When it comes to underground hip-hop, there is no better place to look than the artist roster of Definitive Jux Records. Practically every album it churns out is a stunning redefinition of the art form, and in the last few years it has come to be the most consistently innovative record label in all of music. The End Of The Beginning is the debut record from Murs, one of Def Jux’s newest MCs, and it’s one of the most interesting, well-rounded hip-hop records to come out this year. Although this is Murs’ very first full-length, he has been making a name for himself as a guest MC on other indie rap recordings for over 10 years. This unexpected experience shows on cuts like “You and I,” where Murs displays a relentless rhyming style that hearkens back to the cheerful rhythmic pulse of artists like the Jungle Brothers and Black Sheep. The track is a passionate indictment of corporate greed and its growing effect on the artist’s state of mind: “My crew wants a video so they can be seen/And that was my dream since I was pre-teen/But as I got older and the world got colder/Reality swooped and put the dreams over/Now I'm content with the mastery of words/Realize the importance is just being heard/By fans who love you and you love them/And honestly it's love that moves this pen.” While he won’t bowl you over with machine-gun raps or amazing storytelling techniques, there’s an age-old sincerity in Murs’ voice that makes him immediately attractive to the ear. This, coupled with the typically spellbinding production of El-P, makes The End Of The Beginning a heartfelt, quality hip-hop record, and the most universally accessible LP in the Def Jux oeuvre.
Appeared in the May 29, 2003 issue of Artvoice.