Murs-athon pt. 13 - Love & Rockets Vol 1: The Transformation

The last Murs project I reviewed on here was Varsity Blues 2, and if I'm being perfectly honest, I didn't feel it much at all. Yes, a couple of the tracks were pretty dope, but one of them was a previously released song anyway, and when it was bad, it was bad. Shit like "Bummed Out Blues" and "She's So Lost" were some of the weakest shit I've heard in this entire Murs-athon. Hell, I'd rather listen to stuff on Sweet Lord than those cuts. Still, the fact that I was unmoved by the album as a whole doesn't turn me off from the excitement surrounding the next project in Murs' catalogue, and the album I'll be listening to today - the extravagantly titled Love & Rockets Vol 1: The Transformation, apparently so called because Murs transitioned from having hair to not having hair during the recording of this project. 

This album was released on October 11th of 2011, and it's disputed where exactly it falls into the Murs catalogue. The only name that is listed on the front cover is that of Murs himself, and so therefore one might assume that this falls in as his 6th solo studio album, a follow up to the stellar Murs For President he dropped back in 2008. However, there are a lot of people who would list this amongst his many collaborative projects, the reason for that being that this album was entirely produced by Ski Beatz (except one track, apparently) - that's the same Ski Beatz who worked on Jay-Z's first two albums, yes, and was the man behind "Dead Presidents". So, already I'm excited for this record - that's no no-name producers cooking up weird rock and folky beats. Instead, we have a revered boom-bap producer who made the beats to some of Jay-Z's best '90s cuts. I mean, how can you argue with "Streets Is Watching"? "22 Two's"? "Politics As Usual"? This guy is clearly a mastermind - the question is, was he still on the same caliber in 2011? 

Well, fans of rapper Curren$y would tell you "yes", as the man had done some work with him, but personally I haven't heard any of his later work, so I don't know. Let's stop talking about him now, though, and instead focus on the star attraction - that's Nicholas Carter, also known as Murs. This album was one of the man's biggest and most successful (it's all relative, remember) to date, with "Remember 2 Forget" being one of his most streamed songs, and "Animal Style" not being far behind - in fact, I've heard the latter of those already, and I can say with confidence it's one of the best Murs songs ever, and one of the most daring song concepts in hip-hop history. Just wait until we get to it, you'll see. The features on this thing are fairly sparse, with the only ones I'm even slightly familiar with being West Coast veteran O.C. and TDE signee Ab-Soul, with the rest of them being names I personally have never come across before. I mean, Locksmith? Tabi Bonney? Come on, no-one knows these guys. Also, we have Dee-1, with whom Murs dropped a project in 2020 titled He's the Christian, I'm the Rapper - not a title that gives me much hope, but we'll see. 

This album is 13 tracks long, and so it's not too lengthy, but still certainly long enough to classify it as a proper album. The question is, is this an album that will improve Murs' discography, or lessen it's worth to a large degree? Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

Also, that album cover is fucking sick - that alone makes me more intrigued for the project. 

All songs produced by Ski Beatz except where noted.

1. Epic Salutations

I can't lie, this song title really makes me want to like this one. I know, it's silly, but I guess that's how things go sometimes. Over a fairly unorthodox instrumental that starts off drumless but then builds into something more hip-hop like, Murs raps about a bunch of random shit, including adventures in space, dealing drugs to aliens, and (toward the beginning) his own impact on the genre, and how he believes he's been a substantial part of it. He also mentions how he has quality and quantity, something you can't really deny when looking at his discography so far, even if there has been a couple of iffy moments. This song is just one long verse over some fantastically weird yet equally celebratory music from Ski Beatz, and Murs sounds invigorated and excited to be in the booth. This was probably the best way he could have possibly introduced us to the record. "While I'm slanging moon rocks to these alien fellas!"

2. Remember 2 Forget

Well, it seems that we're at the break up songs already, but I don't mind that, as I actually enjoyed this one. Even though the "2" in the title is irksome, the whole "remembering to forget a relationship" concept of this is really interesting, and probably has given many support when they find themselves in the dire situation where they can't get over a lost love. The instrumental on this thing isn't too down, with Ski Beatz providing a fairly spacey sounding beat with use of a sample that reminds of 9th Wonder, and Murs' actual lyrical content on this thing was good, even if it reminds of other songs in his catalogue, such as "A Part Of Me". Also, the hook is really, really memorable. This was actually a dope track - there's a reason it's one of his most famous. 

3. 67 Cutlass

Murs kicks his first proper storytelling rap of the day, and it's another absolute success. The instrumental on this thing has an old-school boom-bap flavour that I just adore, and it's the perfect place for Murs to spit - and man is this guy good at laying out a story. On this one, we hear a tale of Murs and his buddy rolling around in their vehicle, and with some shrooms in there too, and then they get pulled over by a police car, so they're like "aww, shit". Then, they eat all the shroomz just before the cop gets there, and he tells Murs to pop the trunk. He does, and there's weed in there, albeit not his weed. So, his buddy admits to the cop that it's his weed, and then runs off into the distance, knocking the cop down. As the pig tries to get back up, Murs trips him over, and he hits his head on the side of the car and fucking dies, not a turn I was expecting the story to take. So, Murs and his friend put him in the boot, and head off to the woods to bury him, and just as the police helicopters start circling to find the two murderers, the shrooms kick in. What's funny is that I just told that whole story after one listen, and with no transcription in front of me. That's just how invigorating and fantastic Murs is here. This was another fantastic cut. 

4. Eazy-E

Track four on this album is a light-hearted and celebratory tribute to the West Coast hip-hop artists who paved the way for Murs and others like him, and I absolutely loved it. Murs drops as many names here as you'd hear on the average The Game song, but it works in this instance as he pays tribute to Ice Cube, E-40, WC, and of course Eazy-E, as well as many others. The song also starts with a reference to a line from Ice Cube's "It Was a Good Day", so that was dope too. Ski's instrumental on this thing was simply beautiful, with great melodies and dope drums, and Murs' verses were filled with classic reference for the West Coast fanboys to vibe to. And this had easily the best hook on the album so far, too - that chorus was nice as hell. This was a fantastic tribute cut, and arguably as good as Murs' other dedication to his hometown "L.A.". Well, maybe...

5. Hip Hop & Love (feat. Tabi Bonney)

A collaboration with another hip-hop artist called Tabi Bonney, who I had never actually heard of until now, but whatever. This actually appeared on one of his projects before this Murs one, I believe, and it's easy to tell, as this has a very different atmosphere to what we've seen so far. It's still good, though - this one's a tribute to hip-hop as a whole, and Bonney's opening verse was definitely decent, even if his delivery was a little bit sleepy. The chorus was alright, but really it was Murs who made this better - he uses a deeper voice than usual on this one that reminds me of his performance on "Lookin' Fly", and it's for the better, as the rapping from him on here is dope as hell, especially in his second verse where he shouts a bunch of artists who inspired him. As for the production, it was a pretty basic West Coast upbeat tune that you could ride your convertible to in the sunshine - or at least that's what I got from it. This wasn't fantastic like the first four songs, but I still certainly enjoyed it a lot. 

6. International

Well, Murs has never been one for the most conventional subject matter (remember "West Coast Cinderella"? How about "She's So Lost"? No? Oh yeah - they both sucked), but even if making a whole song about how you like to fly and the act of actually getting on a plane isn't guaranteed to captivate, Murs does a nice job of it on here, especially when it comes to lines like "nope I don't smoke weed, but do I stay high? Yes!". This is of course largely helped by Ski's jazzy instrumental, which is all kinds of excellent, but even without such a brilliant beat, I would most likely still find myself very entertained by Murs' lyrics on this song - there's even a Cheers reference in there, which was appreciated. This song was dope as hell. 

7. S-K-I-B-E-A-T-Z (feat. Locksmith)

This was certainly one of the songs that stood out on this tracklist thanks to the title, and also the feature from a gentleman under the stage name Locksmith - now that's intriguing to me. And this song was bloody good, man. As much as I love Murs' "everything is wonderful" attitude a lot of the time, it's nice to hear him get back to dissin' whack rappers and being a cocky twat throughout this one - even if he discredits his own work at the end of both of his verses, and says "let's get back to the music". Some of the lines on this thing were straight hilarious, such as "she got a crazy body, but she a stupid-ass" - that one genuinely had me laughing. The instrumental meanwhile once again utilises horns, but unlike on the last song which was quite subdued, these ones are loud and triumphant, perfect for the braggadocio displayed in the verses. Oh, and Locksmith came in at the end for a dope verse too, with a faster flow than Murs to make for a change of pace. The scratches on the hook that spell out the song title are just the icing on the cake - this was easily one of the best songs so far. 

8. Westside Love

Remember that song "Freak These Tales" from the classic Murs 3:16: The 9th Edition? Well, this song appears to be in a similar vein at first, as Murs details many meetings he's had with different girls, and all the hook-ups he's had over the years. This is the subject matter he details in the verses, anyway, but during the chorus he gets to talking to this one chick from the West Coast who he really wants to be with, and I have to say that the chorus is probably my least favourite element of this song, all thanks to the weird electric guitar and vocoder sounds that enter during that portion - it just sounds too cluttered if you ask me. Still, the actual rapping on here was cool, and the overall message of the song was nice too. Murs is good at making love songs, and as long as there aren't any more on here, then this one should stand out as a dope joint. We can hope...

9. Life & Time (feat. Ab-Soul & O.C.)

Another more celebratory cut with an aggressive flavour, and also the song with the two star guests on this album. This song is an interesting meet-up - we have a '90s West Coast MC, a 2000s West Coast MC and a 2010s West Coast MC all teaming up, and all delivering equally fantastic verses. And no, that doesn't reflect badly on Ab-Soul - it just shows how damn good O.C. and Murs do on this thing (well, you can expect Murs to be spitting fire at this stage). Murs' first verse disses modern rappers for being too soft (*cough*Drake*cough*), and he actually spits some dope disses in there - "wouldn't throw a cream puff in a cupcake war" being one that I found funny. Ab-Soul spends his verse bigging himself up, which he does a good job of, and he also says on there that if it wasn't for hip-hop he'd probably lose it - I'm sure I've heard that somewhere before? Anyway, O.C. brings up the rear for a dope verse where he compares the old and new scenes, and he does a good job for how long he'd been in the game by this point. The instrumental on this thing was all kinds of fantastic, and I loved the performances from all three MCs. This is the type of shit I love in hip-hop, man.

