(in 140 Characters or Less)

Words by Submerge Staff

Like holiday party hangovers and overly optimistic new year’s resolutions, year-end best album lists are a dime a dozen. So what makes ours so special? Well, for one thing, we made it. And we obviously have the kind of refined musical palate you don’t just find by clicking around on the damn internet. More importantly, we split this year’s Top 30 albums list into two distinct portions: 15 albums with connections to the Sacramento area, and 15 albums from the world beyond. There are, of course, many, many, albums that came out over the last year deserving of praise, but these 30 were our favorites. Why? Our staff explains, with Twitter-esque succinctness.

15.

Hiatus Kaiyote
Choose Your Weapon

I bet Jamiroquai is in his room enjoying this amazing, raucous, jazzy neo-soul album right now. Silky Rhodes piano over Roy Ayers grooves.

14.

Kendrick Lamar
To Pimp A Butterfly

One of the most timely pieces of street-influenced hip-hop shimmers w/ brilliant musicianship, immense production and one talented emcee.

13.

Hop Along
Painted Shut

Equal parts punk, folk and indie music led by a female singer who can lull you into a sleepy daze or kill you in any moment on Painted Shut.

12.

La Luz
Weirdo Shrine

Their third album on Hardly Art/Burger Records, La Luz is a badass, Seattle-based lady surf rock band. Weirdo Shrine will make you a Luzer.

11.

Batushka
Litourgiya

A mix of religious imagery, Slavonic chanting & monolithic black metal conjuring images of Satanic rituals performed in a Catholic church.

10.

Sleater-Kinney
No Cities to Love

After a 10-year studio hiatus, the original Riot Grrrls have re-emerged and released a collection of enthralling, liberationist sonic waves.

09.

Tuxedo
Tuxedo

Slick, suave and oh-so smooth. Over Jake One’s funky beats, Mayer Hawthorne is finally making the kind of R&B tunes that suit him best.

08.

The Cairo Gang
Goes Missing

Bonnie Prince Billy smoking hash with old Fresh & Onlys while tickling Greg Cartwright and James Mercer’s moody taints.

07.

Viet Cong
Viet Cong

Angular post-punk from Canada featuring members of the sadly defunct Women. For fans of Echo & The Bunnymen and Joy Division.

06.

Mbongwana Star
From Kinshasa

Intertwining African music, Congolese to be exact, with psychedelic, post-punk & modern electro sounds. Will blow your mind rhythmically.

05.

Tame Impala
Currents

Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker is a psychedelic pop rock genius. Take an interstellar trip with his latest, on which he played every note.

04.

Sufjan Stevens
Carrie & Lowell

A cathartic journey: Sufjan returns to his trademark sparse, moody instrumentations. Exorcising family demons never sounded so lovely.

03.

Courtney Barnett
Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit

Delivering on the promise of a great 2014 EP, Aussie grungester Barnett broke out big in ‘15 with a critical and commercial homerun.

02.

Jason Isbell
Something More Than Free

Gritty blue collar Americana from a songwriter filled with addiction and regret that weaves together stories of passion, sobriety and hope.

01.

Neon Indian
VEGA INTL. Night School

Less chill, more thrill. A glitzy paean to Italo-disco & intoxicated nocturnalia. Don your transparent raincoat & get on the dancefloor!??

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It’s not breaking news at this point, but in the hip-hop world, no one is touching T.D.E. The Los Angeles-based team of Ab-Soul, Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock and Isaiah Rashad is loaded with talent, and with nine albums combined over the past three years, they have yet to shoot a brick. It’s evident that they are students of the game, with a deep respect for the craft and culture. Favoring quality over quantity, and exercising patience in pursuit of perfection, they have earned the top spot with pure skill, sans gimmicks. The strength of the dynasty though is their unique but complementing personalities, and none is more bold and boundless than Ab-Soul.

From his flowing hair and dark shades, to his wordplay and concepts, it’s clear Soul is a free spirit. With his debut Longterm Mentality (2011), and more widely recognized Control System (2012), Soul established himself as the thinking man’s rapper, a mad scientist of sorts: wise beyond his years, willing to experiment with styles and substances in an effort to explore and expand. From conspiracies and religion, to drugs and love, he tackled it all with a fresh perspective, assuming the role of educating through rap. While folks were quick to label him a “conscious rapper” due to his content, doing so was only hearing one side of a man with exponential potential.

