Funcrusher Plus

Funcrusher Plus
Funcrusher Plus
Studio album by Company Flow
Released	July 22, 1997
Recorded	1994–97
Studio	Ozone; No Mystery (New York);
Genre	East Coast hip hop; underground hip hop; progressive rap;
Length	73:52
Label	Rawkus
Producer	Company Flow
Company Flow chronology
Singles from Funcrusher Plus
	"8 Steps to Perfection"; Released: 1996; "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

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[7]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	^[8]
Los Angeles Times	^[9]
Muzik	10/10^[10]
NME	7/10^[11]
Pitchfork	9.0/10^[12]
PopMatters	9/10^[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	^[13]
Spectrum Culture	^[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.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Bad Touch Example"	Justin Ingleton Jaime Meline	El-P	3:26
2.	"8 Steps to Perfection"	Ingleton Meline	El-P	4:43
3.	"Collude/Intrude" (featuring J-Treds)	Meline J-Treds	El-P	5:25
4.	"Blind"	Ingleton Meline	El-P	3:42
5.	"Silence"	Ingleton	El-P	3:33
6.	"Legends"	Meline	El-P	4:02
7.	"Help Wanted"		El-P	2:13
8.	"Population Control"	Ingleton Meline R.A. Thorburn	El-P	4:26
9.	"Lune TNS"	Ingleton	Bigg Jus	3:39
10.	"Definitive"	Meline	El-P	5:47
11.	"Lencorcism"		Mr. Len	0:36
12.	"89.9 Detrimental"	Meline	El-P	1:03
13.	"Vital Nerve" (featuring BMS)	Meline BMS	El-P	5:01
14.	"Tragedy of War (in III Parts)"	Ingleton Meline	El-P	3:49
15.	"The Fire in Which You Burn" (featuring The Brewin from the Juggaknots & J-Treds)	Ingleton Meline Breezly Brewin J-Treds	El-P	5:02
16.	"Krazy Kings"	Ingleton	El-P	4:52
17.	"Last Good Sleep"	Meline	Mr. Len, El-P	5:59
18.	"Info Kill II"	Ingleton Meline	El-P	3:48
19.	"Funcrush Scratch"		Mr. Len	2:48
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

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

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

References

^ "50 Greatest East Coast Hip-Hop Albums of the 1990s". The Boombox. October 20, 2017. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
^ Preezy (July 25, 2017). "Company Flow's 'Funcrusher Plus' Epitomized Hip-Hop's Independent Spirit". The Boombox. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
^ Johnson, Fatima (January 7, 2013). "Respect. Your Elders: Company Flow". Respect. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
^ ^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.
^ ^a ^b Newmark, Mike (September 13, 2009). "Company Flow: Funcrusher Plus". PopMatters. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
^ ^a ^b McCall, Tris (October 4, 2011). "Song of the Day: 'Lune TNS,' Company Flow". NJ.com. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
^ ^a ^b Huey, Steve. "Funcrusher Plus – Company Flow". AllMusic. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
^ Larkin, Colin (2011). "Company Flow". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
^ ^a ^b Weiss, Jeff (May 7, 2009). "Album Review: Company Flow's 'Funcrusher Plus' reissue". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
^ Ashon, Will (August 1997). "Company Flow: Funcrusher Plus (Official/Rawkus)". Muzik (27): 125.
^ Moody, Paul (September 27, 1997). "Company Flow – Funcrusher Plus". NME. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
^ ^a ^b Patrin, Nate (May 15, 2009). "Company Flow: Funcrusher Plus". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
^ 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.
^ Hanover, Nick (May 19, 2009). "Company Flow: Funcrusher Plus". Spectrum Culture. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
^ ^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.
^ Dolan, Jon (November 26, 1997). "Company Flow: Funcrusher Plus". City Pages. Archived from the original on April 16, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
^ Coleman, Brian (September 1997). "Hip-Hop". CMJ New Music Monthly: 51.
^ Pareles, Jon (January 14, 1998). "Uncovering Good Music That Few Got to Hear". The New York Times. p. E1.
^ Schafer, Joseph (January 29, 2014). "El-P Albums From Worst To Best - Company Flow - Funcrusher Plus (1997)". Stereogum. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
^ Linhardt, Alex (November 17, 2003). "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s (2/8)". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
^ "The 100 best indie hip-hop records of all time (98/101)". Fact. February 25, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
^ "Hot Dance Music". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 31. August 2, 1997. p. 34.

External links

Funcrusher Plus at Discogs (list of releases)

[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.

[respect-3] Johnson, Fatima (January 7, 2013). "Respect. Your Elders: Company Flow". Respect. Retrieved April 10, 2015.

[complex-4] 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.

[popmatters-5] Newmark, Mike (September 13, 2009). "Company Flow: Funcrusher Plus". PopMatters. Retrieved April 10, 2015.

[nj-6] McCall, Tris (October 4, 2011). "Song of the Day: 'Lune TNS,' Company Flow". NJ.com. Retrieved April 10, 2015.

[allmusic-7] Huey, Steve. "Funcrusher Plus – Company Flow". AllMusic. Retrieved April 10, 2015.

[larkin-8] Larkin, Colin (2011). "Company Flow". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.

[latimes-9] 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.

[nme-11] Moody, Paul (September 27, 1997). "Company Flow – Funcrusher Plus". NME. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved March 8, 2018.

[pitchfork2009-12] Patrin, Nate (May 15, 2009). "Company Flow: Funcrusher Plus". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 10, 2015.

[rollingstone-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.

[spin-15] 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.

[citypages-16] Dolan, Jon (November 26, 1997). "Company Flow: Funcrusher Plus". City Pages. Archived from the original on April 16, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2015.

[cmj-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.

[stereogum-19] Schafer, Joseph (January 29, 2014). "El-P Albums From Worst To Best - Company Flow - Funcrusher Plus (1997)". Stereogum. Retrieved April 10, 2015.

[pitchfork2003-20] Linhardt, Alex (November 17, 2003). "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s (2/8)". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved April 10, 2015.

[factmag-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.

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v t e Company Flow
El-P Bigg Jus Mr. Len
Studio album	Funcrusher Plus
Instrumental album	Little Johnny from the Hospitul: Breaks & Instrumentals Vol.1
EP	Funcrusher

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