Anything that can
go wrong will go wrong. That's
Murphy's Law as we've come to know it. But it's not quite
the way Murphy Lee looks at life. Or at
music.
With his standout verses on Nelly's "Batter Up, Rock the Mic" remix with Beanie Sigel
and Freeway and Air Force Ones, the St. Lunatics rapper is proving that when he gets behind the mic, everything is bound to go right; some have witnessed just that when he dropped that crazy verse on the "Welcome To Atlanta Remix" with Jermaine Dupri, Puffy and Snoop Dogg. In fact, Murph's smooth, stunning performances throughout Nelly's debut album, 2000's 9x platinum Country Grammar; the St. Lunatic's first album, 2001's platinum Free City and Nelly's 2002's 6X platinum Nellyville, have established him as a star in his own right.
Now stepping front and center with his debut solo album, Murphy's Law, Murphy is rewriting the rules of the game and proving that his St. Lunatics colleague Nelly isn't the only one with serious skills.
"It has a good ring," says Murphy of the album's title. "And when I remembered that it means what could go wrong will go wrong, I wanted to flip it a little bit: What could go right will go right."
And there's lots that goes right on Murphy's Law, one of the most impressive debut albums in hip-hop history. Murph teams with Nelly and P. Diddy on "Shake Ya TailFeather," the hit single which is also included on the Bad Boys 2 soundtrack. An addictive track where the treacherous three encourage ladies to shake it on the dance floor, Shake Ya Tailfeather serves as the perfect introduction to Murphy's Law.
"On almost every song I'm talking about females," Murph explains. "That's just me. I don't like cussing a lot, saying 'nigga' a lot. I don't try to be a thug or a gangster. I Just talk about the ladies. My music is for the ladies.
Murphy Lee shows women the utmost respect on "Luv Me Baby" His pointed delivery flows over a guitar-driven beat from Jazze Pha as he renders verse after verse about love. "That's me and how I feel about a woman," he says. "That's the real respect, the real me. Other stuff you might hear me say, but that song is to really let people know what I'm about."
Murphy Lee keeps the vibe going on "Murphy Lee," which borrows from Marvin Gaye's classic "Mercy Mercy Me." Produced by Jermaine Dupri, the cut has special meaning to Murphy, "I didn't want to use a sample, " he explains. "But that sample, was amazing to me. I had to use it. It was so perfect. I knew I didn't want to degrade the song, so I had to talk about something good. I put some good, positive stuff into the ladies' ears."
Another banger on the set is "Wat Da Hook Gone Be," produced by Jermaine Dupri. Murph says this is one of his favorite cuts from the album. "It's like the beat was just so crazy," he enthuses. "We were in the studio and was like this doesn't even need a hook, and jokingly that is exactly how the song came about. 'Wat Da Hook Gone Be,' is exactly what the hook is."
Elsewhere on the album, Murphy Lee kicks some pimped out lyrics on the smoothed-out "Granpa Game Tite," teams with Nelly on the saucy "Red Hot Riplets," and serves up irresistible flavor on "Cool Wit It," a song that started off as a joke on the St. Lunatics tour bus. "just like 'Batter Up' and 'Air Force Ones,' those songs Just come from us playing around and being silly," Murphy says of "Cool Wit It." "It could start out as a joke, and end up becoming a song. We like it how our jokes come out to be crazy hits."
Murph shows he can make hits with people outside of the St. Lunatics family, Murphy Lee joins forces with Lil Jon, Lil' Wayne and Roscoe on the hyped-up posse cut "This goes Out." When Murphy heard the beat break down, he knew exactly what to do. "I heard it and was like, 'Can't nobody else be on there but Lil Jon,' "Murph recalls. I had to go get Lil Jon, flat out and to collaborate with Lil Jon was amazing."
Murphy Lee gets personal and introspective on "Don't Blow It," "Same Ol' Dirty" and "Grown Ass Man," which features a sample of the most famous saying from fellow St. Louis native Cedric The Entertainer. "There aren't too many people from St. Louis that have made it successfully in the business," Murphy explains. "Ced's one of those successful guys and we look up to him, and he looks up to us for what we do. So when he was saying that 'Grown Ass Man' stuff, it just got my attention to where I had to use it."
Growing up in St. Louis, Murphy spent much of his time riding his bike and hanging out with his older brother KyJuan, who is best friends with Nelly. At the time, Murphy was known as the "school boy," because he spent much of his time at school either tending to his studies or playing basketball. But his attention soon shifted to music and when the Lunatics started making musical moves, Murphy was ready.
"I had to prepare myself for this," he says of his crew's rise to prominence. Once you're on the battlefield, it's a whole other experience. Now I'm on a whole other level to where I'm going into it business-wise."
one of the ways that Murphy Lee has put his business skills to good use is by hooking up with Champs Sports, who will be running Murphy's video in their stores nationwide and passing out snippets of "Murphy's Law" with each purchase. Murphy Lee will also be shooting a commercial for the company.
If Murphy's Law - as we know it - were truly a reality in the life and career of Murphy Lee then by now something would have surely gone wrong somewhere along the path of success that Murphy, Nelly and St. Lunatics have enjoyed. But, as the charts and sales figures will bear out, there is clearly a new Murphy's Law on the books.
