¡Mursday!

Audio Mixer: Ben Cybulsky.
Recording information: ¡Mayday! Studios Aka The Cuban American Social Club, Mi.
Photographers: Greg Bojorquez; Taylor Lamb.
If it didn't seem like destiny before, the Strange Music debut from Murs certifies that Tech N9ne's imprint is an ideal home for the alternative/underground/cult rapper. Besides that, teaming Murs with house band and genre-busters Mayday! is a brilliant idea, as the Strange freshman is eased into the scene with a sideline/collaborative release, but with both parties sharing a temperament that's hyperactive, ¡Mursday! comes off like a thrilling comic book team-up issue on wax. That's up to and including the thought that it's clobberin' time, all the time, as slut shaming (tough love is delivered on the cool and cold "You Again") and outside-forces blaming ("Beast Out the Box," hard-punching and the kind of nostalgic R&B hip-hop Akinyele trades in) means this is guys night out with no politically correct filter involved, but get past that and hip tracks like "Bitcoin Beezy" ("Her panties come off easy/She say she never leave me, like I'm Baby and she Weezy") feel like free bottle service all night long. The great "Zones" acts like Drake never existed with guitars crunching and lyrics barking ("The only option is to kill shit/This job don't have benefits"), but "Brand New Get Up" is well aware of the good work Pharrell has done as it bops along like Mayday!'s very own "Happy." Rappers rotate, genres freely flow from the Black Eyed Peas to ICP sides of the scale, and somehow, serene moments shine in this atmosphere, as the excellent "Here" ("Across the social ocean/I'm swimmin' back and scopin'/Some place that I can soak in") drifts invisibly through the modern world. Killer Strange debut for Murs or Mayday! doin' what they do best, the loose and all the way live ¡Mursday! is both. ~ David Jeffries