10. Reach Hire

I can't lie - that song title is stupid as fuck, and does not give me high hopes for this song. But consider me surprised, as I actually found this to be one of the best joints on the whole album. The chilled-out boom-bap instrumental on this song worked perfectly, with the jazzy elements complementing Murs' flow to a tee, and the actual rapping was dope as a muh'fucker too - this wasn't some cringy anthem telling us to "reach for the stars" like I thought it would be. Instead, Murs spends the tune rapping about his own come up, and his journey from local backpack rapper to one of the most respected underground MCs of all time. I honestly can't imagine anyone not liking this - the song title sucks, but everything about this actual song was great. I was literally just chilling and vibing the whole time to this one. Great song. 

11. Dream On (feat. Dee-1)

Another corny title, but will this one surprise me like the last song? Well, at first, I actually thought I was going to dislike this one, because I've never been the greatest fan of Murs & electric guitar together, but as I got further into this song I realised that it actually worked really well. Despite the aforementioned guitar, the beat was still quite chilled out on here, and I really loved the general vibe of it. What I also really liked was the back and forth between the two MCs, who delivered eight bars each on all of the three verses to make for the dopest structure on this entire record. The rapping here was also really good, as the pair of them talk about their own accomplishments, and the dreams that they still aim to pursue. I was slightly disturbed by the line "And I refuse to be that old, lonely dude at home watching porn, forty plus lurkin' around the college dorms" from the guest here, though - I mean, shouldn't you be repulsed by that idea? Just the way he said it made it seem like it was an alternative to him if he wasn't married. Like, that's a fucking disgusting thing to do, you know? Most lonely men probably aren't lurking around college dorms every night! That line really got to me, but otherwise I enjoyed the guest's performance here. I also loved the hook - "what's a dream without a dreamchaser chasing it?" This was a dope cut. 

12. 316 Ways

Murs brings another song title to heavily reference his big day - the 16th of March, or "3:16" as we are constantly reminded of. This song is bloody aggressive, sort of Murs' version of Tech N9ne's "The Industry Is Punks", as he picks apart the flaws of the mainstream industry in hip-hop music, and disses all the rappers who are going around flaunting their wealth, not knowing that they're bound to be screwed over soon enough. The title refers to the chorus - "316 ways to kill the industry" - a chorus that stands as one of the best on this album, by the way. The instrumental on this one is pretty intense, and incredibly enjoyable, and Murs absolutely rips apart his three verses here - he doesn't name names, but that's probably due to the fact that so many companies and rappers could fall under the banners that he addresses. This was one of the best songs here, for sure. What a track. 

13. Animal Style (prod. Embassy the Hitmaker & Royal P)

You know, I literally only just figured out that this song was not produced by Ski. I always thought it was. Anyway, I remember around the time I first started this Murs-athon, I was on his YouTube channel, and I noticed that this was his most popular video. I checked it out, and to say I was mindblown would be an understatement. This is seriously one of the boldest and at the same time greatest hip-hop songs I have ever heard. It's utterly phenomenal. The production on this song is perfect, with loud drums, strange guitars and wonderful synths coming in at different points in the song to match perfectly with the tale that's being told. The tale itself is also unbelievable, and just gives me goosebumps every single time. I'm not going to give it away right now (even though I kind of did give the story of "67 Cutlass" away, but whatever), but if you haven't, then please listen to this. It will seriously give you a new view on life. This shit is fucking incredible. 

Wow... I'm honestly stunned at how good this album was. I actually enjoyed every single song on here, which, judging by its general reception and how much I enjoyed the last project in Murs' catalogue, I was not expecting at all. But it wasn't just that I enjoyed every song - the overall cohesiveness and feel of this album was something to be marvelled at. The production and rapping throughout this album was very diverse, and consistently a point of interest for me. The beats on here ranged from celebratory, chilled out, slightly aggressive, to even tear-jerking on "Animal Style" - the fact that it was the same producer behind all but one of these tracks is incredible to me, as the vibes on this album were pretty diverse, more so than on Murs' work with 9th Wonder up to this point. I actually liked pretty much every beat on here, and it was the same for the features. There were no dodgy sung hooks on here - instead, every feature was a dope MC who bought something to the table to help with Murs' vision. Ab-Soul and O.C. both shone as I hoped they would, but I was also pleasantly surprised by Locksmith and Dee-1, both of whom killed it too. The only feature who I wasn't huge on was Tabi Bonney, but even he had a decent performance, even if it wasn't as good as the other performances on here. And then we come to the host of proceedings, Murs. The rapping on this album is bloody fantastic. By this point, Murs has found a flow and stuck with it, so if you want to give a criticism then let the general flow not changing up much be that. But when it comes to Murs' humour, storytelling and subject matter, everything gets the green light. Not only did I like the break-up tracks, songs dissing whack MCs and songs about following your dreams, but I also loved the more abstract storytelling songs on here too - "67 Cutlass" and "Animal Style" were two of my absolute favourites. This was quite easily my favourite Murs album since Murray's Revenge, and if he follows down this road of intriguing and diverse subject matter teamed with dope production, then things can only continue to be great from here. This album was extraordinary, and I'm very excited to get into more listens of this. I ain't been this excited about a Murs album in a while - what a project!

Expectations: Exceeded

Best Track: "Animal Style"

Worst Track: "Hip Hop & Love", but really I even enjoyed that one.

Catch up on the rest of the Murs-athon here.

Image taken from Album Of the Year.

Common - Be

In 2002, Lonnie "Common" Lynn released one of the most experimental and forward-thinking albums in hip-hop history up to that point, Electric Circus, and being that he did this right after he had put out what is often regarded to be his best LP, Like Water For Chocolate, a lot of fans took it as a blow to the bollocks, and received the record with about as much positivity as is to be found in a bite of stale wholemeal bread - everyone hated it. Not that this hatred was deserved, mind you, as the record was actually a really stellar piece of work that rarely ever crossed the line from "experimental" into "ridiculous", and when it did, it was at the very end, so you could always just turn the thing off after "I Am Music" anyway. Unfortunately, a lot of fans didn't take it this way back in '02, instead being appalled by Common's new direction and choosing to shun him completely. This record didn't sell too well, and after its release Common left his deal with MCA, which must've been a blow. However, as he stated on the bonus DVD of the album I'm covering today, it was his breakup with Erykah Badu that really got to him the most - he hit rock bottom, and was forced to climb his way back up the stepladder in search of happiness once again. 

In 2004, a humble and kind gentleman by the name of Kanye West was prepping to release his debut studio album The College Dropout, and this pleasant chap also happened to be from Chicago, where Common hails from, of course. Ye had already invited such conscious backpackers as Talib Kweli and Mos Def on the record, and so of course he jumped at the chance to have the man behind "The Light" and "I Used To Love H.E.R." on his album, and allowed mr. Sense to jump on "Get 'Em High" for an absolutely wonderful verse that a lot of fans noticed as the potential beginning of a comeback for Common. Common himself was finally in a new circle of people he liked, and he was really ready to start making music again. The man signed a deal with West's G.O.O.D. Music label and Geffen Records, and began to record a new album, an effort that was released on May of 2005. Common's 6th studio album, Be.

Be, in a similar fashion to a lot of Common's albums up to this point, was largely produced by one single act - in this case it was Kanye West, who produced 9 out of the 11 songs presented here, with frequent collaborator J Dilla showing up for the other two songs to make sure the Like Water For Chocolate junkies (I'm sure they're out there) had something to chomp up too. But yes, this was largely produced by a man whom Common had never actually worked with on his solo records before, and as such it was to be expected that Common would be switching up his style yet again - perhaps to something more soulful and modern, in comparison with the jazzier feel of Like Water For Chocolate, or the more hardcore feel of some of his '90s records. And another facet that stood out here was the length - this thing was just 11 tracks long, and unlike Electric Circus that was only 13 songs yet still 70 minutes, this one was actually only just over 40 minutes. That's pretty short, but hey - Common was a veteran by this point. He can do what the hell he likes!

Perhaps it was the fact that Common was already a legend of the game who had made his mark on the genre in countless ways that made this record so well-received. This was a rapper well past the usual peak MCing age, making what many believed to be one of, if not the best hip-hop record of the 2000s decade. An album filled with countless classic compositions, and phenomenally insightful verses, and iconic songs, one that almost every hip-hop fan thinks of when they hear the word "common" in any setting (well, I do anyway). Hell, the album barely even had any features - the only guest MC is Kanye, who provides additional vocals on a few cuts as well as his proper verse, but aside from him the features are limited to singers (Bilal, John Legend, John Mayer) and The Last Poets, who popped up on one of the singles here. The majority of the vocals on here are covered by Common himself, with little in the way of others contributing, especially when it comes down to the verses. The atmosphere and direction the album took was largely down to Lonnie himself. 

And I think it's testament to just how fantastic Common is that I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. 

1. Be (Intro) (prod. Kanye West)

Flipping through the credits, you'll notice that this song has its keyboard work credited to James Poyser - clearly, Common hasn't let his Soulquarians connections completely escape him. Quite the contrary (also, J Dilla pops up later on the album for production, so me bringing that up was unnecessary, but whatever). You'll probably drop the booklet in awe during this song anyway, so the credits don't matter - all that matters is that this song is literally one of the best ever created by human hands. This is, in my opinion, equal with that on DMX's It's Dark and Hell is Hot for the title of "best song labelled "intro" in hip-hop history", and I could just lean towards this one. The song starts with slow and highly intriguing bass that I remember vividly lead me to believe I might have put the wrong CD in, only for the seemingly random bass hits to turn into an actual bassline, which is then joined by some heavenly synths, and finally a whole-ass soulful ensemble of instruments. You hear this build-up and think there's no way this could make itself any more extraordinary, and then Common's verse starts, and it's quite possibly the best he ever did, which is quite a fucking enormous feat at that. The verse on here discusses spirituality, the struggle of the black man, Common's relationship with family, and it all ends off with one final statement that caps off this utterly astonishing piece of poetry - "the present is a gift, and I just wanna be". If this isn't the perfect way to open up an album, then I don't know what the motherfuck is. This shit is crazy, duke!!

