Send "Murs " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Popmatters |
 If you were going to start a gimmicky hip-hop conversation with the rule that it must be about rappers who became one of the most vital within their niche scene during the 2000s and then inexplicably became equally irrelevant as quick as they become a name to watch for, Murs would probably be the first artist that came up. And the conversation would not be a brief one. You’d get sidetracked gushing over his time spent as a member of Living Legends and his breakthrough solo LP, The End of the Beginning, and then spend 20 minutes talking about all the memories that sprout out of refresh sessions with his first two 9th Wonder collaborations. Then you’d start talking about his hilariously obsessive celebrity-ode series Felt with Slug of Atmosphere. After all the happy memories, though, you’d come to his major label debut, Murs for President. At that point we knew everything we were ever going to know about Murs: his nerdy interests that sometimes drifted into a slightly creepy obsession with porn stars, his ridiculously nappy anime-style hairdo and, of course, his captivating ability to tell a coherent story over soulful beats.Murs for President saw Murs hook up with a bunch of industry middleweights and west coast all-stars to weave breakup songs, sex songs and some underground rapper on the come up tales, very few of which were capable of leaving a lasting impression. Afterwards he’s been relatively quiet compared to his boon years, but a few weeks ago fans received the surprise announcement Murs had hooked up with Ski Beatz—a legendary New York DJ currently best known for skyrocketing Curren$y’s JETS conglomerate to considerable relevancy—for a full album, and almost as quickly the curiously titled Love & Rockets, Vol. 1: The Transformation was upon us. And as has so often been the case with Murs releases over the past three years, the idea of an album dropping was pretty damn exciting until it actually appeared. About those rockets and transformations ... they’re pretty much red herrings. I mean, you’re not going to find a more irrelevant album title this year. This album is certainly all about love, though. More break ups, a west coast hip-hop tribute that doubles as an offended east coast bias rebuke (about a decade too late, might I add), more sex and, in the album’s lone surprise jab, an album closer dealing with society’s rejection of homosexual relationships. Hell, there’s even a song about the love of traveling the globe via plane here....full text |
| Djbooth |
| “My favorite flight is the one that goes home, keep your family first cause you cant do this alone” ‘Love’: An overused and romanticized four-letter word that has ended relationships, ruined and rescued lives and a word that propels hip hop culture. Love is complex and multidimensional which makes it by far the most common theme throughout music. Murs’ Love and Rockets- Part I: The Transformation is no exception. I had the chance to meet with Murs about a month ago and he mentioned love as a driving theme for this new album. But not love in the typical sense. On this album, Murs raps about love for his sexual partners (Westside Love), love for his city of LA (Eazy-E), love for his dreams (Dream On), homosexual love (Animal Style) but most importantly love for true hip hop (Hip Hop and Love). Murs is and has always been an extremely talented lyricist. His style is almost as though he is just talking to you at a party and it just so happens that every sentence rhymes. That’s how natural rapping is for Murs. So when it comes to love, he takes this clichéd theme and transforms it (pun intended) into his own. You can feel the truth and honesty of his words and feel like an insider to his personal experiences with love. But with Murs we aren’t talking about love for girls hanging from a pole. He’s like us, an everyday guy. On his track Remember 2 Forget, he talks about his dysfunctional relationship with an ex in a way that I, and almost every man, can relate to. When I feel upset about problems with my girlfriend, I just pop that track on and it all seems to wash away. Rockets “I think the un-thought, I teach the un-taught. I ain’t preachin’, I’m just getting to the fun part” For someone like Murs, lets just say he’s seasoned; he’s been around the block once or twice. Rapping since ’93, Murs finds new ways to keep himself motivated, inspired and passionate; or what I like to call Rockets. Don’t think for a minute that this album is full of slow sorrow-filled ballads about eternal love. Murs keeps it relevant and exiting, what real hip hop is supposed to do. If you are riding down the highway bumpin 67 Cutlass and your head is not bobbing to the beat, you are either deaf or you don’t actually like hip hop because that as good as it gets. Murs brings tenacity to certain tracks that show even after all these years, he’s still hungry. Not for poppin bottles and getting fu**ed up, but hungry for love life and his passion. It just gives you goose bumps. My only criticism I have is on some tracks, frankly, he just needs better hooks. If maybe he brought in someone else to give a new flavor