True hip hop heads know Murs from the group Living Legends, which also features fellow pro-spitters Sunspot Jonz, Scarub, Eligh and The Grouch, among others. But now the mainstream is about to get a taste of what the underground has been talking about for over a decade when his latest album, Murs For President, comes out on Warner Bros. September 30. This is a huge move for an MC who ain’t a gangsta, ain’t covered in bling and ain’t in a beef with everyone in the game. Murs is relying on tools too few have in hip hop these days: songs, beats, lyrics and substance.

Oh, and he has really funny hair. But I digress…

He also co-founded hip hop festival Paid Dues and is also a member of collectives Felt, the 3 Melancholy Gypsys, and the Log Cabin crew. Murs has also collaborated on several projects with heralded producer 9th Wonder, most notably 2004’s Murs 3:16-The 9th Edition.

When Murs stopped by Purple Reign Studios to shoot his Freestyle 101 over a funky Messiaz beat, he had comics and videogames on his mind. He rhymed about his broken Xbox, his HD TV, Halo 3, Spider-Man, and more game and tech stuff than one could possibly throw into 3 ½ minutes. He was also so stoked about this week’s Comic-Con he flowed about it extensively, even dissing illustrator Brian Wood (DMZ, Local) for being less than nice at a previous event.


And Murs knows of what he speaks. He's been to dozens of Comic-Cons and is an avid gamer. His song "L.A." from 2006's Murray's Revenge was featured on the soundtrack to EA’s NBA Live 2007, and his new joint “Dreadlocks” can be heard on NFL Madden 08.

So make sure to check Murs out on Attack of the Show tonight, Tuesday, July 22 at 7 p.m. Freestyle 101 goes up at 9 a.m. PST (that’s noon over on the east) every Tuesday. Next week we bring you the million dollar backpack kid Skillz, followed by Shabaam Sahdeeq, MC Lars, Thirstin Howl III, Kool Keith, Custom Made, Teflon, and many more. Make sure to dig out behind the scenes photos, visit us on MySpace and rant in our Forums. And if you dig Murs, go watch other underground artists such as Del the Funky Homosapien, Myka 9, P.E.A.C.E., Lifesavas, LMNO, Phoenix Orion and Supernatrual.