New Muja Messiah - "At All Cost (My Economics)"

Download: Muja Messiah - "At All Cost"

Like his previously leaked single, "Growing Pains", Muja Messiah's new track from his upcoming Thee Adventures of a B-Boy D-Boy, titled "At All Cost (My Economics)", features the Minneapolis rapper reflecting upon the urban chaos that had been his life with the utmost sincerity, but also with humor and perspective. Over a sampled string section, slight piano twinkling, and a beat made for hand-claps, Messiah describes his upbringing in North Minneapolis, where people "drop like flies/and although small/big city rules apply". It's this background that Muja is determined to transcend.

While a chorus like "Ima never be broke again" might come off as materialistic and shallow in the wrong hands, Muja sets up the context properly, delivering the lyric in as low-voiced and matter-of-fact as possible. As a result, the lyrics come across as someone motivated to make his life better because it makes the lives of his loved ones better, not because he wants to buy a hot European car (although Mu, like the rest of us, probably wouldn't turn one down if the opportunity arose). "At All Cost (My Economics)", like "Growing Pains", does a great service in humanizing someone who, because of his Kanye-like knack for self-promotion, may come across to some as a boor.

Listen to "At All Cost (My Economics)" at the top of the post.

Thee Adventures of a B-Boy D-Boy is out on July 27th.

Muja Messiah MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)