Funcrusher Plus

Funcrusher Plus is the debut studio album by American hip hop group Company Flow.[1] It was released on Rawkus Records in 1997.[2] In 2009, it was re-released on Definitive Jux.[3] The album has been recognized as "a landmark independent hip-hop release".[4]

Funcrusher Plus
Studio album by Company Flow
Released	July 22, 1997
Studio	Ozone Studios, NYC No Mystery Studios, NYC
Genre	Hip hop
Length	73:52
Label	Rawkus Records RWK 1134 (first pressing) Rawkus/Priority/EMI Records 0499 2 50063 2 2 P2-50063 (second pressing) Rawkus/MCA/Universal Records 112 898 (third pressing) Definitive Jux DJX177 (fourth pressing)
Producer	Company Flow
Company Flow chronology
Funcrusher (1996) Funcrusher Plus (1997) Little Johnny from the Hospitul: Breaks & Instrumentals Vol.1 (1999)
Singles from Funcrusher Plus
"8 Steps to Perfection" Released: 1996 "Blind" Released: 1997

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[6]
Los Angeles Times	[7]
Muzik	10/10[8]
NME	7/10[9]
Pitchfork	9.0/10[10]
PopMatters	9/10[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[11]
Spectrum Culture	[12]
Spin	8/10[13]

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."[5] 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."[14]

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."[13] Jeff Weiss of 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."[7]

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."[10]

Brian Coleman of CMJ New Music Monthly called it "the most important release of 1997 thus far."[15] 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."[16]

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

In 2003, Funcrusher Plus ranked at number 84 on Pitchfork's Top 100 Albums of the 1990s list.[17] In 2014, Complex listed the album at number 86 on the 90 Best Rap Albums of the 90s.[2] In 2015, it was chosen by Fact as number 4 on the 100 Best Indie Hip-Hop Records of All Time.[18]

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Bad Touch Example"	Bigg Jus, El-P	El-P	3:26
2.	"8 Steps to Perfection"	Bigg Jus, El-P	El-P	4:43
3.	"Collude/Intrude"	El-P, J-Treds	El-P	5:25
4.	"Blind"	Bigg Jus, El-P	El-P	3:42
5.	"Silence"	Bigg Jus	El-P	3:33
6.	"Legends"	El-P	El-P	4:02
7.	"Help Wanted"		El-P	2:13
8.	"Population Control"	El-P, Bigg Jus, R.A. the Rugged Man	El-P	4:26
9.	"Lune TNS"	Bigg Jus	Bigg Jus	3:39
10.	"Definitive"	El-P	El-P	5:47
11.	"Lencorcism"		Mr. Len	0:36
12.	"89.9 Detrimental"	El-P	El-P	1:03
13.	"Vital Nerve"	El-P, BMS	El-P	5:01
14.	"Tragedy of War (in III Parts)"	Bigg Jus, El-P	El-P	3:49
15.	"The Fire in Which You Burn"	Breezly Brewin, J-Treds, El-P, Bigg Jus	El-P	5:02
16.	"Krazy Kings"	Bigg Jus	El-P	4:52
17.	"Last Good Sleep"	El-P	Mr. Len, El-P	5:59
18.	"Info Kill II"	Bigg Jus, El-P	El-P	3:48
19.	"Funcrush Scratch"		Mr. Len	2:48

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
1997	"Blind"	44[19]

References

1. Johnson, Fatima (January 7, 2013). "Respect. Your Elders: Company Flow". Respect. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
2. Bengston, Russ (April 24, 2014). "The 90 Best Rap Albums of the '90s - 86. Company Flow, Funcrusher Plus (1997)". Complex. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
3. Newmark, Mike (September 13, 2009). "Company Flow: Funcrusher Plus". PopMatters. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
4. McCall, Tris (October 4, 2011). "Song of the Day: 'Lune TNS,' Company Flow". NJ.com. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
5. Huey, Steve. "Funcrusher Plus – Company Flow". AllMusic. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
6. Larkin, Colin (2011). "Company Flow". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
7. Weiss, Jeff (May 7, 2009). "Album Review: Company Flow's 'Funcrusher Plus' reissue". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
8. Ashon, Will (August 1997). "Company Flow: Funcrusher Plus (Official/Rawkus)". Muzik (27): 125.
9. Moody, Paul (September 27, 1997). "Company Flow – Funcrusher Plus". NME. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
10. Patrin, Nate (May 15, 2009). "Company Flow: Funcrusher Plus". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
11. 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.
12. Hanover, Nick (May 19, 2009). "Company Flow: Funcrusher Plus". Spectrum Culture. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
13. Tompkins, Dave (August 1997). "Lateef and Lyrics Born: Latyrx / Company Flow: Funcrusher Plus". Spin. 13 (5): 116–18. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
14. Dolan, Jon (November 26, 1997). "Company Flow: Funcrusher Plus". City Pages. Archived from the original on April 16, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
15. Coleman, Brian (September 1997). "Hip-Hop". CMJ New Music Monthly: 51.
16. Schafer, Joseph (January 29, 2014). "El-P Albums From Worst To Best - Company Flow - Funcrusher Plus (1997)". Stereogum. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
17. Linhardt, Alex (November 17, 2003). "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s (2/8)". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
18. "The 100 best indie hip-hop records of all time (98/101)". Fact. February 25, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
19. "Company Flow - Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved April 10, 2015.

External links

• Funcrusher Plus at Discogs (list of releases)