MURS & 9TH WONDER "WALK LIKE A MAN"

Kendrick Lamar dropped the album DAMN. on April 17th, 2017 but on the west coast, that album dropped on 9PM on Thursday, April 16th. I remember that day moving so slow as I waited for 9PM to come like kids wait for Christmas morning. I kept refreshing my Spotify app so that I could start listening to the album the second it dropped. I told my wife the magnitude of the release so she understood that I would need around an hour to myself. The album finally dropped that night and I pressed play on the first song. My rules for this listening was to not shuffle or skip for the entire album. I also couldn’t be distracted by anything else so I laid down, closed my eyes and drifted off to the lyrics of Kendrick Lamar Duckworth. I knew the producers involved on the album and knew I had to wait until the end to get the Alchemist and 9th Wonder beats. After the intro “BLOOD.” on the new album, we get “DNA.” with Mike Will Made It on the beat.

Many people are quick to call albums classics but Kendrick’s album DAMN. is truly a classic. You had great beats from a wide range of producers, great storytelling from K.Dot, different flows and cadences throughout the album, Kendrick flexing some singing muscles, some radio bangers, some club bangers, a feature from U2, and an album that can be played front to back or back to front while the story stays intact. Kendrick and the whole TDE team are so detail oriented on all of their releases but this album was next level. Okay… Got off track… I’m still in my room with my wife in the living room giving me my space to listen to this album in its entirety. I have my Bose headphones on and song #13 “GOD.” just ended. One of my favorite Kendrick songs by the way. Just some good braggadocio type swagger from Kung Fu Kenny. The next song is the final song of the album. I press play… Within 30 seconds I had goosebumps on my scrawny arms because I just felt I was finally getting the Kendrick I had been waiting for all of these years. That’s not a knock on Kendrick by any means either! I just have a unique ear for beats and storytelling and on this he found the right formula. I give to you, “DUCKWORTH.”.

Kendrick had rapped over a 9th Wonder beat before but not like this. If you don’t know 9th Wonder then please go do your homework now! 9th Wonder came up with Little Brother (Shout to Phonte and Big Pooh!) and parlayed that into making beats for Jay-Z, Drake, J. Cole, Mac Miller, and many, many more! 9th Wonder is a legend. Kendrick rapping over a 9th beat to close DAMN. was a dream come true for a real hip hop head like me. And this wasn’t just a Kendrick and 9th track. This was a flawless storytelling cut from Kendrick with 9th flipping up the beats and Kendrick taking you back through the backstory of Anthony Tiffith aka the CEO of TDE (Top Dawg Entertainment) and Kendrick’s father Ducky. Their stories intertwine in the song in one critical moment in the 80’s that determined the yet-to-be born Kendrick’s fate. I can’t even try to explain it in words. From Kendrick’s verses to 9th’s beats, it’s immaculate. Here’s 9th talking about his sampling on the song.

Just like Kendrick’s DAMN. album can be played from front to back and back to front, I’m trying to write this article in the same way. To connect the dots on Kendrick and 9th Wonder (think 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon) we have to go all the way back to find where they first linked. On record, this would be on 9th Wonder’s album, The Wonder Years. I remember seeing the tracklisting before it came out and I was so hyped for the song “Enjoy (West Coastin’)” with 9th on the beat, and Warren G, Kendrick Lamar, and Murs on the rhymes. This was such an unique pairing of rappers because you had a golden era gangsta rap OG in Warren, a boom bap underground rap legend in Murs, and a young unknown rapper from Compton named Kendrick Lamar. Props to 9th on putting this crew together. Here’s the track for those that aren’t up on it. Only 148K views which is crazy to me. This is a West Coast banger with 9th on the beat.

