I first heard Murs on the second verse of "Sunsprayed." Track 1 of the out of print 3MG's EP 'Comurshul' and got so hooked i hoofed it to Amoeba SF and happened upon the cassette for 'F'real', Murs's 97 album with the hand-drawn project block and that definitvely ill song "4 the record." While grinding my walkman gears down on that tape i made the first in a heated series of arguments that 'Murs would be the first living legend to make it above ground.

I got him to sign my tape outside a show at Palookaville in Santa Cruz. It floored me to see rappers in the crowd after shows slanging cd's, connecting with people like equals rather than the icy idols i'd see on cd inserts so I felt closer kinship to them. So when I met him 10 years later on the Keys to the City shoot, it meant so much because I I'd grown up as we'd both grown up alot but I'd had his back the whole way.

So here's the first episode from Murs' KTTC jawn, its kind of a teaser but really sets the stage.

Some people just can't get skinny, but The Game just can't get fat. Whether it was a pile of burgers at 4 AM while recording The Doctor's Advocate or a beef and potato burrito after getting his car washed (or three arguably classic records), The Game must keep eating.
--Brandon Perkins @ URB

25 year old John Barnes, better known as Blu, stands at the forefront of Los Angeles' new down-to-earth brand of do it yourself hip hop - a rare honest lyricist in a world of throwaway rappers. His '07 debut Below The Heavens (produced entirely by Exile) immediately set him apart as a true artist, and new projects this year alongside Ta'Raach and Mainframe (as Johnson and Jonson) have continued to spread the word. Next year will see more collaborations, touring, and Blu's first true solo project, Godlee Barnes.In this first of his three Keys 2 The City clips, Blu describes the "west coast bubble" that makes up LA's inclusive hip hop/jazz/rock/soul scene and highlights the musical fusion Cali’s next movement of artists brings to the game.

--Tunji

Few rookie rappers in recent memory have made a first impression that rivals Blu's debut on 2007's Below The Heavens In Hell Happy With Your New Imaginary Friend..., an intensely personal, reflectively soulful work laced with entirely with production from Exile. An LA native raised all over the metro city area, 22 year old John Barnes linked with producer Exile via mutual friend Aloe Blacc (the other half of Ex's group Emanon) around 2005, and began recording the songs that eventually became "Below The Heavens".
--Tunji

Below the Heavens took a hold of my emotions (the experience) and ear (the lyrics) in a fashion that’s hasn’t been done since…since…well, ever. It would be cliché to say it’s the next coming of Illmatic. In reality, it’s nothing more then the unfiltered tale of John “Blu” Barnes, an emcee who will be deeply intertwined with the future of Hip Hop. If you haven’t already, take a moment to get to know Blu.
From the HipHopDX piece, "A kind of Blu" by John Burnett

Check out the entire LP below,

Fried Chicken & Watermelon review at Okayplayer

Chicken N Beer has been done. Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz has been done. Soul food titles are not all that original. Still, when a Hip Hop group chooses such one for their album, it shows that artist is thinking out of the box while not taking themselves too seriously. This describes U-N-I to the tee. The Inglewood duo with their contemplative album Fried Chicken & Watermelon are still not too shy to say, "Kicks rule everything around me" and "Fat girl, come here, are you ticklish?" U-N-I consists of emcees Y-O and Thurzday.

U-N-I chosen as HiphopDX NEXT
Longevity: Y-O began rhyming once his family moved from Seattle in 1996. “I didn’t know exactly what I was writing. There was really no format; I just wrote what I felt was hot,” he says. Thurzday began writing poetry when he was seven, and continued to blossom into his high school years. “When I hooked up with Y, we began helping each other out and our style continued to develop and grow,” he explains.

Travel with us to the streets of Los Angeles with refreshing hip hop duo U-N-I, two rare talents representing a new breed of LA hip hop.
Thurzday and Y-O take us to their hometown basketball court in sunny Inglewood, CA and introduce us to their fiercely original, upbeat music and style. Get to know the origins of the group, how LA affects their music and their thoughts on the local scene, and discover that the beauty of U-N-I's music lies in the balance between the two members' unique personalities.

Tunji

I Still Love Her
By Billy Johnson, Jr.

