Hello again everyone, it’s been a while since I last put up an album suggestion of the week, and for those of you who follow this, I’m sorry about that. The good news though, is that I once again have a drive to do this post, so you can expect to see a lot more of these. I’d like to thank the customer who came in the other day and was asking me what all the names of the songs I was listening to at work and then had me write them down for her. You’ve got me wanting to do this again, so I hope you read this one.

So let’s get to it. For those of you that are even slightly familiar with underground hip hop, you more than likely have heard of Murs, and for those of you who love the artists Erykah Badu, David Banner, Ludacris, Nas, and many many many others, 9th Wonder has done production for a lot of their songs that you probably know and love. But I want to take you all the way back to the year 2004, when both Murs and 9th Wonder were starting to really get huge followings, and right at the cusp of when they both blew the fuck up. The album I am referring to is none other than Murs 3:16 The 9th Edition.

Murs 3:16 The 9th Edition is by far my favorite Murs album of all time. Released on the late Definitive Jux Records (RIP) all of the vocals are handled by Murs and all of the production is handled by 9th Wonder. The reason that this is my favorite Murs album is that from the beginning to end it is absolutely flawless. From all of the Murs tracks I’ve ever heard, no one compliments his style and flow better than 9th Wonder and in my opinion no one flows better on a 9th Wonder beat than Murs.

Murs’ lyrical style is one that is very uniquely his. His lyrics can go from intensly deep and personal to very comical and light hearted, and it is the best when he is able to blend both of those extremes on the same track which I feel he does on every single song on this album. Murs is the kind of guy who never takes himself too seriously but at the same time he can come with the hardest lines ever that make you really sit and contemplate what he’s been saying.

9th Wonder is one of my favorite producers because every track he makes you can tell it is him producing it and he always seems to make a beat that perfectly matches whoever is singing or rapping over it. An interesting fact about 9th Wonder that Murs addresses on their album is that 9th Wonder makes all of his beats on Fruity Loops.  For those of you who don’t know about Fruity Loops it’s basically a very simple beat/song production program that is often looked down upon in the hip hop production community, but 9th Wonder is able to make beats just as good as anyone using Reason.

So please, go and find this album, especially since on March 30th of this year Murs and 9th Wonder will be releasing their new collaboration album titled Fornever. So if you would like to go back and hear the genius that is Murs 3:16 The 9th Edition, I would highly suggest it. And if this album is any indication of what we can expect from Fornever, I am very very excited for it. So until next week, take care and open up your ears and mind to some amazing music.

-Paul B