In June 2014, at 27 years young, Soul released These Days, an album he explains is a reflection of the times. No longer the unknown or overlooked MC, he stepped up and knocked out his most diverse album to date. Still sharp, still dropping science and always having fun in the process, These Days shows an MC finding his groove with no intention of slowing down or getting comfortable.

Submerge caught up with Soul on a Sunday morning as he relaxed in his tour bus bunk before he stopped in Sacramento on Oct. 19, 2014.

How do you enjoy tour life? Is it fun, work or a constant battle between the two?
It’s all of that, but this is the dream. This is what we came here for. It’s work in terms of movement, but I’m having a great time.

Are you able to get a lot of writing done?
I write all the time. I don’t necessarily use paper or utensils; words come to me constantly. The writing never stops. I’m always creating and composing, whatever the circumstance may be. I’m always creating and observing, always trying to come up with something clever to say. Even right this second.

Talking about how you’re always writing, and how where you’re at is all part of the dream of making it, how have things changed as the stakes get higher and your craft becomes a career?
I won’t say it’s a job, but I would say it’s more of a responsibility. I have a larger audience to cater to now. There are a lot more people that want to ask me questions, like yourself, and I have a responsibility to do so, even though I’m like half passed out in my bunk on a bus right now [laughs].

What about with recording? Do you take that same responsibility with you?
Yeah, absolutely, but I talk about what I want to talk about. I don’t talk about what I think I need to talk about. There is nothing that I have to talk about, but I try to talk about whatever it is that I want to talk about.

You strike me as a pretty heady person. Do you ever find yourself becoming a victim to your thoughts, or does writing/recording free you from that?
I don’t like phrases like “you’re thinking too much” or stuff like that. I don’t think you can think too much. Your brain is a very powerful tool. I’m optimistic, though… As much as I may be in my head all of the time, I understand that I don’t have all of the answers. I’m not afraid to ask questions, or reason with anyone. So, even if I am in my head so much, I’m not afraid or ashamed to be incorrect or get to the bottom of something.

I really dig the album, but I know there are groups of people who were expecting a Control System 2. Can you talk about expectations, and people wanting to keep you in a box?
People love this album man! With These Days I was just trying to capture as many sounds of the times as possible. I challenged myself to create a project that everybody could relate to today. Even if you wouldn’t expect me to do a song like “Twact,” I challenged myself to try and cover as many of the sounds as possible. But yeah, I think people feel like a negative response makes people want to respond more than positive responses. These shows have been great, though, so I don’t know who is saying what. I think we’re just reading comments from folks who don’t get out of the house.

On “Ride Slow” you say, “These rhythms are visions of me living colossal. Ahead of my time, in time you’ll find that I’m a fossil.” Can you elaborate more on that?
Yeah, I mean these rhythms are literally visions of me living colossal. All art transcends art, so as a rapper, sometimes I’m a painter, a storyteller. We as rappers, we embellish a lot, make things more colorful than they may actually be by using crazy analogies and metaphors. If I’m ahead of my time, as a figure of speech as an old soul, then I could potentially be a fossil. An old monument that still holds value. Shout out to Mac Miller on the beat…real spooky beat.

Word, yeah I understand you were on a good one when you recorded that song.
Yeah, yeah hell yeah. I had the tabs on my tongue. We did it in like 20 to 30 minutes. I had my verses ready by the time he finished the beat… With that, please be responsible with the psychedelics. They are mind-altering. I’m not trying to persuade anyone to do any of that.

I get the feeling it’s not recreational for you, but more of a spiritual thing.
Definitely. I take a scientist approach with almost everything I do. It’s like an experiment. An experience. A lot of legendary people that we look up to dabbled in these things, so I’m trying find the connection between them and this.

On the cover, you’re pictured bloodied, wearing a crown of thorns, sitting in front of wooden cross. It’s a powerful image, and I’m curious what moved you in that direction to represent the album.
I feel like these days Jesus has become one of the most popular figures. I just feel like religion has been heavily referenced in music, like the gods are back. The God MCs are back, like Rakim and them. I think Jesus represents all of us, and that is another message that I’m trying to get across. Being willing to sacrifice yourself for what you feel is the greater good. Being able to sacrifice yourself to tell the truth, because you feel like it’s important to be honest. I think Jesus represents all of us, personally. If you’re willing to take that sacrifice for your greater good, for your people, then you too can be Christ-like.

