Funcrusher Plus by Company Flow (Album, Abstract Hip Hop): Reviews, Ratings, Credits, Song list - Rate Your Music
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Funcrusher Plus
By Company Flow
......
ArtistCompany Flow
TypeAlbum
Released28 July 1997
Recorded1995 - 1997
RYM Rating 3.75 / 5.00.5 from 4,965 ratings
Ranked#49 for 1997, #2,652 overall
Genres
Descriptors
urban, futuristic, abstract, lo-fi, sampling, atmospheric, raw, science fiction, nocturnal, aggressive, cryptic, cold, rhythmic, boastful, dark, male vocalist, psychedelic, technical, dense, progressive, apocalyptic, surreal, space, vulgar, complex, poetic, humorous, rebellious, violence, ominous, conscious, angry, political, hateful
Language English

Track listing

  • 1 Bad Touch Example 3:26
  • 2 8 Steps to Perfection 4:43
  • 3 Collude / Intrude 5:25
  • 4 Blind 3:42
  • 5 Silence 3:33
  • 6 Legends 4:02
  • 7 Help Wanted 2:12
  • 8 Population Control 4:26
  • 9 Lune TNS 3:38
  • 10 Definitive 5:47
  • 11 Lencorcism 0:36
  • 12 89.9 Detrimental 1:03
  • 13 Vital Nerve 5:01
  • 14 Tragedy of War (In III Parts) 3:49
  • 15 The Fire in Which You Burn 5:02
  • 16 Krazy Kings 4:52
  • 17 Last Good Sleep 5:59
  • 18 Info Kill II 3:48
  • 19 Funcrush Scratch 2:48
  • Total length: 73:52
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Little Johnny From the Hozpitul: Breaks end Instrumentuls Vol. 1
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Issues

9 Issues

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Credits

Credits

64 Reviews

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Zephos Sep 28 2010 4.00 stars
Rawkus records crashed through the ceiling and into hip hop's collective conscious at a perfect time, and this was the album it rode in on. A trio consisting of producer El-P, rapper Bigg Jus, and DJ Mr. Len, they specialized in tripped out grimy underground shit that contrasted sharply and knowingly with the Jiggy rap in vogue at the time. You have to know there was a lot of anger from within rap at the rise of jiggy and latter day mafioso it came from. It can be seen from Black Star a year later, RZA's talk on Forever, and in Kool Keith's "Plastic World" track. This is the atmosphere from where Company Flow and this album came up, a fed up feeling that the only way rap could survive aesthetics intact would be to throw out the mainstream labels and go independent. Company Flow makes themselves sound like something only the underground could love too, the music is dense and strange with a heavy heavy focus on rhyming with few hooks to sate the teeny bopper ear. It's 75 minutes of mostly dudes talking shit as it were a Rakim album. It's sound derives from a mix of RZA and DJ Krush influences and signaled a new era of indie rap that still survives to some extent now. It's a seminal album that alongside the superior Jedi Mind Tricks debut delivers classic hip-hop quality with a sheen of futuristic nightmare, acting like it was rapping from a post-apocalyptic world. And in a way that's exactly what it was.

Rating: 4
Highlights: 8 Steps to Perfection, Collude/Intrude, Krazy Kings, Last Good Sleep
Published
Nodima Oct 25 2009 4.50 stars
Funcrusher Plus (Produced by El-P unless noted) [Rawkus Records 1997]

1|Bad Touch Example|3:26 5
One of the craziest songs I've ever heard, if I can talk my shit for a moment.
2|8 Steps to Perfection|4:43 4.25 - 5
3|Collude / Intrude (feat. J-Treds)|5:25 4.5 - 5
Calling out pseudo-Rick Ross' in 1997. Where are they now? On our radios, more literally. "How you gonna tackle a topic when you suck at two hand touch?"
4|Blind|3:42 4.25 - 5
Total Rawkus beat. I love this sound that them and Premo were fucking with, it really shaped me as a rap fan.
5|Silence|3:33 3.25 - 4
6|Legends|4:02 3.25 - 4
7|Lune TNS|2:12 (Produced by Bigg Jus) 4
8|Help Wanted|4:26 5
"Release the crack and put down your skin flutes, how could ya - mother fuckers think ya - " "Walt Disney meets Keysor Soze".
9|Population Control|3:38 4 - 4.75
10|Definitive|5:47 4.5 - 5
Loving the Terminator/Hollywood references.
11|Lencorcism|0:36 (Produced by Mr. Len) 4
12|89.9 Detrimental|1:03 3 - 3.5
13|Vital Nerve (feat. BMS)|5:01 4
14|Tragedy of War (In III Parts)|3:49 4
15|The Fire in Which You Burn (feat. J-Treds & The Brewin)|5:02 4.5 - 5
16|Krazy Kings|4:52 4 - 4.75
17|Last Good Sleep|5:59 (Produced by El-P & Mr. Len) 4.75 - 5
18|Info Kill II|3:48 4.75 - 5
Reminds me of Lucasarts' The Dig soundtrack.
19|Funcrush Scratch|2:48 (Produced by Mr. Len) 4