I was already up on Kendrick from my daily blog trips to sites like 2DopeBoyz where Shake and team were dropping knowledge daily on all of us fans. When Kendrick’s Overly Dedicated mixtape/album dropped it got great coverage from the blogs, especially from 2DopeBoyz which was the site I frequented for years. Before that Overly Dedicated album I might have known Kendrick Lamar by name but I wasn’t up on the Kendrick Lamar EP that he dropped before Overly Dedicated. It was “The Heart Pt. 2” where I first heard Kendrick actually rap and this is where I first fell in love with K.Dot’s music. When I looked at the tracklisting from Overly Dedicated, I saw that one of my favorite rappers was featured on it. I didn’t even know this rapper ran in the same circles as Kenny so I looked at it as a OG putting on a new cat. This artist that I’m hinting at would be the one and only Murs from Los Angeles, California. Seeing that Murs was down with Kendrick caught me off guard but in a good way. It opened my eyes even more to this kid Kendrick. I don’t know the story about how Murs and Kendrick linked up but knowing the type of dude Murs is, I saw it as him simply looking out and helping a young artist find his way in this music industry. Murs doesn’t get the respect he deserves but the true fans know what’s up. Murs on a Kendrick song told me all I needed to know. Here is “She Needs Me (Remix)” with Kendrick, Murs, and another smooth west coast cat, Dom Kennedy.

I love connecting the dots between rappers and producers to try to find out how they linked up with each other. With my story above I’ve taken you from Kendrick and 9th, to Kendrick, 9th, Murs, and Warren G, and then to Kendrick and Murs. But how did Kendrick actually link with 9th? Did Kendrick know about 9th from his older work with Murs? Oh sh*t… Was Kendrick a fan of the albums that Murs and 9th Wonder had put out? Whoa…. I never realized it but Kendrick might not only be descendant of west coast gangsta rap. He could very well be a descendant of west coast underground hip hop as well. Is Kendrick up on the Living Legends? Does Kendrick know what’s up with Hiero? Okay… getting way off track once again.

Murs is an OG in the game for his work with the Legends but when he linked with 9th on the Murs 3:16: The 9th Edition album they had something major. Murs was on the rhymes and 9th handled all of the beats. This was an album that all of my friends were bumping back in 2004. Murs was always a respected lyricist but he had never worked with one producer for an entire album. And while he had worked with outside producers like Ant, Oh No, Thes One, Shock G, and El-P, he hadn’t worked with somebody like 9th. Murs always had some good stories and some hard ass rhymes but didn’t have any soulful beats to spit over. At least in my opinion. This is why the Murs and 9th combo just worked. Similar to why the Kendrick and 9th formula worked on “DUCKWORTH.”. But where did Kendrick get the idea for that Kendrick storytelling with the 9th beat changeups? Hmmmmmm…..

I read that 9th thought he actually had 3 beats on DAMN. but then Kendrick ended up stitching the 3 beats together for one long beat to serve as the soundtrack for his storytelling on “DUCKWORTH.”. Had Kendrick done this before in a song? Of course he’s had a beat change but had he done it in this way before? I am a huge Kendrick fan and know all of his albums, singles, and features and I don’t ever recall him doing this. Was he possibly influenced by another similar song when he was in high school as a 16 year old? Was he a fan of Murs back then? Was he into 9th Wonder beats back then? Did Kendrick’s inspiration for “DUCKWORTH.” come from the Murs and 9th song “Walk Like a Man”? My head is literally exploding right now! Just listen to “Walk Like a Man” and then listen to “DUCKWORTH.” immediately afterwards. I already linked “DUCKWORTH.” up top and “Walk Like a Man” is linked below.

Both using storytelling raps over different beats from 9th Wonder. Pretty similar right? Maybe it’s a total coincidence but I don’t know! But you know what would be dope? Both artists doubling down on this concept with 9th Wonder. A Murs and Kendrick song together over beat changes talking about Murs’ upbringing in the rap game along with how he first crossed paths with Kendrick and TDE. Then Kendrick pays respect to the OG and talks about his upbringing from K.Dot to Overly Dedicated. This would be such a dope concept! This is all just a dream for me and that’s alright because I’m just a fan of good rap music. But… If I was the A&R for this Kendrick, Murs, and 9th track it would have to include this beat from 9th. Okay…. I’ll go back to dreaming…. PROPS TO ALL ARTISTS MENTIONED IN THIS ESSAY! Love y’all!