And this extends past rap I imagine.
Absolutely… I do have hair of wool and feet of bronze though, so you never know [laughs].

Was there a moment over the past couple years where you felt like it was clear this is your destiny?
It has been a series of events. What has been remarkable to me, since I’m on this…you know everyone wants to attach me to this conscious or spiritual type of wave. What’s ill is that there has been MCs kicking this shit before I even started rapping. Before I knew what rap was! These same concepts that I’m speaking on have been spoken on long before I picked up a pen or really listened to rap music at all. So for me to be here, speaking on these same things without having the knowledge of all of the stuff that has been said before, it’s spiritual. This is supposed to be said. Jay-Z has been J-Hova this whole time, and I don’t think people really notice that. We’ve been God MCs from the beginning. Rakim done made hip-hop a religion. So for me to be here, describing these things in my music, and then going back and hearing these same concepts being spoke on, I feel like it’s all supposed to happen. I’m sure I haven’t said nothing that hasn’t been said twice. No idea is original; there is nothing new under the sun. But for me to be here speaking on these things and gain respect from artists who I respect, I feel like that our purpose is clear. You know, push intelligence in our movement, our religion.

From local bands and beyond, here are Submerge’s favorite albums of 2012, in tweet-friendly format. These albums are certified #awesome!

20) Jessica Pratt
s/t

(Birth Records)

Pratt’s debut of home-recorded, time-capsule folk stood as a brilliant reminder of the beauty in lo-fi love letters.

19) Wife & Son
This That and the Other

(self-released)

A brilliant indie-pop record from one of our favorite new local bands. The suburbs of Sacramento have never sounded so good!

18) Marina and the Diamonds
Electra Heart

(679 Recordings)

Pop anthems with heart and humor for disenfranchised prom queens and introspective home-wreckers.

17) The Ross Hammond Quartet
Adored

(Big Weezus Music)

Jazz requires inspiration. The Ross Hammond Quartet’s Adored comes from a budding father’s lullabies fed through free jazz spontaneity.

16) Beach House
Bloom

(Sub Pop)

Called a “dream pop duo,” Beach House records a calming and eerie sound unique to much of the music today.

15) Metz
s/t

(Sub Pop)

Sporadic screaming bursts, fuzzy bass and plenty guitar chaos, this album has ears both assaulted and surrendering over and over.

14) Thee Oh Sees
Putrifiers II

(In the Red)

Veteran psych-punk loonies leapt out of the garage and into national consciousness with their liveliest cuts of fuzzy fun.

13) Action Bronson and Party Supplies
Blue Chips

(mix tape)

Skillful rapping mixed with humor and bravado over a range of stellar production, and it’s a wrap. It’s a fun album with rewards for mindful ears.

12) Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros
Here

(Rough Trade)

The perfect band of misfits surpasses all expectations with their second studio album full of charismatic, folk-y love songs and smiles.

11) Fine Steps
Boy’s Co.

(self-released)

Fine Step’s Boy’s Co. should be on Slumberland. On Captured Tracks. Hell, even Burger. Two self-presses later, Fine Steps gets the glory.

10) Witchcraft
Legend

(Nuclear Blast)

Pure, heavy riff alchemy. Progressive, yet retro. Metal shouldn’t sound this groovy, but we’re glad it does.

9) Japandroids
Celebration Rock

(Polyvinyl Record Co.)

A fitting album title, indeed. Anthemic as all hell, this is a singalong, raise your glass type punk rock record.

8 ) St. Lucia
s/t

(Columbia)

Catchy, dreamy electro-pop fit for a night club or sweaty hipster venue. Leader Jean-Philip Grobler is a pop-music force to be reckoned with.

7) The Sword
Apocryphon

(Razor & Tie)

The lords of stoner rock reach new heights on a space-y trip down the heavy metal rabbit hole.

6) The Mars Volta
Noctourniquet

(Warner Bros.)

Nearly three years in the making, Noctourniquet was worth the wait. Sounds exactly like a Volta record should, and that’s why we love it.

5) C-Plus & Lee Bannon

Young Champions
(self-released)

Two of Sacramento’s finest team up for an epic release. No features, just Plus’ smooth flows over Bannon’s undeniably sick beats. Go cop it!