2. The Corner (feat. The Last Poets) (prod. Kanye West)

Kanye West provides not only one of his grittiest beats ever, but also one of his grittiest hooks to help Common settle perfectly into that more aggressive atmosphere he perfected on Resurrection and parts of One Day It'll All Make Sense, but never really returned to, at least until now. The instrumental on this thing is nice as an apple pie, with the hard drums intertwining with the chipmunk soul samples to make for one of my favourite Kanye contributions of all time, which is no easy feat. The instrumental also fits Common like a glove, and he actually steps his lyrical game up a notch for this one by providing some of the dopest rhyme schemes and instances of wordplay seen during his lengthy career. Bars such as "got cousins with flows, hope they open some doors, so we can cop clothes and roll in a Rolls. Now I roll in a Olds, with windows that don’t roll" are commonplace (get it?) on this song, and the lyricism presented on here is easily some of the best on this record. Common's actual content doesn't take a battering in favour of this newfound lyrical skill, though - instead, it's as entertaining as always, with Com speaking on life in the Chicago streets and his observations of the hood in his hometown - he speaks on the positives and negatives, and like with the last song, he comes to a conclusion at the end, stating that the "action is affirmative" at the end of this. The Last Poets' inclusion on here also works really well to make for something more spiritual in keeping with the themes of the first song. This shit is incredible. 

I also checked out the remix to this song with Mos Def and Scarface, and considering the line-up, that shit should've been a lot better.

3. GO! (prod. Kanye West)

If I was to give one criticism of this album, it's that a lot of the features don't get credited as actual features, but rather "additional vocalists". Sure, John Mayer only says one word here, but said word is quite pivotal to this song, no? Anyhow, this was one of the singles for this record, and is probably the most radio-centric song on the album, but make no mistake, that's not a bad thing - quite the contrary. The instrumental from Kanye on here is hella smooth, and I also love the hook, which consists of Mayer singing the titular word while Kanye then echos it in a way that makes the song feel old-school as hell - this is obviously a good thing. As for Common, he gets freaky on this one, detailing his sexual adventures with a woman, and while this isn't the most invigorating content, you've got to give it to him for being diverse - this sounds pretty much nothing like the last song. And yet somehow, it all fits. Common's opening line "she was a bad, uhh" is pretty hilarious, and he echoes this humour frequently throughout his two verses - "freaky like the daughter of a pastor" being a personal favourite. Yes, the hook's a little repetitive and the verses don't have the most intriguing content, but this song still works really well, and is one of my favourite "big" singles from Com.

4. Faithful (prod. Kanye West)

An interesting track thematically, as Common spits two verses that don't appear to be very related, but admittedly do tie into the overall theme of the song - that's being faithful to your lover. During the first verse, as Common explicitly states during the first few lines, we hear Common question God's gender (sounds interesting, I know...), asking himself if it's a her, and if he would treat God differently if this were the case. Yes, it sounds like uninteresting trite, but Common approaches it in a pretty intriguing way, with some of his lines such as "wouldn't be ashamed to bring her part of my check" and "couldn't be jealous 'cause other brothers worship her" actually making you really think - could the macho attitude of the rapper be followed through if this were the case? This verse is good, but I prefer the second, as Common tells the story of a man who gets caught up in his own lust, and very nearly has sex with his wife's best friend, only to realise the severity of such an act, and head back to his wife before doing anything rash. This verse is really powerful, and another verse after that would have been much appreciated - oh well. This song is still dope as hell, and I haven't even mentioned the beat, sample, and sung outro from John Legend and Bilal. These factors all being so fantastic and me neglecting to mention them for so long just goes to show how fantastic Common really is. 

5. Testify (prod. Kanye West)

This was the first Common song I ever heard (I picked the vinyl up because I was curious), and so perhaps it's for that reason that I enjoy the song more than most - and yes, I see the issue with the rather intrusive sample, but for me I don't actually mind that too much - it gives the record an intense and dark feel that contrasts with the soulful wonder of the previous two songs. The main reason for enjoying this one, however, is Common's verses, of which there are four, presumably to make up for the fact that there were only two on both of the previous songs. This isn't the first piece of storytelling on the record, but the difference here is that Com dedicates the whole song to it - a tragic tale of a woman who's husband is about to be arrested for a crime he didn't commit, a woman who is forced to testify in court for this man who is surely to spend the rest of his life in prison. The story is pretty intriguing, but it's the final few lines that make this one of my favourite tales of the hip-hop genre. "A spin artist, she bought her face up laughing. That's when the prosecutor realised what happened, all that speaking her mind, testifying and crying, when this bitch did the crime!! The queenpin".  Yup, it was the wife who committed the crime all along. This song is fantastic, and even if I am alone in this take, I actually really enjoy this instrumental. Dope storytelling song. 

6. Love is... (prod. DILLA)

For some reason, there's no capital letter on the "is" on this title anywhere in this album art - no idea why that might be. Anyway, this song is the first of two on the album to not be produced by Kanye "there are a lot of things I love about Hitler" West (I don't exactly know why people have forgotten about that, but whatever), but instead the legendary J Dilla, who cooks up one of his most beautifully soulful instrumentals ever for this conceptual track that easily stands as one of the best on the whole record. On this song, Common discusses how love was an idea always shunned in the hood, and how the young men living in the ghetto were informed by their superiors that love wasn't to be practiced in their areas. Common discusses how it's only when they're too old to feel it properly anymore that they can truly realise that love is a wonderful thing, and how he on the other hand will try to practice it consistently, and he hopes others will follow. The lyrical content here is really nice, and with lines such as "some say that I'm a dreamer 'cause I talk about it often, seen the hardest nigga soften wit' his homie in a coffin", it's hard not to love what Common is doing. On top of that, the hook is catchy as hell too. This is a wonderful song. 

7. Chi-City (prod. Kanye West)

Ye is back, and for by far the most braggadocios song on this album that is a dedication to the two men's hometown of Chicago - Kanye even pops up for a bit of a hook here, which is nice of him. The instrumental on this one is the most celebratory since the intro, and while it's not necessarily quite on that level of phenomenal, it's still pretty bloody incredible by itself nonetheless. On this one, Common delivers two verses (grr) that are two of my favourites on the whole damned LP - I mean, the amount of quotable lines on here is just crazy. Let me just give a rundown of some of the best: 

"I wonder if these whack niggas realize they whack, and they the reason that my people say they tired of rap"

"I'm raw, hustlers get your baking soda"

"I slap a nigga like you, and tell him "Rick James bitch!""

"So many raps about rims, surprised niggas ain't become tires"

"I tell 'em fuck 'em like I do the police"

Hell, the only line on here that doesn't hit quite the way it wants to is the "Chicago-in'" one, but that one still incites a laugh, even if not necessarily for entirely the right reasons. Meanwhile, the hook is dope, as we get scratched vocals from Kanye and Common that are straight scratched in and not from any previous song - although the "from the city of wind" at the end is taken from his single "Car Horn", I believe. And, man is Kanye's harmonising at the end dope as hell. This is one of the best tracks here, or at least until you realise every song so far has been perfect. Jesus, man.

8. The Food (Live) (prod. Kanye West)

Interestingly, instead of the studio version of the song that was pushed as a single prior to this project's release, Common and Kanye decide that the live version of the song performed on Dave Chappelle's show would fit better, and I'd like to say that I wholly agree. This song would be fantastic on its own, but the live energy that this version has just enhances it that much more, to the point where I don't even mind at all that it's censored (not that the censoring on this particular song does much to cover up the words). This is one of the more upbeat songs on the record, with Kanye bringing the energy on the hook, and Common coming through with verses that discuss similar topics to those on "The Corner" - that's the negative goings on in the ghettoes of Chicago, but also the positives that can be gained from it. This one also has a slightly dodgy line, albeit one that works a lot better than "Chicago-ing" - that being "on the block, white is selling like Eminem". It kinda gets a point across, but not really well enough to be effective. Still, most of the lines on this song work like a German motorcar, and I just love the energy displayed in this live take. More than one live song would be overkill, but I think they nailed it with this - more rappers should follow in these footsteps if you ask me. 

9. Real People (prod. Kanye West)

The first time that Common would lend this title to one of his songs, but not the last - this was also the name of a song he did with Ice Cube for the Barbershop: The Next Cut soundtrack in 2016. Interesting stuff, and I actually haven't listened to that song yet, so if it's worth checking out right away then please let me know. Anyway, this song features some of the more jazzy production on the album, and when I say "jazzy", I really mean jazzy, as that is exactly the word you'll surely think of when this track comes on. The instrumental on this thing is fantastic, and Common uses it to discuss exactly what the title conveys - "real people", and the factors that he thinks defines them. He also discusses such things as police racism in the song, and all goes very well on here up until the shorter third verse. "I see black men walking with white women on their arms, I be mad at 'em, as if I know they mums". I mean, what the fuck?? That's literally racist. That's not even a question, that is simply, entirely racist. I mean, I kinda see what he's going for with a racial purity thing, but honestly I'm surprised he doesn't catch more flack for that. And I don't even want to think about what people would say if the races were reversed. I seriously cannot get past that line, but if you are capable of ignoring it, then this still comes across as a fantastic track. It's just, that line... That shit is fucked up, man.

10. They Say (feat. Kanye West & John Legend) (prod. Kanye West)

The most stacked feature list on this album, at least until you realise that both of these guys have contributed backing vocals on multiple tracks prior to this. Still, let's not be picky, as that would take away from my overall message here - this is yet another flawless, fantastic song. After a little bit of drumming that sounds intriguing, the song comes straight into play, with John Legend's hook being incredibly catchy - the harmonising in the background is dope as hell, and the melody is nice too. And man is that beat a good one. Probably one of the best here. Common provides two verses on here, with Kanye West popping up for his first actual rapping performance on the LP in the middle, and as you might expect it's not as good as Common's verses, but it's still pretty dope nonetheless. On this song, Common speaks on the times in-between Electric Circus and this record, and it is the first time on the whole album where he actually brings up his odd musical and stylistic direction around that time, and how this was effectively his comeback album. "They say the crochet pants and the sweater was whack, heard "The Corner", now they say that nigga's back" is one of the best lines on here in my opinion. Kanye's verse is alright, as he spends most of it bragging about how good of a producer he is and squeaking in a way that resembles some of Common's debut album, but really it's Common's verses and the production that make this the classic it is. Banger right here. 

