Funcrusher Plus

Last updated

Funcrusher Plus
Company Flow - Funcrusher Plus.jpg
Studio album by
Company Flow
ReleasedJuly 22, 1997 (1997-07-22)
Recorded1994–97
Studio
  • Ozone
  • No Mystery (New York)
Genre
Length73:52
Label Rawkus
Producer Company 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]

Contents

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [7]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [9]
Muzik 10/10 [10]
NME 7/10 [11]
Pitchfork 9.0/10 [12]
PopMatters 9/10 [5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [13]
Spectrum CultureStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [14]
Spin 8/10 [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

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Bad Touch Example"
 El-P 3:26
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. Len 0:36
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

Personnel

Singles chart positions

YearSong Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales [22]
1997"Blind"44

References

  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. 1 2 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. 1 2 Newmark, Mike (September 13, 2009). "Company Flow: Funcrusher Plus". PopMatters . Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  6. 1 2 McCall, Tris (October 4, 2011). "Song of the Day: 'Lune TNS,' Company Flow". NJ.com . Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  7. 1 2 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. 1 2 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. 1 2 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. 1 2 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 (January 14, 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. August 2, 1997. p. 34.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.