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Funcrusher Plus

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Funcrusher Plus
Studio album by
Company Flow
ReleasedJuly 22, 1997 (1997-07-22)
Studio
  • Ozone
  • No Mystery (New York)
Genre
Length73:52
LabelRawkus
ProducerCompany Flow
Company Flow chronology
Funcrusher
(1995) 		Funcrusher Plus
(1997) 		Little Johnny from the Hospitul: Breaks & Instrumentals Vol.1
(1999)
Singles from Funcrusher Plus
  1. "8 Steps to Perfection"
    Released: 1996
  2. "Blind"
    Released: 1997

Funcrusher Plus is the debut studio album by American hip hop group Company Flow.[3] It was released by Rawkus Records in 1997.[4] In 2009, it was re-released on Definitive Jux.[5] The album has been recognized as "a landmark independent hip-hop release".[6]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[8]
Los Angeles Times[9]
Muzik10/10[10]
NME7/10[11]
Pitchfork9.0/10[12]
PopMatters9/10[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[13]
Spectrum Culture[14]
Spin8/10[15]

Jon Dolan of City Pages noted "[Company Flow's] evincing a confrontational critique of 'those signed, big-budget muthafuckas' like none hip hop has attempted since EPMD's Strictly Business."[16] Andrew Hultkrans of Spin gave the album 8 stars out of 10, commenting that "[the album] deconstructed hip-hop conventions and rebuilt them into a spare, murky, sputtering soundscape."[15] Jeff Weiss of the Los Angeles Times felt that "El-P conjured an apocalyptic minimalism -- the sublimated sound of clanging and cluttered train cars, city grime buried beneath cuticles, and the ghostly smoke of burning blunts."[9] Brian Coleman of CMJ New Music Monthly called it "the most important release of 1997 thus far."[17] The New York Times wrote that Company Flow "rap fast, rude, free-associative boasts and dystopian visions over tracks that mesh raunchy old funk snippets with electronic noise, making hip-hop that's simultaneously propulsive and disorienting."[18]

Nate Patrin of Pitchfork said: "With the exception of the nocturnal crystalline funk of the Bigg Jus-produced 'Lune TNS' and the frequent scratch contributions from secret weapon DJ Mr. Len, Funcrusher Plus' beats bear the mark of El-P's dusty-but-digital aesthetic, which even back then had the same sort of beautiful-dystopia Blade Runner feel that informed Cannibal Ox's The Cold Vein and his own Fantastic Damage a few years later."[12] AllMusic gave the album a perfect 5 star rating, and writer Steve Huey stated: "[Funcrusher Plus] demands intense concentration, but also rewards it, and its advancement of hip-hop as an art form is still being felt. It's difficult, challenging music, to be sure, and it's equally far ahead of its time."[7]

Joseph Schafer of Stereogum said, "Funcrusher Plus made for a hell of an opening salvo, and most emcee/producers would envy having such a record in their discography, but El mostly improved upon his work here later."[19]

On October 4, 2011, "Lune TNS" was chosen by NJ.com as the Song of the Day.[6]

In 2003, Funcrusher Plus ranked at number 84 on Pitchfork's Top 100 Albums of the 1990s list.[20] In 2014, Complex listed the album at number 86 on the 90 Best Rap Albums of the 90s.[4] In 2015, it was chosen by Fact as number 4 on the 100 Best Indie Hip-Hop Records of All Time.[21]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Bad Touch Example"
El-P3:26
2."8 Steps to Perfection"
  • Ingleton
  • Meline
El-P4:43
3."Collude/Intrude" (featuring J-Treds)
  • Meline
  • J-Treds
El-P5:25
4."Blind"
  • Ingleton
  • Meline
El-P3:42
5."Silence"IngletonEl-P3:33
6."Legends"MelineEl-P4:02
7."Help Wanted" El-P2:13
8."Population Control"
El-P4:26
9."Lune TNS"IngletonBigg Jus3:39
10."Definitive"MelineEl-P5:47
11."Lencorcism" Mr. Len0:36
12."89.9 Detrimental"MelineEl-P1:03
13."Vital Nerve" (featuring BMS)
  • Meline
  • BMS
El-P5:01
14."Tragedy of War (in III Parts)"
  • Ingleton
  • Meline
El-P3:49
15."The Fire in Which You Burn" (featuring The Brewin from the Juggaknots & J-Treds)
El-P5:02
16."Krazy Kings"IngletonEl-P4:52
17."Last Good Sleep"MelineMr. Len, El-P5:59
18."Info Kill II"
  • Ingleton
  • Meline
El-P3:48
19."Funcrush Scratch" Mr. Len2:48
Total length:73:52

