That's pretty bad.
3. Nina Ross
You know, for most of this song I was pretty much bored out of my brains - Murs' lame storytelling about a woman he met at a bar seemed pretty cliche and uninteresting, the hook was all kinds of terrible, and the beat was easily the weakest so far. However, when we got to that twist at the end, the song completely made sense to me. Man, that was crazy, and suddenly my faith is restored in this project. I won't spoil it for you, but I will say that that ending shocked me a hell of a lot, and it's pretty much inevitable that the rest of the song will sound a lot better now that I know what happens. Yeah, I gotta give it to Murs there - shame 9th couldn't bring himself to provide a richer beat for this one.
4. Free
This one seems to be in reference to Obama's being elected as President of the U.S., as Murs reflects on this one about how he is finally free to do what he wants after years of oppression. Unfortunately, this song didn't grip me much - Murs' first verse had some pretty powerful statements (specifically the one about how healthcare should be free for everyone), but after that his rhymes seemed to blend into each other, and the hook didn't help, being kinda repetitive in all honesty. Also, this might be the worst instrumental yet on any of these Murs/9th Wonder albums - the annoying melody teamed with the bright but ultimately flat instrumentation makes for a pretty aggravating soundtrack that Murs fails to save. Yeah, I wasn't all into this one.
5. And I Love It
Murs lists out a bunch of things that he loves - a creative concept, but not one that really ever transitions into verses that I might consider actually dope, especially since the song is almost four minutes and that concept is never actually left. My theory about Obama on the last song is further vitalised by the mention of the man on this one, so that is good. However, "fruit with no pesticides"? C'mon, Murs. That ain't gangsta. If there's one thing I did like here, it was 9th Wonder's beat, which was pretty intense and had some really great samples. If only Murs had some proper content for us...
6. Pusshhhhhh
This was the song I was most excited for on the album, as this title is really cool to me. And, while it's probably the best song since the intro, it still isn't very good. Murs' lyrics on this one are actually potent, with some nice motivational bars about pushing yourself on and not caring about what others say, the hook is pretty catchy, and 9th Wonder's aggressive instrumental is actually really engaging. But why oh why is Murs' flow on this song, and album in general, so formulaic? He can't seem to switch it up ever, and this is quickly becoming a problem for me. And when your lyrical content isn't incredible, you need better flow, and Murs just isn't exhibiting that at all here. This song is, as I said, not bad, but this album really has to pick itself up from here, man.
7. It's For Real
Another merely OK song. 9th Wonder provides us with a sappy and uplifting beat that simply goes in one ear and out the other, and Murs doesn't even sound like he's really trying on here - what happened to the guy that sounded so passionate merely two years before this? This song wouldn't sound bad on its own, but after six other songs (remember, that intro was dope) of dull, uninspired content, this song is really tired. Like me.
8. Marry Me
Well this sucked, and I bet you can guess what the reasons for that are as well. Murs, this is a rap album, isn't it? Who the fuck do you think would listen to this album wanting this soppy content? Are you serious, man??
9. Love The Way
Probably the worst song yet, and if you read the rest of the review, you can tell that that's quite a feat. Honestly, Murs' performance here is a bit heartfelt and not too soppy, but man I cannot get past the awful hook (sung by an uncredited Tyler Woods) and the completely flat and uninteresting work from 9th Wonder behind the boards. This song isn't even horrible overall, though. It's just fucking dull.
10. Murs Inatra
Ugh. Last song. Corny-ass title. What the fuck's up with that? Murs-inatra? Really? That's almost as bad as "Murs-athon". Possibly worse. Nonetheless, I thought this song was alright. 9th's sentimental production was smooth and fairly enjoyable, and Murs' lone verse was actually proficient, with some nice bars covering various topics such as depression and his father's death. Even the set up of him hosting the song was fairly well done. If only the album had been better, this would have been a solid closer. Oh well.
Sigh... Yeah, Sweet Lord is easily the worst album from Murs I've covered so far. This album was pretty fucking boring if I'm honest with you, for several reasons. Firstly, we have the production. 9th Wonder really did put all his effort into Murray's Revenge, as it seems it's been sapped here. Aside from the intro, and perhaps some other beats like "Are You Ready?", "And I Love It" "Pusshhhhhh" and "Murs Inatra", half of these instrumentals are generic, sappy, and dull as a motherfucker. It's crazy how the beat on the intro was so good, and then that energy wasn't bought back once throughout this whole project, with only "Pusshhhhhh" even coming close to it. 9th let us down, then, but not as much as Murs, who really just did not deliver on this thing. Even though I already touched on the main issue of his flows being formulaic and really uninteresting, most of the lyrical content wasn't all that either. "Nina Ross" told an interesting tale, the fake out at the start of "And I Love It" was creative, and, as I said, his performances on "Intro" and "Murs Inatra" were stellar too. Other than that, everything was pretty bad. "Free" was corny and preachy", "Are You Ready?" did the opposite of what the title aimed to do - it turned the listener away - and "Marry Me" was one of the most horrible songs from Murs yet. Even the hooks were weak, except for that on "Pusshhhhhh", and most of the time they didn't bother with choruses, instead just speaking in-between each verse. Man, this was a bloody letdown. Let's just hope Murs left his best verses for Murs For President, because if that album is anything like this, then my Murs-athon might start to go downhill, fast.
Expectations: Subceeded
Best Track: "The Intro"
Worst Track: "Marry Me"
Catch up on the other, far, far more positive Murs-athon episodes here.
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