4) Kendrick Lamar
Good Kid M.A.A.D. City

(Aftermath/Interscope)

Believe the hype. A brave debut, from a bright mind who showed that you can create outside the box and succeed. Truly masterful in every respect.

3) Tame Impala
Lonerism

(Modular)

Lonerism is damn near perfect. It’s a psych album with pop melodies; heavy guitars, intricate drumming, humming keys and an irresistible sonic sheen.

2) Death Grips
The Money Store

(Epic)

Weird, angry, non-imitable experimental hip-hop from Sacramento. Is it rap? Is it punk? What the fuck is it? Don’t ask, turn it up!

1) Solos
Beast of Both Worlds

(Joyful Noise)

The sonic symbiosis of this Aaron Ross/Spencer Seim collaboration explored bold and bizarre realms. Sleeper LP of the year.

Zion I looks inward on new album Shadow Boxing

Oakland hip-hop duo Zion I (MC Zumbi and DJ/producer AmpLive) isn’t a group that will rest on its laurels, though it certainly could. Zion I released its now classic Mind Over Matter LP in 2000, and since then, both as a duo and teamed up with The Grouch, have put forth seven more albums. On Oct. 2, 2012 Zion I will put out their new release, Shadow Boxing, a sort of return to form after the live instrumentation of their most recent effort, Atomic Clock. Nine releases in 12 years is a prodigious output, but according to Zumbi, productivity is the key to survival.

“You have to these days, to survive, you have to go a little bit crazy,” he says.

Crazy or not, it’s easy to admire Zion I’s body of work. The fire to create isn’t only borne out of a desire to make music, but to make something different each time out. Compared to the live beats and the somewhat stripped down feel of Atomic Clock, Shadow Boxing delivers a much beefier, in-your-face sound.

“We decided we’d do a live album. It was a totally different energy,” Zumbi says of the thought behind Atomic Clock. “It didn’t even feel like a record, honestly, Atomic Clock, it just felt like we were doing a quick project. Shadow Boxing feels like something I feel. Atomic Clock, I felt it when we made it, but it’s not as deep of an idea around it for me personally.”

It’s not surprising that Shadow Boxing holds a deeper meaning for Zumbi, who has become a father in the time since Atomic Clock. He has also been getting into martial arts as of late as a way to improve his physical health. His still new fatherhood and his practice of tai chi play a heavy influence on the themes found on Shadow Boxing.

“The title of the album is referencing the battle of the self, self-affliction, but also like the confrontation of finding something wack within yourself and having the courage to look at it, be honest and conquer it,” Zumbi says. “It’s about embracing your inner-demons, but taming them.”

The discipline he’s learned through martial arts have also helped his focus, Zumbi says.

“I’m creative, but I have bad habits like everyone,” he explains. “What do they say? Idle hands are the devil’s play thing?

“I have to keep myself in a cool place. If I mess around and stay up all night, I might get injured. If I mess around and stay up all night, my son’s going to wake up at 4 in the morning, and I’m going to be too tired. It’s basically giving myself these different responsibilities, just like for myself, just to become a better, more responsible human being, and it’s been a blessing.”

Zumbi also went back and referenced some of Zion I’s early albums when writing for Shadow Boxing. Though he says he doesn’t usually listen to the group’s past recordings, doing so this time around reintroduced him to the MC he was a decade or so ago. He liked what he heard.

“With the Mind Over Matter songs, I was like, wow, I was really in the zone,” he says. “I remember back then, all I did was rap, meditate and do capoeira. That’s it. I wasn’t chasing girls, nothing. The reward in life was to be in the studio and rap.”

What Zumbi heard was a hungry rapper. He made a conscious effort to put himself back in that headspace.

“I was like, OK, I was flowing better then than I am now,” he says. “I was really being honest with myself in some cases. I had to get back in the zone like that.”

Whatever his reasons, it certainly seems to be working. Shadow Boxing sounds big, mean, aggressive and even extremely catchy, as evidenced in the grimy hooks of the title track and the bouncy electro beat of “Human Being.” Beyond that, though, there’s a rich variety of tones at play on Shadow Boxing, from the house reggae-tinged “Sex Wax” (featuring Collie Buddz) to the smoothly soulful “Life’s Work” (featuring Goapele). Meanwhile, the over six-minute “Joe Frazzzier” stands out as a compelling centerpiece, a sort of hip-hop/prog hybrid.