11. It's Your World (Part 1 & 2) (feat. "The Kids") (prod. DILLA, co-prod. James Poyser & Karriem Riggins)

Quite possibly the best song on the whole entire record ends things off here, with J Dilla providing easily one of his most potent and powerful instrumentals, with assistance from James Poyser and Karriem Riggins, both of whom had or would have strong relationships with the host here. On this cut, Common spits two rather long verses, the first of which details his own growing up, and his life as a youngster, with references to his dropping out of college, and his life growing up in the hood and how that effected him. Then, during the second verse, he tells a story of a prostitute who's had a very difficult time growing up, and has ambitions to be a singer - and even if she doesn't realise these dreams by the end of the verse, she still has that ambition - I guess the overall message is that you can do whatever you want to in life, as long as you have visions and motivation. Common's two verses are very touching, but I've also got to give it to Dilla with this beat, easily one of the best on this album. This instrumental is so rich and soulful that anyone who says they don't like it is simply lying to you - it's that good. And this song doesn't just end once the verses are up - we then get an extended outro where a bunch of kids explain what they want to be when they grow up, and then we get the usual outro speech from Common's father. It's crazy how every single one of his speeches somehow works, but they always do - even if the underlying music (which is utterly fantastic here) often helps. This speech makes me tear up every time, man. Such a beautiful way to end the album, and such a fantastic song overall. Wow. 

It's over... or is it? After a minute of silence, my CD plays a hidden song that I do believe most pressings don't have. Interesting...

- So Cool (prod. Sa-Ra)

Over a groovy instrumental made all the more catchy by a hook that sounds like multiple singers contributed to it, Common spits a couple 8 bar verses about a woman that he wants to put into one of his... music videos, I guess? I mean, the verses on here don't make a whole lot of sense to me, but I know that they're sexual, so that's something. Anyway, there really isn't a whole lot to say here. The beat and hook are dope, but these are by far and away the weakest verses on the whole LP - they sound like something Universal Mind Control era Common may have decided to spit. Still, I'm not going to pretend I don't like this - because I really, really do.

Common's Be is not only my personal favourite record from the man, but it is quite possibly objectively the best hip-hop release of all time. Like, it's seriously unbelievable just how absolutely fantastic this record is. Aside from one line on the song "Real People", there isn't a single moment of this thing that I even slightly dislike - not the hook on "GO!", not the dodgy "Chicago-ing" bar on "Chi-City", not even the slightly intrusive sample on "Testify". Even moments like these that would seem like they might be problematic on paper just somehow work perfectly within the context of this album. Everything here is unequivocally, undisputedly, infallibly brilliant, and there's very little to really say in these final paragraphs, as the idea of "criticism" doesn't really come into play here. The production, largely provided by Kanye West with a bit of J Dilla, is fantastic. Every beat here sounds rich and like days of work was put into it, which was not exactly par for the course on 2000s rap albums, and each and every one brings wonderful percussion, sampling, and elements of soul to the table that make the project sound more like something that could have come out in the '90s or the 2010s, not the shallow landscape of the mid to late 2000s. The production on this thing is some of the best you'll hear to come from the genre, and it doesn't stop there. The features (and yes, there are a few even if most don't gain credit for it) are incredibly potent, with all of them managing to sing or rap in the best way possible to enhance the song, but without ever taking the spotlight off of the main attraction. My favourite guest appearance might have to be Lonnie "Pops" Lynn, honestly, but all of them from the many Kanye West showings to the singing of John Legend and Bilal do what they were put there to do, and do it brilliantly. And as for the head of this album, Common, he really does bring his all on here. The man's voice never sounded so good, as he truly plays the wise man of the ghetto on here, and the themes discussed are some of the most intriguing of his whole career, from the double-crossing wife story on "Testify" to the braggadocio on "Chi-City". There is a reason I know pretty much this whole album off by heart - it's because Common's verses are just that fantastic. And that intro, man... that's one of the greatest moments on any album ever. If you have not blessed yourself with a copy of this album yet, then you really should do that right now. Literally. This thing is essential, and might well be the living embodiment of a perfect album. And it's not due to nostalgia that I say this - I knew this album was perfect from when I very first heard it, and all I would listen to was this record. It's fantastic. It's the perfect album. I absolutely love this project. 

Best Tracks: Applicable

Worst Tracks: Not Applicable

Catch up on other reviews of the legendary Common over here!

Tech N9ne - Celcius

Sigh... let's get this over with.

As Tech N9ne was finishing up the recording and mastering for his first fully independent release Absolute Power, he got a harrowing call from his old label Mizery Entertainment, and specifically the head of said label Dyamund Shields. Shields felt that he hadn't made the money from Tech N9ne that he deserved, and seeing Tech touring everywhere and hearing his singles on the radio, he assumed (wrongly) that he was making a lot of money, and not giving back to the people that put him on. Tech wasn't ready to start issues with a man who was actually quite powerful in his hometown KC, and so him and Travis O'Guin (remember, that's the other owner of Strange Music) agreed to let Mizery and MidWestSide release a Tech N9ne record consisting of previously unreleased music, albeit months before Absolute Power's set date of unleashing. 

So you can imagine their surprise when Celcius (yes, they spelt it like that) was put out one day before Tech was to release his proper independent debut. The nerve of these guys! Not only was the release date absurd, but so was the album cover - yes, Tech's stare was similarly creepy to how it would be on some of his own self-released albums (see Killer, Sickology 101, Something Else), but on the other hand we had a blue cover to go against Tech's known affiliation with the Bloods, as well as enough bling to last the average Italian Gangster a few years, and a rather nice Jaguar XK (what a beauty) that still, mind you, went against the Tech N9ne way of thinking. Imagine Tech N9ne signed with Cash Money or No Limit - this is the album cover you would probably see. And as well as this, the project contained plenty of collaborations with Don Juan, which went completely against the Absolute Power disstrack on him "Yada, Yada, Yada". If this disc had done better than Tech's proper new album, then it probably would have proved that disstrack completely wrong. 

Well, I suppose it's a good thing that it didn't.

The songs on this project consisted of leftovers from Tech's shelved Be Warned album that Qwest had refused to release, songs recorded for the unfinished Tech x Don Juan collaborative disc advertised in the booklet of The Worst, and a few songs that didn't feature Tech at all, but instead served to promote some of the newest signees to the MidWestSide label. It should be noted that we never heard much from these guys again, and this probably has something to do with Celcius selling about one copy before MidWestSide gave up on trying to milk Tech, as by this point in time he wasn't really appealing to their gangsta rap demographic anyway. And so Celcius remains a relic of the past, a simple reminder of Tech's soured relationship with his previous label, and a place where you'll find a decent amount of the Be Warned sessions that most likely would have otherwise remained unreleased. 

Most Tech N9ne fans consider this easily one of the weakest projects in his catalogue, but the question is: is that because of the spiteful and unpleasant way in which it was released, or because of an actual lack of quality of music on the record? Well, you may already know the answer to that, but if ya don't, then here it is!

1. He Wanna Be Paid (prod. Don Juan)

After an accapella shout out to his hometown that appears to be lifted directly from "It's Alive" (and was probably tacked on by the label to make the song seem more like an intro), a strangely familiar instrumental starts up - the first beat we hear here is that of "Mitch Bade", only done with a more electronic feel - thankfully, this only lasts for the intro. The actual beat on this song is really stellar, with the strange sound effects making for something rather creative - it also uses the bassline from E-40's classic "Captain Save a Hoe", with the hook interpolating that heavily too. Oh, and parts of the "Planet Rock 2K (Down South Mix)" beat are incorporated here too, just because why not. Tech uses his time on this song to diss Vell Bakardy for various reasons, from faking sales to lack of radio play to constantly taking shots at Tech for apparently no reason, to biting the sounds of Chubb Rock and DMX - quite an amount of stuff, then, but still, the lyrics don't come across as too savage on here when compared with what Tech did on "Yada, Yada, Yada" - then again, that one was a whole lot more personal. There are quite a few dope lines on here though, with just two standing out as randomly vulgar - "bout to make yo eyes pop out when I whip my cock out" and "when you die and all ya piss, cum, and feces drop out" - not too many by Tech standards. Also, there's no way anyone doesn't like that "somethin' wrong with his medulla oblongata" line. This is a pretty dope song, even if it isn't a massively impactful diss. 

2. Call Girlz (feat. Don Juan) (prod. Don Juan)

You know, on first listen I was pretty surprised that I enjoyed that opening song so much - yes, it had a clear dope theme and was meant as a diss track, so that made it immediately entertaining. But on top of that, it's sonically really dope too, and Tech drops bars all over the thing. So imagine my disappointment when we get to the second song and it's... this crap. Over a fairly smooth instrumental that I'm not entirely against, Tech and Juan rap about their encounters with women around the country they surely don't care about as anything other than sexual objects, and the results are predictably miserable. It's funny, as the intro and outro portray Tech as caring about the woman, which only make the real motives revealed in the song's content that much more unpleasant - the hook is painful too. Tech does refer to himself as "the raggedy-mouth nappy head friend grim cummer" on here though, so that was funny, but otherwise this is annoying and unpleasant. There's also an echoey outro skit that doesn't appear to make much sense in context, but whatever - who said any rap skit had to make sense. 

3. Be Warned (prod. Don Juan)

By far the shortest, most popular, and probably best song on the whole album. Tech takes the haunting instrumentation of Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" (commonly known as the theme from The Exorcist), and rips the shit up for almost exactly two minutes before the song cuts out fairly abruptly. The track starts with some lines that were also spit in his song "Why? Tech N9ne" from The Worst, and even though that song was technically released before, it's safe to assume that this one was recorded prior, as the title leads one to believe it would have appeared on Tech's 1996 record Be Warned, which, as I think I've stated before, was shelved by Qwest Records on account of it being too demonic. Well, that does make sense considering this song - "Be Warned" is creepy as hell, and not just because of the instrumental - Tech uses his trademark strange delivery and backmasked vocals all to enhance the horrifying experience. This is another utter banger - this album did get off to a pretty good start, didn't it?

4. Boss Doggs (feat. Big Scoob, Bakarrii & Nitty) (prod. Don Juan)

A team up with three of the 57th Street Rogue Dog Villains that we actually heard a snippet of on the "Wake Up Call" skit off of Anghellic, only back then it was unreleased. It wasn't until this project was released in full that it saw the light of day, and it's safe to say therefore that this was recorded in or prior to 2001 - possibly for a 57 RDV album? That's an interesting dilemma - it's just a shame that the song kinda sucks. Having a flow that imitates the repetitive beat run exactly the same throughout the entire song across all four MC's verses is simply ridiculous, especially when the song is almost 5 minutes in length. "All my lyrics is simple and clear" is also a terrible bragging point for a rapper - I mean, can't you at least try to be a little complex, Scoob? This track could have been good, but unfortunately it's repetitiveness makes it completely redundant. Fuck Short Nitty, by the way. 

