MURS & ¡MAYDAY! – ¡MURSDAY! [Album Review]

Going into this album I was already a big fan of ¡Mayday!, and the entire Strange Music roster. However, I didn’t know much, if anything, about their most recent signee, Murs. The underground MC from Los Angeles California had yet to catch my ear. I had heard about him, but nothing engaged me to look into his music. So after hearing the news that his first release on Strange Music would be a collaborative project with ¡Mayday!, I was a little skeptical. I had no idea how Murs would fit in with ¡Mayday!, why did they need to add Murs? I thought they were better off without him to be honest. But as soon as I heard the first single, “Tabletops”, Murs erased all of my skepticism . Not only are his first bars on the album dope, the transition between him to Bernz was so smooth and natural that I knew people were going to be in for a treat with this Mursday album. Now, after listening to the complete project, I can say that this album, although not being the best music I have heard in 40 years like Murs claims in the “Intro”, is a damn good album, and will probably be one of my favorites of the year.

1. “Intro” – Murs talks about how he and ¡Mayday! Got together in Miami at the Cuban American Social Club to record the record. And that when they come together they go by the name Mursday and that this record is some of the best music you have heard in 40 years.

2. “Tabletops” – is one of my favorite tracks from the album. The track starts off with some great production. The scratching and drums mixed with Mursday yelling “Yeah! Get up!” starts the album off on a hype note. The story behind the track of them rapping and “banging on tabletops” since their schools days reminds me of some Tech N9ne “Melancholy Maze” type shit.

3. “Zones” – Again, the production on this song is sharp. The heavy guitar riff (I love it) fits perfectly with the lyrics and theme of the track. Murs on this track is truly in his “zone” and shows some of his finest bars on the album when he spits;

“Rider for this motherfucking real shit / I get to rhyming off the top of the head and start to kill shit” and “Real French shit on my fwet du bwee / It’s the 3 musketeers, no guest emcee / My Alexandre Dumas when I’m rhyming too raw”

The other 2 verses from Wrekonize and Bernz are both hard. This is another one of my favorite tracks.

4. “My Own Parade” – This track talks about how they are finally getting the recognition they feel they deserve. They all go back and forth, trading off short verses discussing how people better start listening to the music they make soon.

“Come on and hop up on the bandwagon / Grown men for the win no pants sagging / It’s an All-Souls Processional Ain’t no question we true rap professionals.”

5. “New Toys” – After the very hype start, “New Toys”, slows the Mursday album down for a second. The female backed hook, the jazzy bass line, and soft strings in the background make for a great track about the difficulties of being a rapper. All three MC’s tell stories of their hardships and how being separated from their loved ones (because the difficult lifestyle of making music is very busy with tours etc.) caused trouble in their lives. All of their verses start with;

“Lately I’ve been living this life that’s trife / poltergeist on mics.”

Showing us that the life of a rapper isn’t as glamorous as we all might think, there are a lot of ups and downs and it’s a difficult industry. The finest lyrics from this track, in my opinion, come from Wrekonize when he says;

“But I kneel / and continue to spin the wheel / even if it only gets me the promise that I can still build meals out of doing what I love.” (He’s going to rap and do what he loves as long as it’s putting food on the plate)

6. “Brand New Get Up” – Leads right back into the high energy. This track is all about getting off of your ass and doing something with your life. Murs starts off the track with an Outkast reference and a hard verse. Trying to prove that he is as good a of a rapper as anyone, he spits;

“Bullet in the Billboard charts, about to kill the game / Load up the mic and make your favorite rapper feel the pain.”

Wrekonize and Bernz do their thing as well. Production on this track is insane. There is so much going on with the background vocals, clapping, soft background keys, and saxophone it’s awesome. From a production standpoint this is one of my favorite tracks.

7. “You Again” – This track slows things down a little bit again. This song is all about getting back with a girl that you haven’t talked to in a while but have really wanted to. All three of them tell their own personal story and flow very well on the smooth production. Murs however had my favorite verse on this track again. He says;

“Grab that like I’m starvin’ for it / Make a straight bitch gay like Marvin for it / Hurt like Percy Harvin for it / Got a full beard like James Harden for it”

They all kill it though.

8. “Serge’s Song” – This is my favorite track from the album. Not only is it a tribute to Nas’s “One Love” off of Illmatic but it also tells the true story of Bernz’s friend Serge who was incarcerated. It killed Bernz to see his friend behind bars so after visiting him he wrote this song. Murs plays the role of Serge on the track, as he and Wrekonize spit back and forth having a conversation (they are portraying Serge and Bernz). The Spanish sung by Bernz on the track is poetically beautiful. In English it translates to

“Hey my friend I haven’t seen you in a long time in paradise. Jails of glass behind, do not loose me. Hopefully you’ll go out to the sea and sand and a world that wants you. People say that nothing is easy. Therefore I ask the one who blesses me to take care of my friend. When I see you we’ll be tremendously drunk. We’ll throw a party until the new day, your family waits for you here.” (You can look up the other translations on Rap Genius)

I love everything about this song.

9. “Beast Out The Box” – Even though this is my least favorite track on the album, it’s still a good song. I just feel like if I had to pick one of the songs from this album as the worst, it would be this song. Even though the production and verses on this song are still very impressive, I’m not a big fan of the hook. For some reason the hook feels out of place to me, but I still enjoy other aspects of the song.

10. “Bitcoin Beezy” – This is the braggadocio track on the album. Basically them all flaunting and talking about how much pussy and money they have. The production on this track is very nice though, and all 3 have hard verses. Not my favorite subject matter, but regardless it’s still a good track.

11. “Here” – Another one of my favorite songs from the album. “Here” discusses the desire to want to want to fit in, and how sometimes you camouflage yourself to fit in. But eventually you will find out that there is no running from who you really are. All 3 trade off short verses again and tell a collective story. I really enjoy the back and forth between these 3 MC’s. They work off of each other well.

12. “New Year’s Day” – This is an interesting track. If you just looked at the lyrics you would think it’s a loud party song. Even though it is a party song all about partying like it’s the last night of your life, (a more creative way to say YOLO) the production is really slow and almost somber. It’s definitely an interesting mix and I’m still trying to figure out what Mursday is trying to get across.

13. “Spiked Punch” – This is the final song on the album. The high energy production reminds me of DJ Kool’s,“Let Me Clear My Throat”, and ends the album right where it started. Wrekonize, Bernz, and Murs all trade verses again and show their skills one last time. Great way to end an even better album.

14. “Outro” – Thanks to everybody that worked on the album.

Overall, in my opinion Mursday was a great album. The production from front to back is some of the best I have heard in a while. It’s very original but at the same times pays homage to some of hip-hops classics. Nothing on this album is really wasted. Even the spoken word skits between songs either add humor or value to the track. Murs and ¡Mayday! fit together perfectly, and although having doubts going into this collaborative project, I leave it in hopes that they make another.

Album Rating – 8.0