Funcrusher Plus
by Company Flow

Company Flow - Funcrusher Plus is another album produced by El-P. I don't think I've ever listened to so many projects where El-P is involved in such a short period of time. This one seemed to me worse than I remembered it and I suspect the main reason is exactly the El-P overexposure. I mean, I never was his biggest fan to begin with, you can check my other reviews, too, so this was just too much. Anyway, production-wise (and El-P is all about production, so this matters a lot) it has to be included among his best. It combines the typical 90's boom bap sound with his trademark futuristic vibes to create a rich and lively sound that keeps your attention without relying on catchy hooks or something for (almost) the whole running time of the album, which by the way is on the longer side and could definitely have been shorter by a good 10-15 minutes. The rapping is the best part of the album, it's energetic and passionate enough to convey the ideas and the emotions to the audience, but also has a conversational tone, it's like you take part in a friendly discussion. Lyrics ("Try to keep my lyrics short and fat like Joe Pesci") are of the so called "abstract" kind almost crossing the line of being totally random ("El-P phase through these walls like Vision Choked in the shallow water, a bad executive decision Release the Kraken please put down your skin flutes How could ya... motherfuckers think ya... To this mercenary sunblock 2000 burner All of your knowledge is truant, unlearn all of the shit Then in overtime you become fluent, sell the fucking store At the opposite end of the spectrum your career’s never no more Enter the rectum and at twilight we'll skip stones and laugh about your poems But a blood-red book when the others got funcrushed is a spot The terror fabulously gets hot, Co Flow mossie Walt Disney meets Keyser Soze There will be no grand comebacks unless Lazarus or Kotter"). The highlight of the album is for me the opening track Bad Touch Example ("Yo' eyes get, blind like 2Pac gettin shot in the lobby Most MC's styles is robbery of my freestyles as a hobby I pick apart monkey brains and spread disease through hot zones My cameos on promos seem strange like someone's not home Bigg Jus the outsider rain on your dream field With styles so freaking wet niggas need maxi panty shields Expose more moles out the closet than lead paint on your tenement Got more Black Thought to my Roots than most niggas got in their pigment It's the baby-faced lieutenant with the Luck like Luciano Hardcore like Kool G Rap music made for concert piano").
To sum it up, maybe it has to do with the timing and not the album itself, but it was a slight let down, despite its unquestionable qualities.