Send "Felt " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 "Your favorite group that wasn't even a group to start!" Atmosphere's Slug makles this claim on "Protagonists", the leadoff track from his collaboration with fellow indie MC all-star Murs, Felt 3: A Tribute to Rosie Perez, and despite the humility this is more indie hip-hop supergroup than mere side project. With Aesop Rock on production, Felt becomes a triangulation that canvasses almost the entirety of U.S. undie rap in terms of geography and affiliation. So why is this thing kind of a bummer?It's got nothing to do with Aesop, whose beats go a long way toward invigorating Rosie Perez. Far from the gnarled and difficult production one might expect from a Def Jukie, Rosie Perez shows a good amount of sonic diversity while never straying too far from the sort of chunky, drum-knocking beats Murs and Slug typically rhyme over. You can't accuse Rosie Perez of being hookless: Even if Slug and Murs can't quite nail the double-time flows on "Felt Chewed Up", it's still nice to hear these guys do their own cheerleading over some pretty awesome turntable work, and the working man blues of "Like You" has an agile, back and forth vigor. The 21-deep tracklist is certainly foreboding, but the skit/interlude/instrumentals "Kevin Spacey" and "Get Cake" have a guileless charm that justify their inclusion....full text |
| Popmatters |
| Album sequels are a hell of a lot like movie sequels. In other words, they are usually immense letdowns. Just look to Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 2 and The Blueprint 3, both of which didn’t live up to the greatness of the original. In the movie world, there are far too many examples, which range from Jurassic Park‘s two follow-ups to any number of cash-in sequels. But, as always in life, there are exceptions. Sometimes, the second or third installment can improve upon what was heard or seen first. While not as amazing as its predecessor, Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…Pt. 2 still exceeded most of our expectations. And only a fool would argue that James Cameron’s Terminator was better than Terminator 2: Judgment Day. And that is exactly what leads us to Felt, which is the pairing of Slug (of Atmosphere) and Murs (of Living Legends). Like the two robotic versions of the apocalypse, the first Felt record laid the groundwork while its sequel truly hit the mark. But wait, like T2, Felt 2: A Tribute to Lisa Bonet was not the end of the Murs and Slug saga. Could these two formidable MCs outdo themselves or would their work—now in the hands of Aesop Rock—turn to absolute shit? Luckily, unlike the last two god-awful Terminator sequels, it’s not as if Murs and Slug’s material is all of a sudden being taken on by someone outside of their camp. Both have collaborated with Aesop in the past. And we all know they can get just as outside-the-box as he can. But it appeared at first that the Def Jukie was an odd choice for a third Felt project. Aside from a few tracks, these albums were a chance for Murs and Slug to let their lyrical hair down, so to speak. They were able to escape the more serious, gloomier side of their personalities. And, instead, they could just have a good time spitting about women, booze, partying, and vacations....full text |
| Urb |
| “We still spittin’ on that indie bullshit,” Murs raps on “Protagonists,” the lead track off Felt’s third album. While his 2008 Warner Bros. release Murs For President didn’t exactly fly off the shelves, the whole shebang seemed kind of uncomfortably commercial for the guy that hosts an independent hip-hop festival every summer. Add this to the fact that his Felt partner-in-rhyme Slug (of the Minneapolis group Atmosphere) now co-owns a label that recently signed well-known acts like former Roc-A-Fella MC Freeway and Dilated Peoples member Evidence, and it’s no wonder these two feel they still have something to prove to the indie rap world they once called home. So when the California rapper says “the flow is so rough, that the mainstream suckers won’t know this us,” on “Revisiting The Styleetron,” it almost comes off as a plea to the underground: “We’re still one of you!” Which may not be true, but they sure do their best to prove it. Like the duo’s previous two releases, the LP is a tribute to a B-List actress (in this case, Rosie Perez), with the production supplied by Def Jux rapper/producer Aesop Rock (The Grouch and Ant each scored one of the previous two). Aes does a great job here, as he avoids making the CD sound like a Murs album, or an Atmosphere album, or even an Aesop Rock album; somehow, this just sounds like a Felt album. The general tone of Felt 3 is grittier than the previous two, as the soundscapes range from up-tempo head bobbers to darker, layered beats, but he does a great job grabbing the listener’s attention without directing any limelight away from the consistently on-point lyrics. So yeah: Slug and Murs do their part, too. They’re still talking about some of the same old things, like the battle-rap shit-talking on “Protagonists” and “Paul Reubens,” or those familiar around-the-way types of tales they’ve been telling for the past 10 or so years. But most impressive (or disappointing, depending on where you stand on Murs’ solo career or Slug’s Atmosphere catalog) is the maturity that’s exuded, as the two have both unquestionably stepped their narrating games up. The result being moments like the haunting tale on “Permanent Standby,” or “Deathmurdermayhem,” on which both guys tell ‘fuck you’ stories in their own distinct manners. ...full text |
Felt lyrics
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