When I was 10 the Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” came out. It never mattered to me or any other kids at Beulah Payne Elementary in Inglewood, California that Master Gee, Wonder Mike and Big Bank Hank weren’t from the West Coast. The sound was fresh and new. The sample of Chic’s “Good Times” was relevant and the reference to going “over to a friend’s house to eat” and being served chicken that tasted like wood was about the funniest thing this then fifth grader had ever heard on wax. I also didn’t harbor any bicoastal resentment against Kurtis Blow, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five and definitely not Afrikaa Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force. I had them all on my pre-iPod punch tapes made from listening to L.A.’s original rap radio station KDAY.

Honestly, I had just as much love for the aforementioned as I did for other artists played on KDAY. I knew that Egyptian Lover, World Class Wrecking Cru, L.A. Dream Team, Toddy Tee and Rodney O and Joe Cooley were from the Los Angeles, but that wasn’t why they were dope. The L.A. Dream Team’s “Dream Team Is In The House” rocked the school dances and skating parties with its “Yo baby, yo baby, yo” catch phrase. Shoot, when Mercedes and I ran for Mr. and Miss Junior in 1985, she flipped it to “Vote baby, vote baby, vote” for our high school campaign posters and buttons, and we won.

I didn’t realize that everyone in the nation didn’t embrace West Coat hip-hop the same until years later when I read in Word Up magazine about NWA getting booed at the Apollo. I didn’t know that NWA would overcome such hurdles and still be a forerunner in establishing the gangsta rap sound that has since “defined” Los Angeles and birthed some of hip-hop’s most significant artists. It’s interesting to note that World Class Wrecking Cru bore Dr. Dre who joined NWA and left to establish his own empire that spawned Snoop Dogg, Eminem, the second coming of 50 Cent and The Game.

While the Pharcyde, Jurassic 5, Cypress Hill, Aceyalone, and the Black Eyed Peas are among numerous other Los Angeles based hip-hop groups to find shine, it is interesting to see what’s happening on the scene today.

This segment of Keys 2 The City hits the streets with talented and acclaimed artists like Murs, U-N-I, Blu, Miguel Jontel, J Davey, Pac Div, Bishop Lamont, Crooked I, Peanut Butter Wolf, Glasses Malone, and The Game.

Aside from The Game, these highly regarded artists have yet to attain the media exposure necessary to catapult them to superstar status. But don’t despair. Major folks are taking notes--MTV, XXL, the Source, L.A.’s Power 106.

Over the next 2 months, you’ll watch these artists tell the stories that illustrate why they are the most sought after talent in the city. You’ll be proud to see how much Los Angeles has grown.

Raphael Saadiq brings you back to school, to his alma mater, Castlemont High. It was there that he met Professor Gregory Cole who basically forced him to play bass in the school’s jazz band after Raphael tried to go to Oakland High because “that’s where all the girls went.” In this first episode of “Keys 2 the City” Raphael reflects on the moments that him the musician he is today and takes you to the places where those transformations took place.

I‘ve never dripped sweat onto the floors of The Ukie, made it out to “Making Time,” got my fingers dusty at Armands, or stumbled across The Roots rockin’ the corner of 5th & Passyunk. I wasn’t there. So I live vicariously through you lucky few that were there or are there now. In an effort to exorcise my envy I started a project called Keys to the City focusing on Philly. And to do it right I enlisted the help of my two favorite Philly artists (the Roots and Diplo) and a website that basically taught me about hip-hop (okayplayer) to tell the story to the world wide interweb.

The Roots are as synonymous with Philadelphia as cheese steaks and water-ice. Over the last 15+ years they have evolved to become the epicenter of the Philadelphia music scene as the artists not just everyone in Philly look up to, but around the world.

Check out this exclusive Keys 2 the City interview with Black Thought and ?uestlove as they sound off on how they met, what it's like to play in Philly and what makes Illadelph so special.

The torch bearers for live instrumentation, The Roots keep the idea of the black band (in the sense of being recognizable and relevant) alive. Ten
major album releases deep and enough tours around the Globe to make your head spin, The Roots have earned their title as The Legendary. And in 2008, it's as if The Roots have just begun. On June 7th in their home town of Philly, the crew hosted their first ever all day festival dubbed The Roots Picnic.

Curated by the band, the festival brought together an eclectic group of some of the most revered artists in the country including Gnarls Barkley, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Deerhoof, The Cool Kids, J*DaVey, Esperanza Spalding, Dj Jazzy Jeff, Diplo, and more. Check out these exclusive webisodes from The Roots Picnic courtesy of Okayplayer.