Audio By Carbonatix
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The gulf between mainstream rap and indie hip-hop can be breached
with ease. Indeed, there are plenty of tracks on Murs’ latest
recording, 2008’s Murs For President, that would cause the
typical T.I. fan to start nodding his head if he gave them a chance,
including “Lookin’ Fly,” co-starring will.i.am. Lyrically, however, the contrasts
are vast. “All these rappers want to talk about is guns and dope,” Murs
declares on “Can It Be (Half a Million Dollars and 18 Months Late)”
— but he’s got a lot more on his mind, as he demonstrates on “The
Science,” a bold return to the music’s conscious roots. Hard to imagine
that the throng on hand to see headliner Tech N9ne, author of “Psycho
Bitch,” will instinctively gravitate toward couplets such as “Who has
the rock and who has the powder?/Who’s the oppressed and who has the
power?” Yet they’ll dig the beats — and that’s half the
battle.