5. Sprung (feat. Don Juan, Paul Law & Nachia Cayson) (prod. Don Juan)

Hilariously mislabelled "Spring" on streaming services - what a cock up! This song was originally to be titled "The Bianc Zone", but for some reason they changed it to the name of a film from the late '90s that no-one remembers,  but did feature a Jay-Z song on the soundtrack ("Who You Wit" - not "Who You Wit II" but the different original version). This song right here looks to be another dope cut from the instrumental, which has a nice bassline, dope sound effects and smooth synths, but unfortunately none of the vocalists manage to do anything right. Tech and Juan spend the entire time talking about having sex, and being generally misogynistic, meanwhile saying absolutely nothing of note the entire time, and the chorus also doesn't sound right at all - I mean, why the fuck did they get a woman in to say "she play with our dicks while we play with our guns"?? One interesting facet of this hook was that it was later interpolated for Krizz Kaliko's outro bridge on Tech's smash hit "Caribou Lou" - otherwise, it's best to forget this one existed. 

6. All I Want (feat. Nachia Cayson) (prod. Don Juan)

This cut right here apparently aims to completely juxtapose what Tech was going for on the last song - this is a straight up love rap, aimed towards a chick that Tech wants to be with, but unfortunately she's into the men with loads of money, which at the time he didn't have. Aside from the very strange lines at the beginning - "and the fact I'm clever got honeys wanting to do whatever - like sit on my face" - this one is quite sweet, and the Nachia Cayson hook sounds interesting (read: sounds like it comes from the mid 1980s), but as a whole I've got to say that this type of content probably wasn't what anyone going into this album was hoping for. Maybe I'd like this more on a different album, but in here it seems very out of place and random. 

7. Nasty Girl (feat. L.V., Don Juan, Rock Money & Nachia Cayson) (prod. Don Juan)

Wow, Nichia Cayson (or Nachia? The credits on these early Tech albums juxtapose ridiculously) is getting a lot of work on this album. I'm not even entirely sure who does which verse on here, but I believe the order goes L.V., Don Juan and then Rock Money, with Tech coming in last obviously - whether that's actually the case I don't even know, though. Juan and Tech N9ne both begin their verses with melodic deliveries, which is annoying, but not as annoying as pretty much everything else about this. The chorus is horrible, the beat is completely unrelated to the subject matter and singing, and this subject matter itself is simply shameful. It's straight up misogyny. There's honestly no defending this. If Tech had put this on an album himself, my respect would legitimately go down of him. This is actually one of the most horrible songs in existence. What the fuck is this, man?

[*goes off and cries for a few minutes*]

Right, let's keep going.

8. Pop That Thang (performed by Macc James) (prod. Macc James)

Funnily enough, I did actually quit the review for a sec after that last song, but not simply because "Nasty Girl" was so horrible. No, I actually went off to assemble a shelving unit, and did a piss poor job of it too, which was unfortunate. Anyway, it's now the morning of the day after that, so everything before was written yesterday - just thought I'd point that out. On this joint, Macc James, presumably an artist who signed to MidWestSide after Tech N9ne made his departure in 2000, delivers a self-produced strip club anthem where our host is nowhere to be found - odd, considering Nina's affinity for vulgar sex songs. Upon first listen, this was the first song I actually liked somewhat since "Be Warned", which is interesting, as nowadays I simply can't stand this misogynistic bullshit. The track is similar to "Sprung" in that it has a dope beat, but this guy can't figure out for the life of him how to make it work. The lyrics on here are vulgar and unpleasant, and my God is the hook repetitive. The only salvageable things here are the beat and the club-ready flow - otherwise you can give this a miss (not that the Tech fans will need telling).

9. Shoot Tha Shit (feat. Don Juan & Big Bear) (prod. Don Juan)

Yes, that is the Big Bear of the ridiculous "Doin' Thangs" album cover that everybody knows about. Who knew he was affiliated with Tech N9ne? Unfortunately, this song sucks, and if it wasn't for the fact that it has content mildly more interesting than the sex songs from earlier, it would actually be the worst joint on the whole record (well, worst song with Tech present). The instrumental on this thing gets old after about 10 seconds, so just imagine a whole 5 minutes 15 seconds with it, and already you've got a recipe for disaster. As you might be able to tell from the title, this one is aggressive and confrontational, and features a bit of that gangsta rap that Tech would occasionally experiment with back in the day - unfortunately, it's so hollow that the most interesting part of the song is a repetitive bridge where Tech repeats variations on "making every bitch get hot when I shoot this shit" - hell, at least the flow's cool. The flow on Tech's actual opening verse is fucking horrible. And at least he has an interesting delivery. Don Juan and Big Bear sound like their verses were recorded straight from their beds the morning after a night of drinking and taking LSD, which, considering how these guys would have lived at the time, isn't too far fetched of an idea. Yeah, I really hate this.

10. Ride Wit Me (performed by Nitty, Big Scoob, Bakarrii & Severe) (prod. Don Juan)

57th Street Rogue Dog Villains are back once again, and oddly Txx Will is absent from proceedings here too. I wonder where he was at? Let's hope at the name change clinic - that stage name is stupid as fuck. Anyway, this is yet another cut to completely eschew a verse from Tech Nina, but perhaps that's for the best, as this is the best song in a long time by far, which is largely thanks to this funky Don Juan instrumental that is easily one of the best beats on here - the drums and the electronic synths all come together to make for something much more exciting than what we have seen a lot on these previous songs. Severe's chorus is bloody horrific, especially when delivered with no proper instrumental at the beginning of the song, but thankfully the three MCs don't make a monkey of their efforts, as all three of their verses are decent in my opinion, if occasionally incomprehensible and falling flat - I mean, what sort of brag is "catch me running an illegal business, driving a beige and blue Hummer"? Pretty dope overall.

11. Blue Streak (feat. Bridgett) (prod. Don Juan)

According to this booklet, these lyrics are by Don Juan as well as Tech - what, are the label insinuating ghostwriting? Have they heard Don Juan's rapping? On this one, Tech raps from the perspective of an illegal jewellery dealer who steals most of his product, and in the end he gets arrested and sent to prison for the rest of his life, which he still manages to find the positive side in. Or at least that's what I got from it. It's a strange and rather unique concept, and it's certainly a whole lot better than the "I'm going to kill you"/"I'm going to vigorously describe myself having sex" lyrical content we've found on this album so far - and to make things even better, the hook is catchy and isn't over the top at all, and the instrumental from Don Juan, while not astonishing, keeps up the energy throughout the song with some nice sound effects in there too. But really it's Tech's intriguing lyrical content that saves this one - truly a dope-ass track from his early career. Oh, and the rhyme schemes at the beginning of the first verse? Probably the dopest moment on this whole LP.

12. We Dem Boyz (performed by Jok3r) (prod. Jok3r)

This shit is so fucking horrible I don't even want to waste my valuable time writing about it. Hell, I'd rather listen to the Wiz Khalifa song of the same name. 

13. Mizery (feat. Macc James) (prod. Jok3r)

I guess Tech did know Macc James, then, as he shouts him out on the hook of this song, and further than that, I'll propose that this song was recorded for the Be Warned album way back in '96 - it certainly has a very creepy, demonic atmosphere, which is exactly what that album was supposed to sound like. The shout out also proves that this wasn't mashed together from unreleased Tech vocals. Also, there's a reference to the "turn of the century" in the outro here, which leads me to believe that this song was recorded before that pivotal moment. Just a few things I noticed that I thought were worth bringing to the metaphorical table. Anyway, this song is pretty great, as Jok3r manages to provide a far far better instrumental than whatever the fuck he cooked up on "We Dem Boyz", which utilises dark pianos and drums that make for one of the most haunting instrumentals on this whole thing. Also, Tech's verse is really stellar, with his backmasked vocals sounding great, and his murderous lyrics being pretty convincing alongside his disturbing vocal delivery - there's a diss to Vell Bakardy in there too. I even like his singing on the hook. Unfortunately, this song isn't entirely successful because Tech decided to get a rapper as un-scary as Macc James on here, who slurs most of his vocals on this thing into oblivion, rendering his verse pretty much unlistenable. This is still one of the best songs here, but that's probably more of a bad thing than a good. 

14. Celcius (feat. Don Juan & Nachia Cayson) (prod. Don Juan)

The second song in a row to have that horrorcore type of sound, which again puts this up as a contender for a song intended for the Be Warned album. On this one, Tech speaks on his ability and uniqueness in the industry, and how he's such a different MC to everyone else, and yet still will prevail in the end. The chorus was actually used for a line on Tech's "Get Blowed" - "I am cold as ice" - and the flow used at the end of the final verse here was also later used on Tech's classic "It's Alive" (I think he had used it even before that on "I Can Get Grim", though). Aside from these interesting facets, this song is still pretty great - Don Juan's instrumental is engaging and intense, and Tech's lyrical content actually aged well considering how much he went on to thrive in our chosen genre. I really don't like the "freeze me with your deity" section of the hook, but otherwise, this is a pretty good way to end a pretty bloody bad album. 

You know, the first three songs lull you into a false sense of security on here - yes, "Call Girlz" is ass, but "He Wanna Be Paid" and "Be Warned" are both actually great Tech songs that appear either side of it - it's easy to think "Call Girlz" is just to be a one off. Unfortunately, after this the album goes to complete shit - "Boss Doggs" and "Sprung" both have their moments but in general bore me to death, and after that the album gets really fucking awful up until "Ride Wit Me", and even then that song isn't that great - it just looks so good because of the shit you've just had to wade through - kind of like finding a cheese sandwich and cup of water in the middle of the desert - in most other settings it would be merely alright, but here it appears like a gift from the Gods. The album really picks up towards the end (forgetting "We Dem Boyz" exists), but for the most part this thing is terrible. The lyrical content from both Tech and his guests sways between disgusting and boring, but rarely does it ever actually become interesting, the hooks are uniformly miserable even on a lot of the better songs, and the production is often boring and does nothing to make it stand out. There's very little worth to be found on Celcius, but since it is Tech N9ne we're talking about, there is a tiny bit, which is what the chart below is for. But really, unless you're an enormous Tech fan, this shit ain't worth checking. It's boring, vulgar, and has barely any highlights in comparison with the miserable moments. Still, at least we now know why Tech didn't want this released, and we also know why Absolute Power overshadowed it like an elephant would a small moth - because it's so, so, so much better. 

The Good (it's all relative, remember): "He Wanna Be Paid", "Be Warned", "Ride Wit Me", "Blue Streak", "Mizery", "Celcius"

The Mediocre: "Boss Doggs", "Sprung", "All I Want"

The Fucking Horrible: "Call Girlz", "Nasty Girl", "Pop That Thang", "Shoot Tha Shit", "We Dem Boyz"

Other Tech write-ups to be discovered over here!

