More Than Music
label: obese

producers: plutonic lab, osinaka, suffa, jase, fg, jolz, others.
guests: suffa, solomon klepto, fg, bva, bias b, nick sweepah.
year of release: 2003
This is Muphin's second album, and upon first impression, you take it to be much more bouncy than the first outing. But upon repetitious listen, and that's what's going to happen once you get your copy, you'll find that the album still does a lot of what Muphin did on "Who I Am" (read the review). The philosophies are painted in thick colors and the topics rarely stray away from the observations this old soul delves into. The fact that the music at times opts for a carefree approach doesn't take away anything from the philosopher stone that seems to lie heavy on Muphin's soul.
Be it the good the bad and the ugly, as discussed on "Time For". Here the 'I got time for' or 'no time for' bounces off each other, while Suffa's beat comes rather weak, making Muphin's opening statement "I've got a lot of time for beats made by Suffa" get a bitter aftertaste. But apart from a few exceptions (like "Let Down"), the other beats offer a strong backing to the feebleness the lyrics hint at. Be it on the very low and melancholy "Family Affair" or the sadness of "Eyes Wide Shut", both produced by the Plutonic Lab (which really comes through with good beats). On the latter song, Muphin gets very introspective, hiding behind the eyelids, facing the reality of the outside preferable at his inside.
tracklisting
1. Family Affair
2. Not Your Average Remix
3. Tribute To Eltham
4. Downward Spiral
5. Time For feat. Suffa
6. A Better Man
7. S.I.
8. The Money Tree feat. Solomon Klepto
9. Don't Cry Girl
10. Feel Where Ya Comin' From feat. FG
11. Progressive Daze
12. Stop, Look & Listen feat. BVA
13. Sometimes feat. Bias B
14. Good Vibes feat. Nick Sweepah
15. Smoke Stained
16. Get Down feat. Nick Sweepah
17. Eyes Wide Shut
18. Good Vibes Remix feat. Nick Sweepah
But that's pretty much what Muphin does. There's many a moment on this album, where he speaks about himself, often giving the impression of trying to listen to himself in order to understand. At times the explaining becomes apologetic, as if he feels stressed to explain why he's still not yet "A Better Man". Another one of those songs. And as superficial this statement sounds, the hook in combination with the good beat on "A Better Man" is very well done and as such is one of the best moments on this album. What, as said, sounds very phony, but is not meant to take anything away from all the other real minutes and fractions on here.
With all this sadness and the lack of satisfaction, it takes a "Good Vibes", both in original and in remix form, to allow Muphin to at least get parts of a 'aight, nuff of that, let's get going' momentum. Nick Sweepah is with him (as is he on "Let Down"), sharing the incompleteness and the attempt to do something about it. And the beat might be pushing and content, it's still mismatched with opposing lyrics though. Again so on "Tribute To Eltham", an ode to Muph's stomping grounds. And also on "S.I.", "Downward Spiral" or "Don't Cry Girl" that despite the sad title, is actually offering one of the most neck breaking beats (another one is "Progressive Daze"). The frustration in the lyrics is still present though. Muphin even gets accusing in a borderline aggressive way.
Actually you'll struggle to find many positive outlooks on this album. Although you could argue that the pessimistic realness of everything Muph contemplates, might be a more honest, and thus less fake and thus less negative approach. Nevertheless, it drags you down somewhat. Not to demand hoopla hey material, but maybe a little battle track here and there (and Muph is a battle rapper at times too), would have allowed you to approach the next serious song rather refreshed than already tired and agreeing. Despite this being 'more than music'.
What is thoroughly present, is a somewhat unimpressive fog that lingers over the complete offering. With the important word in that sentence being 'fog', more so than unimpressive. A fog because it actually covers the reality, rather than changes it. Meaning that while you'll struggle to truly and deeply be impressed by this in many ways, other that previously discussed, it's due to the fog. That is just dulling the quality. A quality that is nevertheless present, in good beats, in thoughtful content and well recited verses.
review: tadah
 
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