Murs + Kidz In The Hall 7th St. Entry, Friday Oct. 17, 2008 Here are some recurring themes from hip-hop lyricist MursâÄô new album âÄúMurs for President.âÄù 1. Murs is the best rapper in the universe. As noted by his line âÄúMurs is better than your favorite rapper âĦ admit it.âÄù 2. His life touring on the road is hard, but itâÄôs a life he wouldnâÄôt trade for anything. 3. Los Angeles is a palm-tree-ridden, constantly sunny paradise more comfortable to live in than any other place on the planet. 4. All women are preternaturally attracted to Murs perhaps because of a tractor beam located in his dreadlocks. 5. Murs is able to steal your girlfriend with terrifying ease. The California rapper, whose name is an acronym for âÄúMaking Underground Raw S–t,âÄù released his latest record in late September. Last Friday Murs âÄî along with hip-hop duo Kidz in the Hall âÄî played two shows at the 7th St. Entry. The early show was all ages, the later 21 plus. Because all ages shows begin right after âÄúArthurâÄù is done, Kidz in the Hall were off the stage by 8:30 p.m. One would think that given their high-school-esque name and subject matter, Kidz would be a shoe-in with this young crowd, but itâÄôs easy to forget that what people love more than anything is familiarity. The Kidz put on a good show and the audience was polite, but it was clear that everyone was waiting for Murs. But wait, how come this adolescent audience is so hip? How do they know who Murs is? Let us delve into this mystery. Because of the clearly high-school status of the majority of this audience, itâÄôs difficult to imagine that the crowd could have been familiar with hip-hop before, letâÄôs say, 2004. So how did these kids become aficionados so quickly? HereâÄôs how: Rhymesayers Entertainment. Rhymesayers is like âÄúRosetta StoneâÄú for Twin Cities kids trying to learn about hip-hop. Rhymesayers started a phenomenon, and their influence has spread to the young like HPV âÄî effectively. Murs âÄî as well as his California outfit Living Legends âÄî have a longstanding and tight-knit relationship with Rhymesayers. This has undoubtedly contributed to MursâÄô popularity here in the Twin Cities. One could cite the Living LegendsâÄô lyric âÄúHe put a slug in your heart like an Atmosphere fan,âÄù from their 2005 album âÄúClassic.âÄù Fruthermore, in 2004, Murs and Slug, leading man of Atmosphere, joined together to create âÄúFelt.âÄù The duo released two albums: âÄúA Tribute To Christina Ricci,âÄù and âÄúA Tribute To Lisa Bonet..âÄù The first album was produced by The Grouch from Living Legends; the second by Ant from Atmosphere. The albums work around an ongoing competition between the two men over who can copulate with the actresses first. MursâÄô association with the New York label Definitive Jux only further ingrains him within this complicated world we call hip-hop. Murs has positioned himself at the center of a trifecta of perhaps the three best hip-hop outfits in America: the L.A.-based Living Legends world, the Twin Cities-based Rhymesayers and the New York label Definitive Jux. The MursâÄô show Friday night was a solid representation of a man at work doing what he loves. Murs was sick; heâÄôs been ill for the last week. He informed the crowd of this and proceeded to play a laid-back and entertaining show. 7th St. Entry is an intimate venue, to say the least, and Murs treated the audience like 70 versions of his younger self. He was heartfelt, amiable and charming. He had an ongoing rapport with the kids. They joked back and forth and he referenced his friends in Rhymesayers, talking about Minneapolis and even slipping in a few messages that told everyone to vote and wear condoms. Murs recognizes that these kids are real fans; they represent whatâÄôs to come. After the show he stuck around signing hats and T-shirts and saying hellos in between sniffles. Murs then apologized to everyone and said that we all had to go so that âÄúthe grown ups can come.âÄù Nas was wrong: Hip-hop is alive and well.