Murs: Murs For President

It's odd to

see a rapper like Murs, the Los Angeles indie-label favorite, on such a big

label, especially this late in the major-label game. But despite the inclusion

of "Time Is Now," which features a guest verse from Snoop Dogg, and some

glossier production than usual here and there, Murs For President is pretty much the kind of album its

creator might have made for Definitive Jux or Rhymesayers: lots of good,

specific, thoughtful lyrics about politics and love (which dominate the album's

first and final thirds, respectively) that treat them like everyday concerns

rather than grandstanding. But only sometimes is the music up to the standards

of the words, such as on the flute-kissed, Scoop Deville-produced "The

Science," on which Murs dissects hip-hop's beginnings: "It wasn't always played

on every radio station / It was us making the best out of a bad situation /

Inner-city schools stopped teaching us instruments / We took turntables, and

start flipping it." Still, his narrative skills can keep things interesting,

especially on "Think You Know Me," in which Murs inhabits a trio of different

characters that society sees as menaces but that he views with more sympathy.