Company Flow - Funcrusher Plus
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Company FlowEdition: Music CD
Format: Original recording reissued
CD Release Date: 2002-06-04
Music Label: Rawkus / Umgd
Soundtracks:
- Bad Touch Example
- 8 Steps To Perfection
- Collude/Intrude
- Blind
- Silence
- Legends
- Lune TNS
- Help Wanted
- Population Control
- Definitive
- Lencorcism
- 89.9 Detrimental
- Vital Nerve
- Tragedy Of War (In III Parts)
- The Fire In Which You Burn
- Krazy Kings
- Last Good Sleep
- Info Kill II
- Funcrush Scratch
Free Music Notes for Funcrusher Plus
Free Music Review: A little too artistic for its own good
Hit: 3 Stars
Company Flow's 1997 debut "Funcrusher Plus" is a landmark album in a number of ways. It was the first release from the influential Rawkus Records, it introduced three men who would soon be forces in underground hip hop, and it opened the door for a new wave of alternative rap. Rapper Big Juss, MC/producer El-P, and DJ Mr. Len are an artistic group that made forward-thinking hip hop. "Funcrusher Plus" is an interesting album, a collection of music recorded over a four-year period. Both rappers are impressive, delivering a mix of abstract battle rhymes and futuristic stories and imagery. Some of the songs profile an apocalyptic future of robots and corruption. Big Juss and El-P are talented rappers, and they have funny punchlines, clever pop culture references, and very creative lyrical concepts.
My problem with "Funcrusher Plus" is that, in their effort to be "independent as f---," Co-Flow sacrifices a certain level of appeal, coming across to this reviewer as too artistic for its own good. El-P is a good producer, but most of his beats here are sparse, rigid, and mechanical. The songs are unstructured and most don't have hooks, and for the most part, the album tries to be so experimental that it borders on inaccessible. In fact, the best songs, "Vital Nerve" and "Krazy Kings," have a more conventional song structure without sacrificing the futuristic sound and conceptual lyrics. These songs are especially impressive from an artistic level, and they are also fun rap songs to listen to. Other highlights include "8 Steps to Perfection" and the interludes "Lune TNS" and "89.9 Detrimental."
I love underground hip hop, and I appreciate "Funcrusher Plus" as a triumph in hip hop as an art. They did something unlike anything else and pushed the boundaries of the genre where they hadn't been pushed before. But, however great a piece of art "Funcrusher Plus" is, that doesn't necessarily make it fun to listen to all the time. It's far too long for a comprehensive listen, and is at times tedious.
"Funcrusher Plus" is impressive artistically, but in my opinion, that doesn't make it totally enjoyable. While there are some really great songs and El-P and Big Juss turn in some great performances, the disc lacks the musical and structural appeal of a great rap LP. Other hip hop concept albums with a similar futuristic concept, such as The Future Is Now, Deltron 3030, and Dr. Octagonecologyst, are abstractly creative and experimental, but are also really fun to listen to. "Funcrusher Plus" is definitely a good album from that aspect, but if looking for an album of that nature, I'd recommend the previously mentioned before this one.
Funcrusher Plus Poster
Company Flow really want you to know how independent they are. This seems to be their primary mission, and Funcrusher Plus is wacked-out enough to satisfy that agenda. Building off some previously released material, most notably "8 Steps to Perfection," CF often take a galactic-horror groove here, dropping in some skewed drumbeats and dense lyrics, forcing your head into a lopsided bob as you groove along to tracks such as "Silence" and "Definitive." These cuts try to violate your brain so much that they seldom make it to your ass, but the lyrics are tight and the hooks are original (check out the sitar in "The Fire in Which You Burn"). If you need a break from that same-same radio-ready hip-hop, Company Flow definitely have something for you. --Todd LevinDance & DJ Music CDs
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