Blogarhythms

My friends and I ascribe to a little known doctrine called “The Dreadlock Theory” which states that any rapper who rose to prominence while sporting dreadlocks will, should they ever cut their locks, lose their artistic vigor. It’s far from scientific, and I won’t name any names, but an examination of the history of various bedreaded Hip-Hop heroes should be evidence enough to support our hypothesis.

Conversely, we hadn’t put much thought into the opposite; that a rapper not known for their knatty locks who suddenly grows some might in fact suffer similar reversal of artistic fortunes. That is, we hadn’t thought about it until one of our favorite emcees — Los Angeles native, member of the Log Cabin crew, 3 Melancholy Gypsies, the Living Legends & Felt, and founder of the Paid Dues Festival, the Mighty MURS — grew dreads. And not only did he grow them, he recorded a song about them as well!

That song was the first release from MURS that we felt didn’t exactly live up to the standards of his then decade-spanning catalog or truly reflect the freewheeling spirit of the guy we’d met and engaged in an epic radio interview (encompassing The Matrix, comic books, race, record sales, Viacom, touring and more) with. And being the fanboys that we are, it shook us to our core. The news that he’d officially signed to Warner Brothers, a major label, had prompted a bit of trepidation, although we held out hoped that such an opportunity would inspire him to new heights rather than lead to his downfall. He announced that his then-forthcoming album would be called Murs for President and laid out an Obama-ish platform for himself as underground Hip-Hop’s everyman ambassador to the mainstream, which was heartening. But we were worried.

More than a year’s passed since then. He dropped another solid collaborative effort with 9th Wonder, which they gave away as a free download. And he released the first official single from Murs for President, the Jackson 5-sampling “Can It Be.” The single marked a return to the sort of material — raps steeped in sophistication, social consciousness and street-knowledge delivered with humbleness, humor and an older-brother’s sense of responsibility towards his listeners over soulfully ebullient beats — he’d demonstrated an expertise in crafting during his tenure at Definitive Jux and on his collaborations with 9th. It spoke to the problems affecting my own neighborhood in a way that Hip-Hop only infrequently does these days, gave MURS the chance to thump his chest a bit, and quelled any fears I’d had about his future as an artist.

The album MURS for President (in stores tomorrow) picks up where “Can It Be” ends and doesn’t falter. Okay, some of MURS’ indieground followers might balk at guest appearances from will.i.am and Snoop Dogg, question one or two beat choices, ponder some of the big-name artists getting jacked for samples and gasp at the over-dramatic Rock-balladry of “A Part of Me.” But those are small complaints all, and the sort of gestures an artist with populist ambitions and a major-label budget can’t be blamed for making. Most of the beats follow the thumping, sample-laden blueprint laid out by 9th Wonder (who contributes) on their previous efforts. And the songs, like “The Science,” “Everything,” “Breakthrough,” “Me and This Jawn,” and “Love and Appreciate II,” are generally diverse with topics ranging from the politics of the drug trade and the war on drugs, the legacy of slavery, education, poverty, ingenuity, overcoming adversity, believing in oneself and being proud of one’s accomplishments while seeking to uplift others, and of course girls.

MURS “Breakthrough”

Dreadlocks or not, MURS is still one of my favorite emcees doing it. Before there was Blu — another versatile emcee and skilled songwriter with a social-worker’s heart, braggart’s mouth, hustler’s spirit, personality, charisma, broad appeal and accessibility — there was MURS. An edgy kid who comes off like a character from a Larry Clark film who came out the other side a better person for it, whose personal experiences and understanding of the world made him want to change it for the better. A friend to all, whether Hip-Hop head, gangster, skate-punk, ex-con, comic-book geek, working-man or (most especially) woman. A backpack-toting descendant of both Ice Cube & Common and a more experienced but lesser-known cousin of Kanye who paved the way for trendy alternative-leaning emcees like Wale, KiD CuDi and Lupe Fiasco to do what they’re doing.

If anybody’s worthy of being Hip-Hop’s “president” — the guy who represents everything that’s good about the artform, shows kids what it means to grow up and still be “cool,” refuses to let the genre and its attendant sub-cultures be pigeonholed as irresponsible hooliganism at best and malevolent destructive anti-socialism at worst, and demonstrates that one can like sex and still respect women — it’s MURS. He’s an emcee whose music routinely inspired listeners to call in and gush, about how it reaffirmed their lost faith in Hip-Hop, made them look at Rap music in a totally different light, or directly affected them in a very personal, positive, life-affirming way, when I’d play it on the radio. MURS for President is the culmination of all that.

I believe in him. And, since he had the balls to cast himself in such a role, he evidently believes in himself. With Murs for President he’s in a position to have a lot more people believing in him, and by extension inspire them to believe in themselves. So show your support and cast your ballot for change by copping MURS’ record.

While you’re at it, get a copy for a kid you know with questionable taste in Rap music. It just might inspire a change in them as well.