Overall: 81 - 84 4.34/5 85 - 88%: Exceptional; repeated listens demanded; BUY IT

This album is soooo fucking sick. Hasn't lost any of its appeal over the years, and actually just gets easier and easier to appreciate. Normally I'm not such a huge fan of rappity rap but these guys do it with such verve Kool Keith style that I can't really front on it. It's pretty accessible considering its reputation, the rapping is on point for all 80 minutes and El-P makes the album Wu-Tang Forever shpuld have been (not that there's anything terribly wrong with Forever). Funcrusher Plus is absolutely pure hip-hop. Some of the greatest disses on record here, some of the dopest distorted boom bap. Trim the chaff and it's incredibly hard to argue this album isn't perfect; unfortunately, like all El-P projects that chaff exists and Funcrusher Plus is ultimately resigned to really, really dope status. "Damn that" © Lil' Wayne. It's nearly perfect, though I can see why people would turn their backs on it, and this is one of the few albums that I not only really like, but wish I had the know how to make myself. It's not even a favorite or anything, I'm just so blown away by this whenever I listen to it; I remember nearly overdosing on "Bad Touch Example", "Help Wanted", "Population Control" and "Lune TNS" last semester on the iPod. Feel free to be indifferent to Funcrusher Plus, but please don't shrug it off and call it abstract trash. It's too good for that.

One review I'd like to refer back to though is G.O.Z.'s claim that rappers trying to be different comes off contrived. "I don't try to be different, I am/So inevitably my style will survive when your now turns to then." "It's only a matter of time before Waldo gets spotted." To me, albums like Funcrusher Plus, despite taking three years to put together, sound supremely effortless and as naturally formed as a Roots LP. Those moments in the abstract/independent as fuck realm of hip-hop are few and far between, but Funcrusher Plus is one of those moments and it's precisely why this is the album underground heads still turn to Illmatic-style for their Hail Mary's. Sure songs like "Legends" and "Silence" are going to be a little dull because of their intentionally unenjoyable constructions, but at least they still have an artistic purpose and contribute somewhat to the album. My only complaint is definitely the length of the album, otherwise, I say this is definitely a ridiculous album worthy of entering anyone's hip-hop archive. There are absolutely amazing battle raps here, raw hip-hop for days and days. Company Flow were getting it in, no doubt, and it's probably not much of a stretch to say it was music like this (particularly "Lune TNS") that inspired Zev Love X to return to hip-hop as MF DOOM. And who doesn't want to thank Company Flow for that (I know, plenty of people)?
Published
diction Sep 08 2009 ▼ 3.50 stars
  •   1 Bad Touch Example
  • 4.50 stars 2 8 Steps to Perfection
  •   3 Collude-Intrude
  •   4 Blind
  •   5 Silence
  •   6 Legends
  •   7 Help Wanted
  •   8 Population Control
  •   9 Lune TNS
  •   10 Definitive
  •   11 Lencorcism
  •   12 89.9 Detrimental
  •   13 Vital Nerve
  •   14 Tragedy of War (In III Parts)
  •   15 The Fire in Which You Burn
  •   16 Krazy Kings
  •   17 Last Good Sleep
  •   18 Info Kill II
  •   19 Funcrush Scratch
Lyrics: 4.0
Beats: 3.5

Not sure in which reality this would be considered the best hip hop album of 1997... Just had to get that out there first. I am not saying this is not an important album in the history of hip hop, it definitely had an impact for years to come but it's far from being a total masterpiece like it was initially claimed as. The "futuristic" sound of this album now sounds pretty dated and it's not very special anymore, it's just some hardcore beats with a little distortion here and there. It doesn't have that "oh shit, no one sounds like this" factor, of course there is alot of classics you can say the same about as they age, but most classics are incredible to begin with and don't build their hype on being weird and different. I guess I'm being a little harsh with the album because I still like it, it's just the surrounding hype and fake classic status that sort of gets to me... I think El-P got better on some of his future projects (mostly I'll Sleep When You're Dead) and revisiting this now, it still hasn't grown on me much. The thing I like the most about the album is the rapping, the group really has a style of straight ripping shit and making it the least accessible possible. Their raps aren't very memorable, but the style is hard and very hardcore and it's dope if you're into this shit. The beats are good but they all sound the same! It's like the album has 1 sound and they roll with it for the whole thing... The singles are the standout tracks because they standout (believe dat!), they vary a little from the somehow monotone sound of this album. So in conclusion, is Funcrusher Plus a good album? Yes. An influential one? Very. A classic that can stand next to the biggest albums of the genre? Nope, definitely not.
Published
DJX177 CD (2009)
 G.O.Z. Jan 01 2008 3.00 stars
"INDEPENDENT AS FUCK!!!!!"
- Company Flow

