Happy 30th Anniversary to Keith Murray’s debut album The Most Beautifullest Thing In This World, originally released November 8, 1994.
It’s well documented that many of the best albums of 1994 were debut releases by singularly talented emcees from the greater New York City area, each of whom established a distinctive persona on record. There was The Notorious B.I.G., the street dealer turned lyrical bruiser. There were the “wise beyond their years” poets like Nas and O.C. who contemplated life’s intricacies. Jeru the Damaja became known as a would-be prophet, eager to fight for the sanctity of hip-hop music and culture.
Even among these fellow musical titans, Keith Murray stood out. He sprung onto the scene as a legitimate hard rock, born and raised in Central Islip, Long Island. Equipped with an expansive vocabulary, raspy voice, and an energetic, multi-syllabic delivery, he was indeed a sesquipedalian (as dubbed by writer Dave Tompkins in an interview with Rap Pages): given to incorporate large, multi-syllabic words throughout his rhymes. He released his debut album The Most Beautifullest Thing In This World on Jive Records three decades ago to critical acclaim and financial success.
Murray made his first appearance as D.O.D.A.M.A.G.E., providing vocals on New Jack Swing rapper Mark Dee’s All In a Day’s Work (1990). He made his solo debut a couple years before under the name Keefy Keef, releasing the super obscure “’Cause I’m Keefy Keef” b/w “Three’s Company” 12” independently on Great Music Vibrations. Produced by Long Island O.G. Kurt Cazal (of the J.V.C. Force and Q-Ball and Kurt Cazal), they were stripped-down, breakbeat heavy tracks that suggested what Murray would eventually become.
However, linking up with Erick Sermon is what really introduced Murray to the wider hip-hop audience. On Sermon’s post-EPMD break-up solo album No Pressure (1993), Murray demonstrates his talents on a pair of tracks. The most prominent was Murray’s verse on “Hostile,” the album’s rugged second single. Hailed for having “the flyest transparent style on the planet,” the newly christened “Philly Blunt King” gave a scene-stealing performance. Murray also made an impression in the video for the song, introducing many to the “hide the razorblade under the tongue” trick, a staple of bad motherfuckas during the ’90s. Along with Sermon and Redman, Murray became part of the original Def Squad clique, while still representing the L.O.D., his collective of fellow Long Island hard-cases with lyrical skills.
Murray’s debut album and first single would take its title from a line from “Hostile.” It was one of the better singles of the mid 1990s, as Keith exudes confidence and rugged cool as he breaks down his competition “like an organic compound.” Sermon produced the track, taking an already well-known sample from The Isley Brothers' “Between the Sheets” and filtering it to accentuate Murray’s vocals. Murray comes through “interplanetarian like Doctor Who” and makes an immediate impression with his tongue-twisting flows, as he raps, “You better pack your levodopa medication for the shaking / Meditation from the earth, that quaking shit that we be making / Never faking, I gets down for my crown, clown / Shaking the membrane of Encyclopedia Brown.”
Listen to the Album:
Back in 1994, there weren’t many emcees that were making references to levodopa and using “precipitation” in their rhymes. Sure, there was the occasional malapropism or flat-out word invention (I’m pretty sure “interplanetarian” isn’t a real world, and I know “Beautifullest” isn’t), but Murray juxtaposing complex terminology with gritty street slang made for great music.
The vast majority of the beats on The Most Beautifullest are handled by Sermon, with the occasional assist from Robert “KP” Kirkpatrick and Redman. Most of the soundscape is decidedly darker than the first single, with entries like “Sycosomatic,” “Dip Di,” and “Danger,” featuring thick, dense, and hectic funk tracks reminiscent of what you’d expect to find on a mid 1990s EPMD album.
“Herb is Pumpin” is a standout, as Murray “gets dumb with the momentum of the drum” while flowing over a sample of 24 Carat-Black’s “24 Karat Theme.” It’s entertaining to hear Murray come up with so many off-kilter ways to describe his rhyme style, from proclaiming that it’s “a metallic bastard that thrives off of battery acid” and later boasting that it’s “mentally disturbed.” He later mellows things out with his second single “Get Lifted,” an ode to smoking weed. He “floats like a cumulus” over an airy sample of George McCrae’s “I Get Lifted,” extolling the virtues of puffing as many strains of cannabis sativa as humanly possible, while shouting out Rastas who “smoke out of Bible papers.”
The Most Beautifullest also shines when Murray utilizes members of his various extended crews. “Take It To the Streetz” introduces 50 Grand and Ron Jay of the L.O.D., as the three wreck havoc over a slowed down loop of Bob James’ “Caribbean Nights.” Sermon would later use the same sample again on Redman’s “Can’t Wait,” which would be released a few weeks later. Sermon and Redman join Murray on “How’s That,” a messy, boisterous posse cut that channels the darker eras of P-Funk. Redman delivers a memorably charged verse, rapping, “Computerized Robocop sounds I drop in sequence / Funky to death, so ask that old bitch where the beef went.”
The Most Beautifullest ends on a pair of decidedly spacey notes, first with “Bom Bom Zee,” which sounds like something you’d hear playing in an intergalactic spaceport. Something about the brief song has always struck me as odd, as Murray and Hurricane G each kick verses over a sample of Zapp’s version of “I Heard Through the Grapevine” and various chirps and mechanical noise. After Sermon’s baby mama gives a memorable performance, where, among other things, she declares, “Fuck Yale!”, Murray charges through the track by rapping, “The mad matador metaphoric mergers like traffic / Not having it, bashing your style, I’m something drastic.”
“Escapism” is the album’s most enjoyable track, as Murray delivers a rare narrative, detailing his plan to exit the confines of planet Earth. Produced by Redman, the song follows Murray’s efforts to stow away on a NASA rocket ship and journey into the cosmos. Once off-planet, things get a little shaky geographically, as he travels through the Milky Way only to end up back on Mars. And, of course, once he encounters Martians, he communicates with them in the most universal way possible: by smoking weed with them. A prime example of Murray’s unique approach to storytelling, the song is bizarre and imaginative in a way that most rappers couldn’t even contemplate 30 years ago.
Murray would continue on his journey with the Def Squad. Though he would grow increasingly dissatisfied with his record label situation, he would continue to improve as an emcee; his sophomore album Enigma (1996) is even better than The Most Beautifullest. And though his career was eventually sidelined by some legal troubles, he was able to bounce back and channel the same energy that he had with his debut album. He remains one of hip-hop’s exceptional characters. There sure aren’t many sesquipedalians rhyming anymore.
LISTEN:
Editor's note: this anniversary tribute was originally published in 2019 and has since been edited for accuracy and timeliness.