on a few songs, Love and Rockets would really catch on. But the beauty of Murs is that, I don’t think he cares. He makes music he enjoys and sticks to his guns; great writing and poetic imagery. The Transformation “I never had to kill no body, never had to sell coke, spend it while you can, we all go to hell broke” What exactly are we transforming here? Is it the transformation of Murs? His music? Or maybe hip hop in general? The answer is all of the above. He’s a new man with a new wife, new message and new hair. This album shows a change in his music too with the maturation and evolution of Murs into a well rounded, passionate, enlightened artist. This album proves that he is the role model for a long-term success. But the most important transformation of all is that of hip hop. For years now the one hit wonder pop sellout has been a mainstay on Top 40 charts and its getting annoying. How many Soulja Boys and California Swag Districts do we have to listen to in order for us to recognize what good hip hop really is. Above all, Murs prides himself on the fact that he has never had to do anything else but be himself. If you stay hungry, the gigs, money, respect and recognition will eventually come. As he writes, you “Sold your soul for that 15 min, you was on, you was in, you was hot, now you finished.” Out with the lames in with the real. Love and Rockets is a chance for hip hop to transform back to its roots; the real, musical, easy to listen to simple beats and lyrics that we all grew to love. Lastly I think this is an opportunity for the transformation of us as listeners. If this album gets the recognition it deserves, it shows that we are able to finally weed through the bullshit and get to the music that changes us and moves us as people. So when you buy Love and Rockets; Part I: The Transformation, which you should, give it a deep listen, let it tap into your emotions and think to yourself, “When does Part 2 come out?”...full text |
| Nappyafro |
| During his 15 year career, Murs has created a eclectic catalog that includes his work with the Living Legends, 3 Melancholy Gypsys, his Felt projects with Slug, his 4 albums with 9th Wonder, and his solo albums that includes his try at the majors with Murs For President. Now he has hooked up with Dame Dash’s BluRoc Records to release his latest project, Love & Rockets, Volume 1: The Transformation. The album title marks a change in Murs in terms of business, looks, (He recently cut off the trademark dreads), and life (He recently got married). Also for Love & Rockets Volume 1, Murs has Ski Beatz handling 12 out of 13 of the tracks. Will this be a good transformation? Let’s find out 1. Epic Salutations Produced by Ski Beatz The opener of Love & Rockets Vol. 1 feels like it’s introducing the listeners to hearing Murs over Ski Beatz signature production. Actually, the laid back bass anchored beat sounds like something that would be on Pilot Talk, but Murs makes it his own as he uses rocket and space metaphors in his rhymes. This works as a pretty good intro for the album. 2. Remember 2 Forget Produced by Ski Beatz I always thought Murs was at his best when rapping about relationships with women and he shows why here. The basic theme of the song here is about reminiscing about past relationships but remembering that it wasn’t all good. The live instrumentation that Ski provides a good backdrop for Murs to talk about the failed relationship. You can even look at this song as the unofficial sequel to “Break Up (The OJ Song)”; Murs even makes note of it. 3. 67 Cutlass Produced by Ski Beatz Murs is in full storytelling mode here which is refreshing since it isn’t done very much in Hip-Hop these days. The set up here has Murs and a friend riding around in a Cutlass, smoking weed, and getting pulled over by the police. I’ll admit that the story here is predictable, but you can go back and listens to songs like “Trevor An’ Them” or “Walk Like A Man” and see that Murs may be one of the best rapping storytellers out. 4. Eazy-E Produced by Ski Beatz Murs has always been one to pay homage to his West coast Hip-Hop influences and here he does it again. The title of the song may be after Eric “Eazy-E” Wright, but the song pays respect to a lot of Left Coast legends: Growing up they said the West had no lyricist Can you imagine growing up hearing this? So I took my Hip-Hop serious Years later now the pen game is furious As for the beat, I had to check the album credits again to make sure Ski Beatz actually produced this one; Ski definitely shows versatility here and makes something that matches the retrospective rhymes from Murs. 5. Hip Hop & Love Featuring Tabi Bonney; Produced by Ski Beatz I’ll be honest here, I didn’t like this track when I first heard it, but after seeing it performed at A3C this year, I kinda warmed up to it. It definitely one of those songs that has a chill vibe to it. There have been a lotta songs where Hip-Hop is personified as a woman but Tabi Bonney & Murs still do a good job of using the metaphor to show their history with the culture. This one may not be everyone’s pace, but give it a few plays....full text |
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