"Keith Murray is one of the most underated emcees, and its a shame cos this is a classic. Keith comes up with fast and witty lyrics throughout and E-Dubs production was on fire in the mid nineties, this is no exception. I would advise this to fans of Murray since its his best(notice how most rappers debuts are their best), and fans of def squad, since Reggie, Jamal and Erick all feature. dare iz a darkside and double or nothing are classic too. dont sleep, def squad is the illest."
The Most Beautifullest Thing In The World, Is Just Like That
Chandler | Atlanta (College Park), Georgia | 12/09/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"No doubt Keith Murray is one of the best lyricists here in this hip hop game. Couple that with some excellent production by Erick Sermon, KP, Redman, and Busta Rhymes, and you have this album. After appearing on Erick Sermon's, "Hostile" from No Pressure, a year later, he drops he debut album. Most of this album showcases Keith Murray as a hungry lyricist. Dope songs like "Sychosymatic", and the title track "The Most Beautifullest..." validates my reason (I perfer the remix on the latter song). "Straight Loonie" is a dope song (was Erick Sermon blowed when he spit his verse, trying to sound like Fredro Starr from Onyx?). The next excellent track is "Danger Zone" with a dope sample from Roger Troutman (another thing I realized is that Erick uses the same samples, because that sample was used on "Safe Sex" on his previous album). "Take It To The Streets" is a nice track that features Murray's crew L.O.D. "Bom Bom Zee" is dope short track with Hurricane G. (who doesn't sound bad here), and Paul Hightower's singing. The album ends with the remix of the title track, with better production than the origonal.
Although it's a great album, this album flaws. Outside of Murray's lyrics, he never seperates from the Def Squad pack, lacking variety in his rhymes (especially compared to Redman). I've heard him on later albums, and he sounds so much better than he did on here. Also, the track "Escapism" is the only forgettable song on the album, mainly because I don't like the sample being used (Pete Rock used the same sample on the introduction of "Lots Of Lovin").
Overall, his debut is great. Fans of EPMD and Def Squad will enjoy this album. Also fans of Erick Sermon's production will like the beats on here as well, which highly elevates the album, and near identical to Sermon's sophomore album Double or Nothing. Thankfully this album is not out of print, as with his other albums on Jive Records are. But this is one to add to the collection. Peace.
Lyrics: A-
Production: A
Guest Appearances: A
Musical Vibes: A-
Top 5 Tracks:
1. Danger Zone
2. The Most Beautifullest Thing In The World [Remix]
3. Sychomatic
4. How's That (featuring Redman and Erick Semon)
5.Straight Loonie (featuring Erick Semon and Jamal)
Honorable Mention:
1. Bom Bom Zee (featuring Hurricane G. and Paul Hightower)
"
Very hip-hop in the fullest sense from Keith Murray
PLM | 06/20/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I don't think that anything Keith Murray put after this release topped this one. Real, raw hip hop that Erick Sermon produced, but Keith runs the show with some hot rhymes, flows, and beats/music to match with his voice. He can be crazy and funny at times, but it's his style that nobody touched. Many of the songs are funky. I actually like the original version of the title song instead of the version made for radio that interpolates the Isley Brothers' Between the Sheets. The original version is RAW, all beats and scratches, very hip-hop and allows Keith to rap freestyle over the beats! I hope that Keith gets past some minor setbacks to make another hot album because his rap style is definitely missed."
Pretty Solid solo debut for Keith Murray
G$ | B-More, MD | 08/06/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Hands down, one of the best lyricists in rap ever to grace the mic, shows us why with his debut album. Some of the $h!+ he says is unbelieveable and his flow is great as well. Probably his best solo album he's done. Only has 12 songs, 1 classic, 4 ok ones, and the other 7 are good or great songs. Guests are on 4 songs (one with Def Squad and one with L.O.D.) and they're all tight as well (with 1 exception). Production is good for a 1994 release, and mainly because it's done by Erick Sermon (he gets help from Rod Kirkpatrick and one song Busta Rhyumes co-produces) and Redman does 1 as well. The beats are mainly deep bass funky beats that Keith rips up. A must have album for fans of real lyrics and hip hop.
#2 - 8
#3 - 7.5
#4 - 8.5
#5 - 7
#7 - 8 (f/ Jamal)
#8 - 7.5
#9 - 10 (CLASSIC about smokin' cheeba)
#10 - 9 (f/ Erick Sermon & Redman)
#12 - 9 (f/ 50 Grand & Ron Jay -- L.O.D.)
#13 - 6.5 (f/ Hurricane G)
#15 - 8
#16 - 8.5 (remix of #4)
Keith Murray --- Long Island, NY
Check all my reviews"
Eating every mc on the Menu!
Enlightened | Atlanta Georgia | 07/06/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I really belive Keith can take any battle rapper out now. THe skills he had were before his time. When he came out almost no one had this type of style. His vocab was just great. The Most Beautifullest Thing is a Great Album. My main man Keith CARRIES the beat instead of the beat carrying him. His Flow his off the hook. Erick Sermon handles the boards and gives Keith the time to Shine on his funk filled, infectious, head nodding tracks. The best songs are Bom Bom Zee, the title track, sychosymatic, Dip Dip Di, Danger, Get Lifted, Hows That. The only problem is that the songs are too short, (some songs are barely two minutes) but it is not big of a problem youll just be using ya rewind button a bit more. If you are a fan of Lyricism and punchlines go get this album right now. Its a shame he had to get locked up but he is out now and will be droppping another album. Make sure you pick that up too."