Followers of the Murs catalogue should know by now that from 2004 onwards, every two years there had been a ten track collaborative record between Murs himself and producer 9th Wonder released to the public - they weren't always the main focus of the man's career (Sweet Lord, for example, was pretty much released as a promotional tool for his solo major label debut Murs For President), but they were always something the underground hip-hop audience could look forward to when they entered a new year that ended with an even number.
So when in 2012, the pair announced they were to release their last collaborative piece, the hip-hop world was very sad. I think. Of course, it's entirely plausible that no-one actually cared, as the reception to their previous project together Fornever had been lukewarm at best, even though I enjoyed it personally. A lot of people were even saying that Murs had entered a rough spot in his career - even though it's difficult to believe that people could hate the wonderful Love & Rockets Vol 1: The Transformation, some still did, and it's fair to say that Murs wasn't feeling the poor reviews on his work at all. Therefore, he must have decided to re-invent himself a bit to appease to a potential new audience, and this meant that the series of albums with 9th Wonder was to be concluded. And so, on November 13th of 2012, Nicholas Carter and Patrick Douthit released The Final Adventure on the latter's own Jamla Records - and I'm sure the title alone struck fear into the hearts of underground heads everywhere.
Like with all of their previous albums, The Final Adventure is produced in its entirety by 9th Wonder, and aside from a guest appearance on the opening song by Rapsody (a very early-stage career move from her), all the tracks' vocals are handled by Murs. The CD art for this album isn't great if I'm being honest, with a couple of kids walking though one of those LA viaducts I always associate with The Terminator 2, but what does excite me is a) the song "Whatuptho" - not because of the title, but because I've actually already heard the song, and it's great - and b) the generally positive reception on this project - from what I'm seeing people took a lot more kindly to this than some of the other Murs projects released beforehand, and that's always a good sign. Am I excited about this album, then? Yes. Very excited.
Oh, and before I start this review, I want to say that I'm thinking of doing a Murs-athon Series 2, where I cover all of the collaborative albums with other vocalists that appear in his catalogue, since I've been enjoying his solo work so much. Please let me know if that's something you would like to see, and if there's anything else you feel deserves an introduction on the blog, then feel free to drop it in the comments.
Anyhow, let's get this one going!
All songs are produced by 9th Wonder.
1. Get Together (feat. Rapsody)
Over an engaging and very tight 9th instrumental, Rapsody takes up a large portion of screen time discussing her admiration for Murs, and also the lyrical prowess that she herself has, and it's pretty bloody great - she's got a powerful voice, great flow and excellent lyrics that made for a highly intriguing performance - that reference to Dr. House made me laugh too. The sooner I check out her work, the better, it seems. Murs pops up again at the end (after dropping a bit of spoken word at the start) to deliver a passionate and braggadocios verse that I was just completely in love with - "what up tho? You know I had to say it". This was a brilliant way to start up the album, and the short length only added to the intense atmosphere. Great track.
2. Whatuptho
This is the one song on the album that I have already heard, and I can safely say that it is a classic Murs joint. The beat from 9th Wonder is poignant and celebratory, and I love it, and Murs does it justice by dropping three verses full of fantastically quotable lines, and a chorus that will stick in your head for days after you first hear the song. A personal favourite line would be the one where he shouts out "green tea drinkers", since that covers yours truly, but I'd have to say the best lyric on here would be "Ain't no difference between a gangbanger and Malcolm X - the same anger / just misdirected, now neighbourhoods infected / so I gotta speak the truth, by the youth I've been selected". That is just one of the best lyrics Murs has ever spit. Yeah, this song is brilliant, and perfectly justifies the weight of its title.
3. Funeral For A Killer
Holy shit I did not expect that. So, I don't know if anyone's seen Murs' podcast Best Rapper In L.A., but it's something I have found loads of interest in listening to, and a podcast I have become very familiar with throughout the months since I started this Murs-athon. What I did not know was that the intro music used for every episode of that podcast is actually taken from the instrumental of this song. And what's super weird is that the music did not feel like it fit this song at all - maybe it's the fact that I'm used to it in the podcast, but to me it definitely sounds more like a little introduction piece than something that could fill out a whole song, especially one with lyrics as powerful as this. Still, I enjoyed this a lot, as Murs' lyrics that talk about how he still gets upset at a friend's death despite them being a killer in real life are pretty powerful, and the hook was dark too. Unfortunately, the instrumental on this one meant that I couldn't really have the proper first listen that I would have liked.
4. Baby Girl (Holding Hands)
The instrumental found on this track kinda reminded me of some of the more unorthodox beats we heard on Murray's Revenge, only it's just not really as good. Yeah, I wasn't entirely sure about this beat - there were elements I enjoyed, but I had to really concentrate to pick them out, and with a dope beat you shouldn't really have to do that. Still, you could say the same about the vocals - I really didn't care for the hook on here, provided by an uncredited Khrysis, and the lyrical content from Murs about falling in love with a girl whilst in third grade was, I don't know, corny, and also slightly uncomfortable. The song isn't bad, since Murs' passionate delivery is still there - this is way better than anything on Sweet Lord for example - but I'm still not entirely convinced by this song.
