Company Flow - Funcrusher Plus

Rawkus

July 22nd, 1997.

Company Flow's influential underground gem 'Funcrusher Plus' trudges through the sewers of Hip-Hop for its 25th anniversary. Released on Rawkus Records - the pinnacle of underground labels in mid-to-late 90's Hip-Hop - Funcrusher Plus, and Company Flow, was a precursor of things to come - a sea of electronic dread and a future unsure of itself. Look at the artwork and try not to sense that times were changing - both within Hip-Hop and outside of it. Do things decay for entertainments purpose?

Some things exist so far ahead of their time they outlie the outliers. Off the scale of comparability comes the future of innovation. New ways of approaching a scene or lifestyle emerge in organic ways. Any meaning is found on the journey. Beginning with an end goal in mind may obscure the vision somewhat. Thinking too much hinders the process. Releases like Funcrusher Plus are most definitely intentional, but being aware of their importance in the moment is near impossible - how the roots will grow is succinctly unknown. The things that lean left may never come front and center - full circle. The underground exists to preserve essence - it both forms movements and maintains movements in their purest form. Untouched in the rawest meaning of the word, Funcrusher Plus exudes an incalculable quality; incalculable by the standards of the day and incalculable in unforeseeable influence. Emanating invisible ties over things yet to come, the master pulls the strings in unflinching ways.

Sinister, seedy soundscapes engulf the MC's on show - Mr Len, Big Juss and El-P. Their characteristics go hand in hand with the environment in which El paints - futuristic with a sense of unrest. Cynical, untrustworthy words fire from their mental in fluid ease - they were born for this.
Funcrusher Plus exists in a sci-fi state of paranoia - life plays out under the all seeing eye of the overseer. Are those pigeons surveying my house yet again? They must be looking for the secrets deep in my psyche. Good thing I buried them eons ago - yes, they're unreachable even by myself; sleeping safe and sound. Will they find them?? A digital cacophony was on its way.