Murs and 9th Wonder - ForNever

Murs and 9th Wonder are accomplished hip-hop veterans—guys with well-established niches and lengthy discographies, including a few listenable and entertaining collaborations. ForNever, despite 9th’s insistence that it would be the pair’s best record to date, picks up pretty much exactly where their previous work left off, a breezy affair that never strays from either artists’ comfort zone. The album never surpasses Murs 3:16—to date Murs’ and 9th’s gold standard—in large part because it’s so clearly cut from the same cloth.

That’s not to say ForNever feels like a rehash, just a new application of a familiar formula. It’s as relaxed and comfortable as the material the duo have produced before. Murs tackles front-stoop banter while 9th spins through a new batch of soulful samples. The two are remarkably adept at wringing enjoyment out of unremarkable topics; a track like “The Lick,” an ode to corner stores everywhere, might seem pedestrian if not for Murs’ undeniable charisma. “Let Me Talk” narrates petty marital strife, and “Cigarettes and Liquor” and “Live from Roscoe’s” both create the impression ForNever might simply be a retelling of whatever happened to Murs last week.

It’s a style that isn’t inherently flawed as much as it is limited. Neither Murs nor 9th are major-label personalities, not because they don’t have the chops but because they don’t have the ego. “I Used to Love Her (Again)” illustrates the problem they face: in a world of ostentatious crack-rap and 808s and Heartbreak, it doesn’t pay to forego both styles and pursue the Everyman course of ForNever.

But as Murs asks on the title track, “We doing it for love, what the f— you making music for?” Although these two may not be destined for superstardom, making stellar hip-hop is not likely to go out of fashion.