5. Walk Like A Woman
Presumably, this six-minute plus track is going to serve as a sequel or companion piece to the brilliant song "Walk Like a Man" from earlier in Murs' career - let's see if it delivers. Oh right - it fucking didn't. This song was six minutes long, but unfortunately it never really clicked with me fully at any point. There was a beat switch in the middle of this one, but going from one bland soul-sample beat into another midway through just to continue on the same basic lyrical tangent isn't going to make the song much more interesting, Murs, dammit!! Honestly, I might have enjoyed this tale of Murs' journey to marriage a bit more if he didn't give it such a name - aside from having a beat switch this is the polar opposite of "Walk Like a Man", and not exactly in a good way either. Sorry, Murs, but I didn't feel this too much.
6. Tale of Two Cities
Thankfully, this song picked the quality up, and then not only put it back to a good level but lifted it right up into "brilliant" territory - I loved this song. The track drops the lovey-dovey content of the previous couple of songs, and instead talks about gang violence in Los Angeles, and different paths the people could take in order to solve it and bring it to a stop. 9th Wonder's instrumental was powerful, especially the little harmonica hits in there, and Murs' lyricism was profound and insightful - "the future's in our reach, find solutions to the beef / get every shooter in the streets to ride for universal peace". All I can say is "phew" - I thought this album was going to a dark place for a second there.
7. Dance With Me
Well that song title doesn't look promising. Thankfully, this song was brilliant - Murs' lyrics were really powerful and hit hard, and the instrumental enhanced them in the best way. This song wasn't a corny diatribe of Murs asking some random girl he'd met to "dance" like I thought it would be - instead it was an interesting account of a girl he was friends with whom he kind of had feelings for, but didn't know whether it was a good idea to start a relationship. Eventually they did, it tumbled down, and then they weren't really friends anymore. Sure, the content doesn't scream "L.A. hardcore rapper", but I still found it really interesting, and I loved the beat as well. Honestly, this was one of my favourite tracks on the whole record.
8. Better Way
This was also a very interesting track, one only slightly hindered by the presence of a repetitive hook that really did not need to be recited twice at the very end. On this song, Murs discusses religion, and how even though he was bought up a Christian he doesn't necessarily entirely believe in the existence of God now. The beat on here was pretty great, and I found Murs' lyrics very relatable - my parents are both pretty much atheist, but sometimes things happen and I'm just not entirely convinced that there's nothing out there. I definitely don't believe in the whole nativity scene, nor the Adam and Eve story, but sometimes I am swayed by theories of re-incarnation - it just seems crazy to me that there is literally nothing after you die. Whatever, I'm going off on one now. Point is, the song is great. There we go.
9. Wherever You Are
Murs spits a one verse wonder over a dramatic and slightly depressing beat, that seems to discuss him meeting a woman, and then becoming confused when she introduces him to eMail. The powerful ending to the track is slightly tainted by the ridiculousness of some of the lyrics in the middle - I mean, why the hell are you focusing on your incompetence with the internet when you're supposed to be discussing love? Still, I did find this song very entertaining, and 9th did a great job once again. Nice stuff.
10. It's Over
Well, that was my fucking favourite song on the whole album. The instrumental on this song was absolute perfection, and Murs absolutely destroyed it with a passionate and heartfelt performance that included three different verses discussing completely different subject matters, with one common theme - the situation is now over. The first verse talks to an ex-girlfriend who would not stop trying to contact him even though the relationship was long finished, and the second verse is about someone who keeps trying to leech off of Murs and his fame, forgetting that he should be making a name for himself just like Murs did all those years ago. The third and final verse that ends the song on an abrupt note is all about Murs' relationship with 9th Wonder, and it's this verse that hits the most, or at least it would if the pair hadn't teamed up twice more for full-length albums - yes, the saga of Murs and 9th does continue, so don't worry about that. However, even if this was the last song they had released I couldn't have been hurt - this is seriously one of the dopest Murs songs in existence.
I'll admit something - by the time we reached track 5, I was getting quite worried about this album. I loved the first two songs, and I kinda liked track three despite the issues I had with the beat (which was more my fault for listening to that podcast before this album). However, tracks 4 and 5 didn't move me in the way that I would have liked, and both of these songs were standing around the 6/10 area to me - honestly I would give "Walk Like a Woman" more of a 5, which is a pretty damned low rating for a Murs song. However, as soon as we reached the second half this suddenly became a great, consistent, excellent album. The last five songs are not only diverse and musically interesting, but also feature incredibly passionate vocal performances from Murs - one thing I did notice about this project was the fact that Murs sounded very excited to be working on it. In fact, I would say that this was his best rapping performance on an album since Murray's Revenge - and that's pretty high praise. There wasn't any song on here that was quite as good as "Animal Style", "Walk Like a Man" or "God's Work", but nonetheless as an album it worked together really well, and I think I'll probably enjoy those two songs I was questionable about more on future listens, knowing that the album really picks up in the second half. God, I was getting worried about this thing. Thankfully, it turned out to be just what I wanted from Murs - a dope and unique selection of instrumentals covered with relatable lyrics spoken with a passionate delivery that was even more emphasised than usual on this album right here. It would have been a tough thing to accept that Murs and 9th Wonder were ending their streak, but at the same time this project serves as a fitting end to their legacy, blending the sounds of all the albums that made them great, and ignoring the corny, uninspired bullshit that was Sweet Lord (and yes, I still hate that album). I'm very happy with this project, and I'll enjoy spending time with it up until I get to the next Murs solo effort, released three years later. See ya!
Expectations: Matched
Best Track: "It's Over"
Worst Track: "Walk Like a Woman"
Make sure to view some of my other Murs write-ups over here!
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