Philadelphia’s motto is “the city of brotherly love” but these days its known to be no stranger to violence. If you ever get to visit a small section of the city called Wynnefield you may be misled by its close proximity to the prestigious college of St Joe’s University or the squeaky clean image Will Smith given it. As you move closer to Parkside, home of legendary gangsta rapper Schooly D, you start to get a feel for what urban life is like. One of the longest stretch of blocks in this town happens to be the topic of discussion; renamed MurderLane.
There’s a few artist to emerge from the rubble to give musical testimony to the things they’ve seen, witnessed & been affected by.
MurderLane Gang is a super group consisting of 3 west philly artist; 5 Grand, August, & Stanfa. While still label mates on the parent company, Global Recording Group, the MurderLane series directs more of the dark collaborative efforts to the very place they draw inspiration from which would be the streets.
Together, each artist delivers their own unique prospective of their experiences in the neighborhood they grew up in to create the most vivid of pictures with words over melodic tracks or what they like to call canvases. August, the youngest member of MLG, you can say is the most witty, energetic and youthful element of the group. The hunger for greatness is ever so prevalent in the verses he composes as he starts to lyrically recall on the mindset of a young “G.” Then you have Stanfa, who’s complex style of delivery never fails to leave out a detail. He lures you in with cinematic verses full of suspense that you are eager to know how the story ends. And last up to bat is 5 Grand, the most seasoned veteran player on the team. Life iz Grand maybe the moniker on the regular but there’s no palm trees & Davidoff moments when he goes in depth about the streets. There’s a right way to reach success & there’s an easy road to the riches. You take the easy route at your risk. Grand contributes the entrepreneurial experience common to black youth trying to make their way out of the ghetto.
In conclusion, there’s no room to fall short on MurderLane. This is quality street music in its rawest of forms. Relentless lyrics spewed by some of west philly most talented rappers. The comradery only challenges each man to bring his “A” game to the plate and delivery an RBI every time out.
DOWNLOAD: GRG presents 5 Grand x August x Stanfola – Murderlane (Album)
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