Notes

  • "Population Control" features uncredited vocals from R.A. the Rugged Man
  • The vinyl version contains a track originally featured on the Funcrusher EP, titled "Corners '94".

Personnel

[edit]
  • El-P – producer, lead vocals, mixing
  • Bigg Jus – producer, lead vocals
  • Mr. Len – producer, scratching
  • R.A. the Rugged Man – vocals
  • J-Treds – vocals
  • BMS – vocals
  • Breezly Brewin – vocals
  • Vassos – recording, engineering, mixing
  • Jeff Cordero – recording, engineering, mixing
  • Walker Bernard – recording, engineering
  • Chris Athens – mastering

Singles chart positions

[edit]
Year Song Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales[22]
1997 "Blind" 44

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "50 Greatest East Coast Hip-Hop Albums of the 1990s". The Boombox. October 20, 2017. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  2. ^ Preezy (July 25, 2017). "Company Flow's 'Funcrusher Plus' Epitomized Hip-Hop's Independent Spirit". The Boombox. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  3. ^ Johnson, Fatima (January 7, 2013). "Respect. Your Elders: Company Flow". Respect. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  4. ^ a b Bengston, Russ (April 24, 2014). "The 90 Best Rap Albums of the '90s - 86. Company Flow, Funcrusher Plus (1997)". Complex. Archived from the original on April 13, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  5. ^ a b Newmark, Mike (September 13, 2009). "Company Flow: Funcrusher Plus". PopMatters. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  6. ^ a b McCall, Tris (October 4, 2011). "Song of the Day: 'Lune TNS,' Company Flow". NJ.com. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  7. ^ a b Huey, Steve. "Funcrusher Plus – Company Flow". AllMusic. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  8. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). "Company Flow". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  9. ^ a b Weiss, Jeff (May 7, 2009). "Album Review: Company Flow's 'Funcrusher Plus' reissue". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  10. ^ Ashon, Will (August 1997). "Company Flow: Funcrusher Plus (Official/Rawkus)". Muzik (27): 125.
  11. ^ Moody, Paul (September 27, 1997). "Company Flow – Funcrusher Plus". NME. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  12. ^ a b Patrin, Nate (May 15, 2009). "Company Flow: Funcrusher Plus". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  13. ^ Seward, Scott (2004). "Company Flow". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 187–88. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  14. ^ Hanover, Nick (May 19, 2009). "Company Flow: Funcrusher Plus". Spectrum Culture. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  15. ^ a b Tompkins, Dave (August 1997). "Lateef and Lyrics Born: Latyrx / Company Flow: Funcrusher Plus". Spin. Vol. 13, no. 5. pp. 116–18. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  16. ^ Dolan, Jon (November 26, 1997). "Company Flow: Funcrusher Plus". City Pages. Archived from the original on April 16, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  17. ^ Coleman, Brian (September 1997). "Hip-Hop". CMJ New Music Monthly: 51.
  18. ^ Pareles, Jon (14 Jan 1998). "Uncovering Good Music That Few Got to Hear". The New York Times. p. E1.
  19. ^ Schafer, Joseph (January 29, 2014). "El-P Albums From Worst To Best - Company Flow - Funcrusher Plus (1997)". Stereogum. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  20. ^ Linhardt, Alex (November 17, 2003). "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s (2/8)". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  21. ^ "The 100 best indie hip-hop records of all time (98/101)". Fact. February 25, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  22. ^ "Hot Dance Music". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 31. Aug 2, 1997. p. 34.
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