“That was just a crazy electro beat that I had, and [Zumbi] really liked it,” says AmpLive, who produced all but three tracks on Shadow Boxing. “He wrote something to it, but he sounded a little too far out, so I convinced him to do something more palatable. But then it lost its edge, so I wanted to just sort of bring that back.”

After the verses were laid down, AmpLive says the song felt a bit unfinished. Zumbi encouraged him to take the track further, to really draw it out. The producer was happy to oblige.

“I carried it out as far as it could go,” AmpLive says. “It got really crazy at the end, and I was like, we can’t end it like this, so I brought the music back so we could end on the same vibe.”

Though Zion I seems to revel in the fact that they can employ such a wide variety of sounds with success, AmpLive mentions that he’d like to try to have more uniformity to his songs.

“It’s more of a struggle to me to have everything sound the same,” he says. “I’ve been trying to do that a lot more. I do all kinds of different music, so I can do that easily if I wanted to, but I’m bored with changing it up all the time. My challenge now is keeping everything on the same wavelength.

“I think that probably for more of my solo stuff I’ll focus on that aspect of everything, maybe where everything is the same BPM or something like that,” AmpLive continues. “I just want to see what happens, because I’ve never done an album like that.”

This may come as a surprise to Zumbi, but if there’s one thing the MC has become used to in his years working with AmpLive it’s that the producer continues to amaze him.

“That’s what’s so dope about it,” Zumbi says. “I’ve known this guy for over 20 years. When you know anybody for that long, sometimes things become predictable, but that’s the beauty of the music. There’s always a surprise lurking. It’s always so fresh.”

Zion I fans will get the opportunity to hear the group’s fresh new songs on the road this fall during a 30-city tour with DJ Minnesota. In addition to that, Zion I will also be releasing a mixtape with the help of Brooklyn, N.Y.’s DJ J. Period called Bomb First. The mixtape will also feature A$AP Rocky, Kendrick Lamar, Action Bronson and others. Zumbi calls Bomb First a “family project.”

“If this was a battle for the soul of music, these are the people we would choose,” Zumbi adds.

Given the duo’s track record, it’s doubtless that there would be plenty who would choose to side with Zion I for the same fight.

A constant collaborator, indie rapper Murs remains strongly individual

Los Angeles rapper Murs never sought to be different as an angle or platform to get his music heard. His moniker is an acronym that translates to Making Underground Raw Shit or Making the Universe Recognize and Submit. Now in his thirties, Murs is still out to make raw music, but with a grown man’s wisdom.

Murs came up in the Living Legends collective, a group of eight rappers from the Bay Area and greater L.A. area. He’s put out seven records as a solo artist, on both indie and major labels, and worked on collaborative records with Slug of Atmosphere (as Felt), 9th Wonder, Terrace Martin, and his group 3 Melancholy Gypsys. Murs related that his openness to collaborate and exclude no one from his inner circle stems from moving a lot as a kid and an adult philosophy on acceptance.

He brings this philosophy to his Paid Dues Festival, which he held last month in San Bernardino, Calif. He said he fielded some criticism from people who crusade for “positive rap” for including the L.A. collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All on the bill.

“Just because they’re negative, doesn’t give you the right to say you’re positive, but fuck them,” he said. “As soon as you step outside of your positivity and say fuck someone else, you’re no longer being a positive person who listens to this progressive music you’re so proud of.

The same philosophy on life has to be extended to your music and the same philosophies in your music have to extend to your life. There are a lot of people who don’t do both.”

Murs’ latest album, Love and Rockets Vol. 1: The Transformation, was released in October 2011, but he’s just now beginning to work on Vol. 2. In the following interview, Murs speaks more about the Paid Dues festival as well as his slate of upcoming projects, including a collaboration EP with Fresno-based rapper Fashawn.

What I’ve enjoyed about the Paid Dues Festival you throw, is that there never seems to be exclusion or allegiance to a certain sub-genre of hip-hop. You have no problem inviting Mac Miller and Dipset, along with Boot Camp Clique and Brother Ali–people who probably would never share a bill together. What’s your mindset in curating?
It’s started with me trying to get all my friends together. I was the guy that was friends with Aesop and El-P and down with the Legends. We all knew of each other, but I was the one who’d sleep at their houses and know everyone’s wives and girlfriends and kids. That kind of stuff. So I was able to bring everybody together.

