Tag: The White Mandingos

MURS – “Love & Rockets 3.16: The Emancipation” review

MURS is a 47 year old MC & singer/songwriter from Los Angeles, California notable for being a former member of the alternative hip hop outfit the Living Legends. He also has a dozen solo LPs under his belt excluding the 6 he has with 9th Wonder of The Soul Council, with my favorites being his Definitive Jux Records debut …The End of the Beginning & the Strange Music-backed A Strange Journey into the Unimaginable fully produced by MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7. Now signed to Mello Music Group, the west coast veteran’s closing the book on his solo career with a trilogy chapter of the Love & Rockets series.

“Silverlake Rec League” begins the end by talking about friends, gym life, struggles & triumphs over an experimental trap instrumental whereas “Enjoy” fully displays the endearment he has towards his wife. “Chopper (ThisIsNotAnAntiPoliceSongThisIsAnAntiPoliceHelicopterSong)” featuring Reverie finds the 2 taking shots at the LAPD for fucking up their party while “This Ain’t That” thunderously talks about being despised forever selling his soul.

Moving on from there, “F.A.M.I.L.Y. (Forever Always Motherfucker I Love You)” works in a flute-tinged boom bap instrumental finding community within his fanbase leading into “Flowers 4 will.i.am” showing his appreciation towards the Black Eyed Peas frontman. “Ga$ Prices” talks about the cost of refilling gas in your car being higher than WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg just before “Beauty in the Streets” jazzily takes us through the belly of the beast.

“OCH” starts the final leg of Love & Rockets 3.16: The Emancipation by responding to those saying freedom ain’t free while “Lightsabers & Black Forces” featuring Chace Infinite shows their appreciation for the Star Wars franchise owned by The Walt Disney Company subsidiary Lucasfilm. The closer “Stylus Groove” caps everything off with a drumless beat looking back at these past 3+ decades.

Reflecting on a storied career marked by honesty as well as humor & razor-sharp lyricism, Love & Rockets 3.16: The Emancipation finds MURS in peak form spitting with the urgency of an artist laying his legacy in stone. Celebrating a legacy built on raw truth & relentless passion, the west coast veteran crafts a worthy sendoff to the illustrious mark he’s left on the music industry filled with introspection & storytelling.

Score: 4/5

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MURS – “Captain California” review

After dropping his last solo album (but his debut with Missouri based independent powerhouse Strange Music) Have a Nice Life as well as reuniting with 9th Wonder to drop Brighter Daze in 2015, former Living Legends member MURS would spend 2016 doing a couple features & he even won a Guinness World Record for the Longest Rap Marathon back in September. However, he’s now returning with his 10th solo album but his sophomore effort with Strange. The album kicks off with the track “Lemon Juice”, where MURS & Curtiss King are battling back & forth with each other over this chick & the production from MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7 on here is pretty smooth. The next track “Shakespeare on the Low” is a hood version of the timeless Shakespeare play Romeo & Juliet & honestly, it’s just ok. The track “G.B.K.W. (God Bless Kanye West)” isn’t really about Kanye himself, but rather about a man who’s under stress over an upbeat instrumental enhanced with these twinkling keys. The next track “Colossus” originally appeared on the bonus disc of Strange Music founder Tech N9ne’s latest album The Storm & it sounds just as great as it did when I first heard it on that album 3 months ago. The song “Another Round” talks about sex, but the way he describes it isn’t excessively raunchy at all & the pre-hook from Krizz Kaliko as well as 7’s production on here are all on point as well. The song “1,000 Suns” is a dedication to his wife Kate & you can just tell that he wrote/delivered it from the heart. Not only that, but 7’s electro-tinged production isn’t a bad touch either. The song “1 Uh Those Days” with Reverie discuss their individually shitty days & the production from former Company Flow member Mr. Len has these string passages as well as some hard ass boom bap drums too. The penultimate track “Ay Carumba” is about getting another woman pregnant & the way he describes the situation isn’t bad at all, I’m indifferent towards the production on here. Not only do I consider this to be an improvement over Have a Nice Life, but I also think that this is the best thing MURS has done with Strange Music thus far. While I feel like the production could’ve been better on some tracks, the storytelling throughout is fantastic.

Score: 3.5/5