MURS
Murs 3:16
Definitive Jux

Hard-touring underground rapper tells the world his business

On his 2003 Def Jux debut, . . . The End of the Beginning, L.A.'s Murs showed off a full range of indie-rap lectures, jokes and stories. On this 10-song, 35-minute follow-up, he explains how and why a conscious MC gets to be a full-time horndog. Striding purposefully forward on vaguely cinematic fanfares and catchy soul-queen loops, Murs reveals more than you want to know about his sex life, with the details pungent and the foibles out front. He surrounds the theme with local color, like the botched robbery where he ended up with loot he didn't want. And he goes out on a description of how weird it is for a black hip-hopper to have a white audience.

Blender, May 2004