In the same groove, I did a song with Kendrick Lamar–like before Dr. Dre knew who he was. So I was in with those guys. I was at the first Odd Future Christmas show. My former assistant is now their road manager. I have a genuine connection to so many people. Growing up I realized that people aren’t all that different. I seem to be in the center of this web. Five years before the Based God was born, Lil’ B was coming to my shows at Berkeley.

I don’t have any borders in my life. So the festival has always been a reflection of me bringing my friends together.

Living Legends just rocked Paid Dues together. You guys still make music together. Not a lot of groups can say that about their careers over the passage of time. What keeps everything tight knit amongst the crew?
I don’t know, man. Everybody is who they are. We’re a group of eight individuals. The name and the crew existed, and we didn’t even think about making a record together until Almost Famous in 2001. We’d been living together and touring together for years and never even thought about it. Then, it was three or four years before we thought about making another one.

As much as people say it, it was never Wu-Tang Clan or Odd Future or Hieroglyphics. It was something different. It works for us, but the individuality for other crews may not work.

Love and Rockets Vol. I is obviously part of a series. How is Vol. 2: The Emancipation coming along?
It’s not on a deadline. I think about it every day, write little notes for it, but I don’t think it will come out until like Paid Dues [Festival] 2013.

Will it be produced by Ski Beatz again?
Umm, probably not. It could always change. I know certain things about it I’m not ready to reveal yet. It was never intended to be Murs and Ski Beatz Present Love and Rockets. There will be another book with it. I can say that. It may be an electro record for all I know. It may be a symphony. I don’t know who I might meet next. I don’t want people read this article and say, “Aww, he said it was going to be Araabmuzik producing soft jazz shit.” I don’t want that down the line.

What are you looking at releasing before that? I saw on your wiki page that you’ve got an EP in the works with Fashawn.
We’ll hopefully have that done by the summer. These two producers, K-Salaam and Beatnick, we’d talked about doing something together for a while. My solo albums, up until my last one didn’t seem to be working out, so we’d been trying to find away to work together because I’m a big fan of their music. They suggested collaboration with someone, threw out possible members of The Lox and went through all these musicians and connections we both have.

Then, he brought up Fashawn, and Fash is a kid I’ve seen around and talked to, had him on Paid Dues, but we didn’t ever vibe or kick it. I’m a fan of Fash though, like I have his album [Boy Meets World] and the Grizzly City mixtapes. But it seemed like it might make sense as an outsider option. Randomly, Fash’s manager called me just asking for advice and just update on business. I told her it was crazy she called me. But I had to ask if Fashawn was even a fan of mine. I didn’t want to assume anything.

Have you recorded any songs yet for the project?
We recorded a song that was completely funny. We have a lot of similarities. He goes through the same things I go through. I’m associated with the backpack crowd like Aesop Rock and Atmosphere. He’s associated with The Alchemist and Evidence. But, we’re in a middle ground together of rapping about inner city and at-risk youth–but we’re both non-traditional with it. Things are naturally coming together. We’ve got way more in common ground than I expected.

K-Salaam and Beatnick have this really mid-to-late ‘90s sound they’re giving us. It’s sounding like, what I hope will be the West Coast version of [Only Built 4] Cuban Linx [Raekwon’s solo debut]. That’s ambitious, but you set the bar high to shoot for the stars and land on the moon, type thing. It will be for people who genuinely love Raekwon and Ghostface and Tha Dogg Pound.

Have you and Fashawn had the opportunity to record together or is it a project that’s emailed back and forth?
Every time we’re both in L.A. we’ll hang out for four or five hours. We got the name of the album, while hanging out with Maseo of De La Soul. Maseo basically named the record.

As long as there’s an understanding or friendship between the two it works. I used to think that we have to be sitting there and looking at each other. But, the more I’d talk to people like DJ Quik and hear about how he recorded All Eyez on Me, people can tell if there’s a true connection or if it’s forced.

Have there been projects you’ve turned down from a lack of connection?
Definitely. I wouldn’t name those projects though. There’s people I’m good friends with, but we haven’t made good music together. Brother Ali and me are the best of friends, but we’ve never made a song together. We’ve toured together. That’s my homie. That’s my brother. We’ve just never recorded a song together. It’s never even come up.

There are people I’ve tried to record stuff with and we both just let it sit there and nothing happened with it.

Have you considered updating the MURS acronym?
No. I’m not doing anymore. No more of that shit.