Method Man & Redman - Blackout!

I would like to start this write-up by explaining that I'm currently experimenting with different methods of reviewing. I'm still doing track by track every time, but my readers may have noticed that some of my reviews recently have been a bit longer and more detailed, and then at the same time I've done others that don't cover every aspect of a song necessarily, and instead just point out stand-out moments. I think it's good to keep things varied anyway, so I'll probably keep switching things up for the moment just based on whatever album I happen to be covering. Anyway, enjoy the review!

In late 1998, Def Jam Records released albums from two of their flagship artists at the time who both featured on each others albums, and who both seemed to have a fairly good working relationship when it came to collaborative tracks - these would be Jay-Z's Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life and DMX's Flesh Of My Flesh Blood Of My Blood. Then, they realised that they had a decent amount of marketing budget left over, so they decided to chuck out the solo efforts from Redman and Method Man too, both of whom actually did a lot better sales-wise than one might imagine given the pair's generally not radio friendly musical choices. Despite them both having fairly terrible album titles, Doc's Da Name 2000 and Tical 2000: Judgement Day managed to both sell platinum, and this may well have been helped by some of Def Jam's promotion for the projects. See, on Meth's lead single "Judgement Day", the b-side was a collaboration with Redman titled "Big Dogs", also from that same album, and inside the record this track was listed under the labelling "Month Of the Man Part II". Hip-hop historians may have remembered that back in 1994, the label promoted Meth's "Bring The Pain" and Reggie's "Rockafella" on a double vinyl single also called "Month Of the Man". And if that callback wasn't enough, they did the same on Red's "I'll Bee Dat!" single, with the b-side "Well All Rite Cha". The primary difference was that this time the songs being promoted were actual collaborations between the pair, and since their albums were coming out at the same time and being promoted together, word started to go round that we might have been in for a collaborative album between the pair, if we were very, very lucky.

And that's exactly what we got. 

Blackout! (exclamation point and all) was released through Def Jam records to the hip-hop audience in September of 1999, around the same time that everyone was just about giving up hope with anything Wu-Tang related - Deck's solo, GZA's sophomore, ODB's sophomore and U-God's album were all met with lukewarm reception, and we hadn't even got to Immobilarity yet. However, the Meth & Red album was sort of held apart from the rest of these releases - after all, Reggie was still one of the best rappers in the world at the time (despite his propensity to try and be overly funny on his solo records, and not always succeeding), and Meth wasn't even due another solo record. This was just to be a fun side project for both Wu Stans and Def Squad listeners to enjoy, without the lofty expectations of solo records. An album where two of the most charismatic MC would go bar for bar over production from some of the greats of the industry. Out of everyone, the general hip-hop audience (without bias to one specific crew) were probably the most hyped for this thing, especially after the Wu-heads heard that E-Double would be handling the majority of the album, and only about a quarter of it would actually be done by Wu producers. Shit!

The project included features from Meth's buddies Streetlife and Ghostface Killah, Red's friend Jamal, and even two MCs on the same caliber of popularity as the hosts at the time - Ja Rule and LL Cool J, both of whom showed up on the same exact song. And, as all you Wu-Tang heads out there must have feared, Erick Sermon handled the majority of this project, with the Wu producers being limited to RZA (2 tracks) and Mathematics (2 tracks). Oh, and we also got beats from Rockwilder, who wasn't quite the club specialist he would come to be at that time, Gov-Mattic (another Reggie affiliate) and DJ Scratch, who's actually pretty damned underrated if you ask me. This line-up was exciting, then, but most importantly, we finally had a proper team up of two of the best rappers in the game, and even though the Wu-Tang Clan fanatics probably weren't chomping at the bit to rip this packaging off due to their crippling depression at the time, everyone else in the hip-hop world were ready for and anticipating something quite extraordinary. 

So were they happy with the result? Well, yes - the reception was quite good - but more importantly, do I like it? Well, that's what I'm here to tell ya. 

1. A Special Joint (Intro) (prod. Redman)

One thing you will notice when inspecting the credits in this booklet (that is if you still get CDs) is that they're all in the wrong order, which is made even more confusing by this intro being listed first anyway. No idea what the point of that was, but I guess Red and Meth are a unique couple, so it makes a tiny bit of sense. This is also one of the best rap album intros in existence - the music is funky as hell, and Red and Meth prove to be as goddamn hilarious as they've always been, perhaps even more so. No idea why Meth refers to himself as the "phenom" on here, but otherwise this is as good as a goofy spoken intro is going to get. 

2. Blackout (prod. Erick Sermon)

Pretty much exactly what one would want from a Meth & Red song. After a fantastic transition that makes for one of the dopest beat drops I have ever heard, the pair of them spend the song talkin' shit, being bloody hilarious, and occasionally coming with a ridiculously contrived bar about murder or other unmentionables that you can probably expect from these two by this stage in their careers. You head through Red's opening verse, and Meth's follow up, thinking that they're never going to be able to top the personalities conveyed, only to then fall into the final verse were they drop 8 bars each in the best moment of the whole song - "I scored 1.1 on my S-A-T, and still push a whip with a right and left AC". I mean, it's just so dope. Red kinda outshines Meth here, since this high-energy instrumental works more in his favour, but let that not be a shot at Clifford - he performs amicably too. Oh, and the Fat Boys-aping chorus is just a wonderful cherry on this tasty-ass cake. This is an absolutely brilliant way to open the record up. 

3. Mi Casa (prod. Erick Sermon)

The instrumental on this one is quite a bit less intense and dark than that on the last song, and this proves to be just the perfect thing, as on this one both MCs feel quite a bit more up-front and aggressive, since they don't have an equally manic instrumental to keep up with. This beat is still pretty great, mind you, and provides a guttery, airy atmosphere which is in keeping with this album art. This song is pretty short, as Meth and Red deliver one verse each, but it provides just enough breathing space for it to still stand out - Red starts with some of my favourite lines ever from him ("What, you crazy?? Since a buck tooth baby, Doc is like: straight "Fuck you! Pay me" like Jay-Z"), and continues the trend of excellence throughout his verse. Meth's flow is also impeccable, and he's a lot closer to his partner than he was on the previous cut. The hook that interpolates a line from Meth's "Method Man (Remix)" is also dope as hell. This is an excellent second track.

4. Y.O.U. (prod. Erick Sermon)

An oddly structured song, that's to say the least. On this one (after the obligatory round of "Yo"'s, that is), Meth starts things with a sexually explicit and rather flirtatious verse, only for Red to then jump in and start talking about how he's going to murder you in all these extravagant ways, with the one line "Doc and Meth album entering the top ten" actually standing out to me for some reason (perhaps because it turned out to be more than true). Then, the opposite happens after the hook - Red gets a bit sexual, only in a more over-the-top way as you'd expect, and then Meth comes with an aggressive verse focused on murdering those that don't fuck with him. My favourite aspect of this song, however, has to be the rhyme schemes, which are just crazily all over the place on this song, and are so well done. I also feel like there's multiple points here where they completely sacrifice a bar's actual meaning just for a rhyme scheme, but somehow it still works. This production is also great, as is the hook - the only weak point is the outro skit that mimics the introduction of N.W.A.'s "Automobile", but even then you can skip that out. This is easily one of the best songs here. "BBC!!!"

5. 4 Seasons (feat. Ja Rule & LL Cool J) (prod. Erick Sermon)

By this point, you're really getting into the vibe of this album, and this track helps with that by bringing an instrumental with pretty much exactly the same vibe as the last two songs, and also an opening verse from Red that is full of the boasts and humorous lines teamed with a priceless delivery that really just defines the man's music. His verse is great, but in surprise of the damned day, he doesn't have the best performance here - no, that honour belongs to Cool James, who absolutely rips this instrumental with one of the best verses I've ever heard from the man - apparently he felt he had something to prove here, as not only does he have the longest verse on this cut, but he also delivers it with a monstrously aggressive tone to enunciate those excellent lyrics properly. From the opening bars of "I'm the sultan of the ghetto, the homicidal aficionado. I empty niggas out like Cristal bottles", this verse just keeps on delivering. By the time Meth comes round, you've already made your decision about Cool J winning this one, but Tical does his thing too as you'd expect. But, man did LL Cool J murder this - that's one of the craziest verses you'll hear from the man. 

Oh, and I know Ja Rule's on here, but I think it's best we forget about that harrowing fact. 

6. Cereal Killer (prod. RZA)

Erick Sermon has left the studio for a coffee break, and so Meth has had to catch a bus from Jersey to Shaolin to collect a couple of RZA's leftover digital orchestra ensembles - he treads quietly, mind, not wanting to wake Diggs from his beauty sleep. On the way back, he listens to some of his random picks, and notices one that's quite incredibly spooky - and the perfect thing to change the tone up a bit on an album that's so far been quite fun and upbeat. And so is born "Cereal Killer", a song oddly introduced by a skit that involves Meth and Red praising the women at their concert - that doesn't come with any dark connotations. The instrumental on here is pretty dark and creepy in comparison with what we've heard so far, but it still contains enough of a funky flavour to work in Meth & Red's favour - this shit sounds nothing like the Bobby Digital In Stereo album, I'll tell you that much. Meth and Red pretty much just do what you'd expect from a song with this title - rap from the perspective of murderous serial killers, and the results are pretty darn great to say the least. This is probably the first song where I really prefer the Meth performance, which makes sense since the dark, horror core stuff is much more in his lane than Reggie's, who's comedic tales and vocal inflections don't paint him as the most disturbing character (accidentally shooting at a birthday party being a perfect example of this). Still, this song is fucking great, and it's nice to see the pair bring their signature funk and humour into a different field of hip-hop. And that Blue Raspberry singing performance is nice.

7. Da Rockwilder (prod. Rockwilder)

Easily the most popular song off of this LP, and probably the most popular in either of the artist's solo careers too (that's discounting some of Meth's work with the Wu), and funnily enough a song that Redman has stated himself that he doesn't like. Still, everyone else does, and that's me included. This song is very short and sweet, with Meth dropping his verse and Red following suit, only for the song to end fairly swiftly with a fun and catchy riff on Cypress Hill's "Hand On the Pump". The instrumental on this thing from Rockwilder (who's popularity rose rather quickly after the release of this song - I wonder why) is definitely a lot more electronic and futuristic than the rough-n-rugged feel of most of the other instrumentals on this LP, and Meth and Red both fit over it perfectly with lightning flows and their excellent boasts-n-bullshit teamed with humour. It's crazy how the style doesn't get old at any point. This track is very short, but don't let that fool you into thinking it's anything less than great. 