That was the battle cry of the underground crew composed of El-Producto, Mr. Len, and Bigg Jus as they released their debut LP Funcrusher Plus in 1997. Funcrusher Plus was a milestone when it was released for at least two reasons. One reason is that it set off the immortal Rawkus records, former home of Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch, Kool G Rap, Hi-Tek, etc. The other reason is that in the midst of the extremely commercialized rap of Bad Boy, and former underground heads seeking to cash in on the popularity of the "paint by numbers" albums pioneered by Biggie and Puffy (Nas, Jay-Z, Fat Joe), Funcrusher Plus stayed super raw and "independent as fuck", which put underground rap back on the menu.

Funcrusher Plus is the most anti-mainstream shit I have ever heard. It's like Critical Beatdown on steroids. Everything on Funcrusher Plus is purposely opposite of the mainstream rap scene. The beats contain absolutely no funky, smooth, or jazzy grooves. There are no rip-off samples of well-known songs from other artists. Instead, they sound real grimy and low-budget, with a bunch of scratching and weird sounds. They're pretty good, but strange as hell.

The raps here are hard-hitting stream-of-consciousness and the lyrics are damn near incomprehensible. With all of these things, Funcrusher Plus is an abrasive and very inaccessabile album. The rapping here is just weird. El-P, Mr. Len, and Bigg Jus rap with a battle-oriented style, but they way they do it is incredibly strange. The way Company Flow explains how much better at rapping than you involved a bunch of weird ass abstract lyrics that constantly mention lines that have nothing in common with each other and making little sense if at all. Frankly, I don't know what to make of this shit. I don't know whether it's a revolution in rapping or overly-paranoid rambling.

All of this makes for a classic album, right? Here's where I'ma have to disagree. I know Company Flow didn't want to be like Puff Daddy, but the inaccessability of Funcrusher Plus is just freaking annoying and unnecessary in my opinion. Yeah, Funcrusher Plus is original, but so what? To tell the truth, it bothers me when rappers try incredibly hard to be different. It's true that no one wants to hear a bunch of rappers that sound alike, but the whole out-of-the-stratosphere mad different style that rappers/groups like Company Flow do sounds very gimmicky to me and makes it hard to enjoy their music. Company Flow was so damn concerned with being "independent as fuck" right? What would they have done if they had followed up Funcrusher Plus? Either this style that they have would become played out and run-of-the-mill (especially after being imitated by others) or they constantly have to reinvent themselves coming out with more and more incomprehensible shit each release. And if it's gonna take that much concentration and difficulty on your part just to enjoy an album, is it even worth it? Not to me it's not. I think this is the way El-P's music always is. His fans love it, but I've realized it's not for me. I'm not a fan of El-P. Another problem is that the whole damn album is so monotonous. After the first two songs, you figure out Company Flow's style is just weird abstract lyrics over weird abstract beats. Yet this style is bashed into your head with nineteen songs over a loooooooong 74-minute span, which is another problem. Funcrusher Plus is way too long for a new style that turns out to be very shallow. Das EFX and Onyx's styles got very repetitive as well, but at least they knew not to make their albums no longer than 45 minutes. With all these problems, Funcrusher Plus sounds like an album of just noise that drones on and on and on. It gets three stars because it does what it does well, even though I'm not a fan of it. We get it Company Flow, you're really different, nobody sounds like you, y'all don't sound like nobody else. Whaddya want, a freakin' medal?

I recommend this to people that like their music really different from everyone else and experimental. In this case, it doesn't matter if you're a hip-hop fan or not.

To me, the best thing about this album is that it set off Rawkus Records. Funcrusher Plus ain't my cup of tea, but you gotta start somewhere right? Without the very annoying yelling of Bacdafucup, there would probably be no Enta Da Stage, 36 Chambers, Liquid Swords, The Infamous..., etc.

