9th Wonder & Murs, Final Adventure Review

For the curtain call to their majestic run of collaborative LPs, Murs and 9th Wonder assemble the congruous The Final Adventure, which underlines Murs' words with 9th's music as harmoniously as ever before.

After allowing 9th's pupil, Rapsody, to shine for a verse on the kickoff "Get Together," Murs steers clear of misspending any time, swiftly addressing why this will be his last collaboration with 9th. "Five albums in like eight years/Gonna end it on a high, instead of late in our careers," Murs clears up, over one of the LP's best productions. 9th, who handles all of the album's music, does not relent after the strong opener, carrying on with "Whatuptho," which features a melodic drop that's all but equally impressive. The beatsmith has been manufacturing soulful and well-constructed instrumentals for years now, and he does not let up for the duration of this LP. Accordingly, Murs makes full use of each beat.

For the album's grittiest cut, "Funeral for a Killer," Murs broaches the matter of "who cries when a killer dies." The Los Angeles MC illustrates a funeral service, where all he is "hearing is revenge and regret/one useless emotion and the other leads to death/Y'all ain't see enough of that yet?/Try to tell em, but you can't talk sense to the deaf." In similar manner, "Tale of Two Cities" is yet another uncompromising track on the LP, while "A Better Way" promotes tranquility—a polar opposite.

More than half of the LP's makeup is of amorous occurrences with women. "Baby Girl (Holding Hands)" spotlights Murs spitting game, letting one woman know that, "I'm the man you deserve/You know these squares can't handle your curves." Likewise, on "Walk Like a Woman," the longest and most detailed song on the project, Murs pilots listeners through how he evolved from being "the biggest girl groupie in the world" to settling down, all while spitting over three different beats, one for each verse that represents one particular stage of his romantic development.

What's more, "Dance With Me" and "Wherever You Are" indulge in different circumstances of intimacy. But the true standout of The Final Adventure is the aptly titled "It's Over." While the first verse takes on affection, the second verse exhibits Murs confronting sucker MCs seeking handouts. The song's—and album's—final verse finds parallel theme to the last verse of the opening track "Get Together," and ironically emblematic of the duo's start and end, for they're concluding the saga on a "good note." It's identical to how they began their journey with Murs 3:16: The 9th Edition. Though fans might mourn for the ending, it was a praiseworthy run, and certainly a great closing. —Christopher Minaya (@CM_3)