8. Tear It Off (prod. Erick Sermon)

Fresh from his coffee break, Erick Sermon's newly caffeinated body readily provides listeners with one of the most hype and energetic beats on this LP - the percussion and bass on here is straight crazy. This cut was initially featured on the stacked soundtrack to the film In Too Deep, and so even though this album hadn't been announced at the time, this does technically stand as the lead single to the project, which I think is a fairly interesting fact (and I'm sure everyone else does, too...). The pair of MCs also murder this beat with some of the craziest flows we've heard on the whole damn project, with my favourite lines coming from Meth - "just ill flows, that kills shows, you can feel, yo, kickin in you do', like a steel toe, for real, though". This song is yet another slice of excellence - who knew a project where almost every song is about the same thing could be so good??

9. Where We At (Skit) (prod. Redman)

Less a skit, and more of an interlude that uses similar music to that on the intro, only it's a whole lot more energetic this time. On this one, Red screams profanity at the listener all the while happily welcoming them to the second side of his "tape" - I found this part especially odd, as one would assume CDs would be the media of choice in 1999. This interlude is a bit obnoxious, but the "The bri- the bricks- Shaolin!!" parts are pretty entertaining, I will say. 

10. 1, 2, 1, 2 (prod. DJ Scratch)

While re-listening to this song today and loving it as much as everything else here, I came up with a pretty good analogy for this project (if I do say so myself). This album is like a bag of peanut m&ms (or whatever sweet you fancy most, really). They all taste pretty much the same, but each and every one is as enjoyable and exciting as the last. And that's like this. This song right here doesn't do much to distinguish itself from a "Tear It Off" or a "Mi Casa" - even DJ Scratch's instrumental doesn't sound like his usual unsettling work, instead opting for some off-kilter synths and a strange bassline - but it's still just as damned excellent, and not once am I bored during this cut. And how could I be, when we've got a pair of fun, charismatic, and excellent MCs rockin' the mic with bars such as "get out your car, sucker: this ain't yours! Robbed you with a gun that's filled with paintballs"?? Also, Funkmaster Flex makes a cameo appearance at the end here, which was mildly interesting. 

11. Maaad Crew (prod. Erick Sermon)

Surprisingly, this is only the second song here to include an intentionally misspelt word in the title (the first being "Da Rockwilder") - I guess with Meth and RZA (listed as an executive producer) around Redman was restrained from too much ridiculousness. This track is, oddly, the least "maaad" up to this point, with the slow-tempo instrumental sounding like something that could have shown up on Muddy Waters, only a lot cleaner. Still, this beat is dope as hell, with an excellent bassline that compliments the drums perfectly - the only downside being that it's not as energetic as a lot of the surrounding beats. On this one, Red & Meth are forced to slow themselves down a small amount, but I don't mind that, as they adapt to their new surroundings with the necessary attitude - rap about the same sort of thing, only do it slower and make it a bit darker. This song includes talk of murder, ghetto life and the obligatory metaphors, and it all comes together to make for another great cut. Hook is nice too. 

12. Run 4 Cover (feat. Ghostface & Street) (prod. RZA)

Meth heads back to his drive of "borrowed" RZA beats whilst Erick Sermon goes off to do a line or two in the studio toilets, and he comes up with this intense banger that's just as good as the last RZA instrumental, only a lot more Wu, which I'm sure listeners were pleased to hear. Sensing the atmosphere, Meth acquires weed-carrier Streetlife and fellow Wu-Tang member Ghostface Killah to spit alongside himself and his buddy. Of course, Def Jam didn't deem either guest's stage name worth printing out in full, hence the credits I listed above - nice foreshadow to The Pretty Toney Album era, I suppose. This track is straight crazy, with the instrumental providing a creepy atmosphere that's absolutely perfect for the Wu members (and b-teamers) present, but also even works for Reggie too, despite him not sounding 100% comfortable over it. Red even starts his verse with a bit of a Wu-Tang shout-out, that being "when it comes to the darts, I throw 'em" - a great line. My favourite verse on here might belong to Ghostface, though, which makes sense as he was in his Supreme Clientele era at this point, and if you don't know what that means then you might want to get to seeking it out. This track is phenomenal, and easily one of my favourites here - if the Wu fans weren't happy with the Def Squad-ishness of this project, they at least had this banger to take away.

13. The ? (prod. Redman)

Sometimes when I go back through these albums for these reviews, I'll discover a gem that I realise I've been overlooking all these years - that's the case here. I always knew I liked this one, but going back into it it's honestly one of the better cuts here. The production, done by Redman himself surprisingly, is absolutely impeccable, with what I think is a Missy Elliott sample helping along the dark drums and bass, which Meth and Red just flow over impeccably. I suppose some may be turned off by the chorus, which utilises a Ja Rule sample (from Hov's song "Can I Get A...") as well as a Beastie Boys one, and voice overs from the hosts - it's way too cluttered to come across as "enjoyable", even though it does give the song an amateur feel to distract listeners from the fact that this came out on one of the biggest labels in the hip-hop industry. Still, despite the dodgy chorus, the production and rapping on this song is excellent - who knew Reginald was so multi-talented? 

14. Dat's Dat Shit (feat. Mally G) (prod. Mathematics)

A collaboration with Reggie's weed carrier Mally G (more commonly known as Jamal) to go alongside the earlier "Run 4 Cover" - strange how he couldn't get a fellow Def Squad member on the track too - where was Keith Murray at? Oh yeah -  in prison. Never mind that then. Anyhow, Red does get an underground affiliate from the Bricks to provide some hook vocals here - that being Young Zee of the Outsidaz, who if you remember also showed up on the last album, on the posse cut "Close Ya Doorz". It's odd, then, that it's a Wu affiliate who shows up for production here - Mathematics is behind the boards for this cut. That should be a good thing, as by this point in time his name tends to excite me more on a release than that of the RZA anyway. Mally G starts things off well here with a dope verse that does oddly utilise the made up word "hazadarious", but it's Reggie who steals the show, with some great and hilarious bars such as "chocolate Thai showers got Doc cookin' minute rice for five hours". Meth does his thing too, at least until the bar "undress a kid properly" shows up, which will probably throw any self-respecting listener off for just a second. The verses on here are all dope, but unfortunately this is the first song here to suffer from a weak hook and slightly aggravating instrumental - that "ooh-woo" sample is way too distracting. This isn't bad, but it is the worst track here. 

15. Cheka (prod. Gov Mattic, co-prod. Redman)

Thankfully, the instrumental on this one improves significantly from the last - odd, considering it's provided by someone no-one's ever actually heard of, except for Reginald fans like me (R.I.P. Gov Mattic, by the way). This beat isn't exactly "straight from the gutta" like a lot of the other work on this album, but it still does it's job at providing something that Red and Meth can use to experiment with their flows on - and man do they do a great job. The rapping on this cut is phenomenal, with the flows being very engaging, and the rhyme schemes being incredibly impressive too, especially with bars like "stickin' ya, rippin' ya for all ya funds" and the like. This isn't exactly the best song here, but it's certainly a dope one nonetheless. No idea what the army chanting at the end is about, though. 

16. Fire Ina Hole (prod. Mathematics)

This record ends in a similar way to how it started - with a high-energy joint that involves some of the best production, hookwork and rapping on the entirety of the record. This song is phenomenal, and if someone were to ask me on the spot, I'd probably go ahead and list this as my favourite cut on the whole album. Mathematics makes up for his annoying production on "Dat's Dat Shit" with a great beat that's intense and very rich, and both Doc and Hot Nix supply us with aggressive, murderous rhymes that are definitely some of the best they have ever kicked. There's so many quotables on here it's insane, and these are arguably overshadowed by the hook - has something so repetitive ever sounded so damned good? This track is a wonderful way to end the album. "Fire Ina Hooooooleeee!"

The following three songs were listed as bonus tracks:

17. Well All Rite Cha

18. Big Dogs

19. How High (Remix)

Unfortunately, these do not actually consist of any new material, except for the transitions between them being different to fit with the vibe of this album. You'll probably remember the first two titles from the introductory paragraphs - those songs were taken from Red and Meth's 1998 albums respectively, and are the collaborations with the other. As for the third song, it's a supposed remix to "How High", the pair's classic first ever collaboration, from 1995's The Show soundtrack. To make things even better, it's not actually the remix but the superior original - no idea how that mistake got made, but it could be to do with the actual remix being more popular, so they decided to swap titles. Anyhow, I'll cover these songs elsewhere (well, the first two I already have), but I do appreciate them giving us these collaborations on the same disc as well, even if "Do What Ya Feel" is superior to "Well All Rite Cha" in my opinion. 

I'll admit that there may be a notable amount of nostalgia bias within my verdict on this collaborative record, but oh well - I still think that this is one of the best collaborations in hip-hop ever, and perhaps the best between two previously established artists (therefore discounting Gang Starr, OutKast, Mobb Deep etc. for all you about to explode out of your tight shirts with rage). This shit is straight up fun, and it's all the better for it - I mean, what did you expect from a collab between Red and Mef? Firstly, we have the production. I've seen some people say that this record is let down by a lot of the more minimalist production, but I don't really see it - sure, these beats aren't astonishing, but I think that's actually to our benefit - not only do they provide a rough, rugged and oftentimes slightly haunting atmosphere, but they also give a hell of a lot of breathing space for the hosts - you won't need to pay attention to the beats as much as on a wonderfully produced album. Obviously, I love production, but it's good enough on here to not detriment the project at all - instead, it enhances it. And that's not to say all of the beats are like this - the title track, "Fire Ina Hole" and "Cereal Killer" all have some of my favourite beats of the late '90s, and that's just to name a couple. And as for the rapping on here - it's truly astonishing. I can say with confidence that every verse here is stellar except one, that being Ja Rule's on "4 Seasons". And who actually thought Ja would be good anyway? The bars from Meth and Red throughout this album are simultaneously clever and hilarious, and their wildly contrasting deliveries (Meth's low-pitched gruffness, and Red's extravagant, bassy, almost shouty vocals) make for consistently entertaining back and forths - it helps that we get ad-libs from them all over each others verses too. Even the features deliver - especially Ghost and LL, the latter of which provides a true stand-out moment on the record. Yes, this album isn't perfect - the lyrical content doesn't really offer much in the way of substance, and the production isn't always the most rich or layered. But as a whole this is one of the most entertaining experiences you'll have in hip-hop, regardless of what aspect of the genre you like, and regardless if you were disappointed by a general lack of Wu-Tang style beats. If you don't already own this, get to digging the stores - this LP is a classic, and a collaboration that will go down in history as one of the most perfect in the genre. Excellent album. 

Best Tracks: Blackout, Mi Casa, Y.O.U., 4 Seasons, Cereal Killer, Da Rockwilder, Maaad Crew, Run 4 Cover, The ?, Cheka, Fire Ina Hole

Worst Tracks: Dat's Dat Shit

Catch up on the Redman Rite-ups (see what I did there?) here, and for the Method Man write-ups, head over there.

Murs-athon pt. 12 - Varsity Blues 2

Welp, it seems it's once again time to go through another project in the Murs catalogue. Thankfully, I don't mind this at all, as every album up to this point besides the dull and almost plasticky Sweet Lord has been pretty great to say the least, and even well over ten years into his career, it seems his rapping is as on point as any hungry young MC - I mean, Fornever was a great project, one I feel doesn't get enough credit for having really great lyrics and production pretty much throughout. However, looking at various websites where the career of Murs has been discussed, it seems a lot of people who were fans of the guy around his '03 to '06 prime period thought he completely fell off around 2010, citing Fornever as one of the worst projects in his entire catalogue, and putting other projects from around this era with it. I can't really work out why that might be, but I guess it could be to do with Murs losing his gangsta edge and becoming a rapper all about positivity, oftentimes writing love songs, storytelling cuts with happy endings, or simply fun songs to party to with a celebratory vibe. Or, it could be the opposite of that - I mean, sonically Fornever doesn't do a whole lot different from what we heard on the first two Murs & 9th Wonder collaborative albums, so that could be a complaint too. 

The main point is that a lot of fans weren't feeling what Murs was doing, and I guess that he therefore felt a) more depressed than he had been previously, and b) like he needed to do a throwback to his early days, before he was ever signed to a major label, and even before he started working with 9th Wonder. And it's a combination of these that might well have been what led to the release of Murs' 2011 EP Varsity Blues 2, an effort that was a lot shorter than his usual work, at 6 tracks, and also had a more diverse producer line-up in comparison with both Fornever (entirely produced by 9th Wonder) and his collaborative album with Terrace Martin Melrose, which I have not listened to because it's not a solo effort. Maybe I'll check it out someday. This album had a different producer for every song - contributions from Aesop Rock, Droop-E, Terrace Martin, Foundation and more were all to be found on here. And, on the other hand, no features were listed at all - the vocals on this project were to be handled by Murs, and Murs alone. 

Now, as you may have already gathered, Varsity Blues 2 was marketed as the sequel to Murs' 2002 EP Varsity Blues, an album that similarly had a different producer for every track, and similarly was largely performed entirely by Murs himself (although that project did have the one feature). Now, that was a project that I enjoyed a hell of a lot, with every song besides the last gaining heavy rotation for me for quite some time. The album had its fair share of depressing moments, but it balanced that out with some of the more fun and upbeat tracks too, which made it the entertaining and concise listen that we ended up getting. As for this one, I really have no idea what it'll sound like. I know it may not have the same energy as the original, but I'm also hoping we get something a bit deeper and darker than what has appeared on Murs' latest few projects. And with these expectations in mind, I think it's about time we get ourselves into this EP...

1. Varsity Blues 2 (prod. Aesop Rock)

The music video for this song titles it as simply "Varsity Blues", but then other sites such as Discogs list it as the title track, which would make sense as there was already as song called "Varsity Blues" on the predecessor to this EP. This was the only "single" released for this project, and even then the video was only released on the same day as this full album - still, being an EP it makes sense he wouldn't promote it as much. This cut was produced by one of the most popular underground hip-hop artists out there, Aesop Rock, and he hands Murs a beat that is actually dope as hell - this instrumental is percussion-heavy, and with a weird, slightly spacey atmosphere that feels skeletal yet equally rich and perfect for Murs' vocals. As for Murs himself, he doesn't sound too different to his work on Murs For President and Fornever, but his lyrical content certainly is, as he reflects not only on his past life, but also speaks on his current situation, and his frustration with the fan's poor reception to his music. The chorus exemplifies this the most: "They say I'm only good when the session is depressing, so I crucify myself, so that you can learn a lesson". This track was particularly powerful, and the production was a nice change from the softer beats Murs had been using on previous projects. This was a really nice opener. 

2. Red Dot Blues (prod. Issue)

I believe "Red Dots" was the name of one of Murs' earliest ever songs, so I'm thinking this might be some sort of reflective song based on that title alone. And... I was completely and utterly wrong. How often does that happen? This song begun with a weird tap-dancing sort of sound, before transitioning into a fucking godawful instrumental that consists of poppy synths and apparently the sound of a 90 year old woman moaning with pleasure into a microphone, which makes for seriously one of the most unpleasant things I have ever heard, full stop. Thankfully, this soft growl of sorts doesn't permeate the whole track, but whenever it's on it becomes very difficult to focus on what Murs is saying. And this isn't a good thing either, as on this song Murs tells a rather tragic story that I presume is fictional, but I guess you never know. Murs had just broken up with his girlfriend whom he had kids with, and he found out she had a new man. So, he pulled up to their house with a gun, went inside, and starts shouting at his ex about "how could she leave him??", meanwhile with her current man on the floor having been pistol whipped. This is a little hypocritical coming from the man who is all pro-women in a lot of his music, but still - his storytelling is invigorating on here, and even though there's no real ending, I'm still happy with what he did with this one. The "I feel so awful, I could off you" at the end is stupid, though, and my God does that beat suck. So it's problematic, but not bad. 

3. She's So Lost (Yumi's Blues) (prod. Foundation)

This song went on to appear on Murs' 2012 studio album Yumiko: Curse Of the Merch Girl, so this isn't going to be the last time I'll cover it on here. I'm assuming that Murs wrote this one song for this Varsity Blues 2 EP, and then liked the concept so much that he threw together a whole album based on it. Well, this track certainly doesn't give me high hopes for that project, because this honestly kinda sucked dick. I don't know why Murs constantly insists on coming up with these bullshit song concepts that aren't hip-hop at all, and instead sound like some shit he observed in a Texas bar while watching an country band play various renditions of the same song over and over. This storyline is so uninteresting, I thought I was going to cry. I honestly don't give a shit about this, and the overly dramatic instrumental with guitars that come in during the chorus for whatever reason, is also really unpleasant. I thought I was supposed to be getting "Underground Raw Shit" here? Not "Uninteresting and slightly Racist Storytelling". Yeah, this was weak.

4. Bummed Out Blues (prod. Karl Berringer)

WHAT THE FUCK. On this song, Murs raps over some cheesy ass piano keys about his blues - I mean, that title really didn't need the "bummed out" in it, did it? The chorus on here consists of what might be a sample, or might be original singing, but I don't know as I'm not into folk rock music. That's right, my friends, that's pretty much what this damned chorus consists of. I'm scared too. The verses on here are OK, I guess, but without any music value at all to enjoy here and some fairly lethargic rhymes from our host too, including bars such as "under so much pressure it was easy to fold, all my funny style friends left me out in the cold", which is just lazy writing, there isn't much at all to enjoy here. Still, it's an improvement from the last song I guess?

5. First Love Blues (prod. Terrace Martin)

I believe that this is not actually an original song, but rather the same exact track that appeared on a compilation Murs did in 2008, called Murs & the Misadventures Of the Nova Express. The song is "1st Love", and it's actually one of Murs' most popular tracks - I'm surprised I only noticed the similarity in titles right before starting the song. Anyway, this was by far the best song since the opener here, and I would actually probably say the best song yet on this EP. The production from Terrace Martin was quite saddening and poignant, and Murs' storytelling (covering exactly what you'd expect from the title of the song) is also engaging, with the twist at the end being the cause of tears in many, I'm sure. This song is straight from the heart, and the fact that I'd missed it up until now is shocking - this is easily one of the best songs Murs has done post Murray's Revenge, and surely one of the best love songs in hip-hop full stop. 

6. Dodger Blues (prod. Droop-E)

For the final song here, E-40 affiliate Droop-E provides a half-dramatic, half-subdued instrumental that I find to be fairly interesting in that it doesn't know what atmosphere it wants to provide, and over it Murs "breaks up" with the city of L.A.. Of course, it wasn't difficult to work out that he was addressing a city rather than a lover, as the true object of the song is revealed during the chorus in the sample. Admittedly, I was intrigued by that line "I made a song for you, it didn't even chart" - until I worked out that the song he was referring to was obviously "L.A.", I was interested to see what he was talking about there. The concept of this song is actually cool, and Murs executes it well, criticising the city for its effect on him, and even stating that he's glad he's moving away because he doesn't want the city to have the same negative effect over his kids. This track isn't one of Murs' best, but I still found it an intriguing and well-written ending to this EP. 

This EP was... alright. I honestly don't think there's really much I can say here. It's pretty much just a fairly alright EP where the best song is one nabbed from a three year old compilation, and the only other songs worth checking out are the intro and outro. Honestly, after the opening track, my hopes were raised quite a bit, as I genuinely found that to be even more engaging than a lot of the music on the stellar Fornever album, and I was hoping for a project filled with that great hardcore production, and Murs rapping about his real life problems. Unfortunately, the next two songs consisted of fantasy tales spit over horribly mainstream and uninteresting instrumentals that really made me question if Murs still had it in him to make dope music. And this is right after a dope song had just played! Sure, "Red Dot Blues" wasn't a bad story, but sonically it was pretty horrible, and things got even worse with that next track, a piece of music I just don't even want to speak about. And even though "Bummed Out Blues" bought things back down to Earth, that track had the absolute worst production and hook work on the whole project. Thankfully, the final song was good, but I was honestly annoyed at how they chucked "1st Love" on here with a different name - I mean, you can't throw a three year old song on a supposedly brand new EP and expect to get away with it, man. I was honestly fairly disappointed by this, and the only song I can see myself regularly revisiting on here is the great title track, which showed an invigorated and passionate Murs over some actually dope underground hip-hop production. The rest of this sees the man whimsically drifting between real life and fantasy over some of the most trite and unpleasant instrumentals he has ever set his hands on. This really doesn't excite me for what's to come. 

Expectations: Subceeded

Best Track: "Varsity Blues 2" (I refuse to name the song that had been released well before)

Worst Track: "She's So Lost (Yumi's Blues)"

Catch up on other more positive Murs reviews (and that on Sweet Lord) by clicking over here.