Song Quality: 6/10 (waaaay too hard to get into)
Lyrics: ??/10 (I can't make heads or tails of these guys)
Beats: 7.5/10 (good, but too eclectic for my tastes)

Favorites:
Bad Touch Example
8 Steps to Perfection
Collude-Intrude
Blind
Silence
Lune TNS
The Fire In Which You Burn
Krazy Kings

Least favorites:
none
Published
ghandi3030 Sep 07 2006 3.50 stars
When your ill you don't have to prove it do you? No, because once they hear you people will know one way or the other. Sometimes it takes the people some time to figure this out, perhaps even long after you are dead, but eventually they will understand, if you are wack then it will take very little time to push you out of memory. Sometimes this too can go on for some years but eventually history will weed them out. So it is a little puzzling when you have it but you lack the confidence to actually believe it so you remind others how ill you are but they already know so there really isn't a fucking point is there. You maybe try a little harder than you need to trying to please those that you want to impress, but if you just did your thing everything would work out better in the end. Yes, you have El-P who is a great producer on this album and a very competent MC, and will soon craft one of the greatest hip hop productions in a matter of a few years in the Cold Vein, you have Big Jus & Mr. Len two fine and underrated MC's but it would have been oh so much cooler if you had something more to say here with these boom boom beats. It's not that the style is wack but you fall into some of the pitfalls that battle MC's can't escape, punchlines are funny and sharp but don't make an album. Yeah, true your hard punching raps are pretty bad ass, not saying they're not, but what could be?
Published
linesinwaxxx Aug 07 2023 4.00 stars
This is an excellent underground hip hop record with a production style that is right up my street. I love the analogue warmth of a it all, as well the excellent and well-placed samples. Flow-wise, the Company have it nailed down, with some excellent bars and a general overall vibe that is really cool and confident. No idea where I picked this up but glad I checked it out. Really good stuff.
Published
sarkist173 May 08 2023 ▼ 4.50 stars
  • 5.00 stars 1 Bad Touch Example
  • 5.00 stars 2 8 Steps to Perfection
  • 5.00 stars 3 Collude / Intrude
  • 5.00 stars 4 Blind
  • 5.00 stars 5 Silence
  • 4.50 stars 6 Legends
  •   7 Help Wanted
  • 5.00 stars 8 Population Control
  • 4.50 stars 9 Lune TNS
  • 5.00 stars 10 Definitive
  •   11 Lencorcism
  •   12 89.9 Detrimental
  • 4.50 stars 13 Vital Nerve
  • 4.50 stars 14 Tragedy of War (In III Parts)
  • 4.50 stars 15 The Fire in Which You Burn
  • 5.00 stars 16 Krazy Kings
  • 5.00 stars 17 Last Good Sleep
  • 5.00 stars 18 Info Kill II
  •   19 Funcrush Scratch
Funcrusher Plus - Company Flow
Company Flow is one of the most important hip-hop trios in the history of the genre. They took Alt-Rap, a genre dominated by the more conscious groups of OutKast, A Tribe Called Quest, The Pharcyde, and Fugees, and took it into a darker, grittier, more alien direction. After years of performances and recording, the Trio finally released what would be their debut album, Funcrusher Plus. Funcrusher Plus shook the underground with its perfect fusion of cryptic, multi-layered simile and entendre-heavy lyrics with disgustingly savage delivery, backed by some of the most far-out and unconventional boom-bap beats. The album left an unremovable mark on the then-growing Abstract Hip-Hop genre and the underground rap community more broadly.

I can not understate how on-point this album feels. This album took hardcore hip-hop that had dominated the east coast since Wu-Tang Clan’s debut, stretched it far and wide into the fields of experimental hip-hop, and maintained the quality present at the genre’s best. As a massive RTJ fan, it should come as no shocker that El-P was fantastic on this album, both on the beats and lyrical ends. Especially the beat end of the album, these instrumentals are incredible. The stuff he and Mr. Len craft here are psychedelic, atmospheric, a bit ethereal, a bit other-worldly, very creative, deeply urban, and cold as iron nails. The way that they used these unconventional samples and scratches to build atop the breakbeats that were par-for-the-course at the time resulted in a sound that’s still widely unique and ahead of the game compared to contemporaries.

Moving on from that to the rapping. Once again El-P is fantastic, but Bigg Jus is not to be ignored. The guy is a fucking titan in of himself, delivering some insane lyrics and bars, and I actually think that he’s slightly better than El-P on this album. But they’re both largely on par with each other and in the upper echelon with their unique flows and witty, compact, funny, animalistic lyrics. While this album is a bit long-winded, the songs themselves are still mind-blowing. From the very start with the creepy, dystopian opener of Bad Touch Example to the bitting, hard-hitting run of songs from 8 Steps To Perfection to Definitive, the first half of this album is damn near the best stuff that Hardcore rap has to offer. While the second half isn’t as consistently good and might feel exhausting for some, it still has its highlights whether it be the ethereal, dreamy Krazy Kings, the awesome closing song Info Kill II, or the disturbing Last Good Sleep. Overall this album is an awesome and original 70-minute blast of abstract, unique, and experimental hardcore hip hop.

9.5/10
More ▾
Best Song:
Population Control

Other Highlights:
8 Steps To Perfection
Last Good Sleep
Silence
Bad Touch Example
Krazy Kings


Worst Song:
The Fire In Which You Burn

Date Reviewed: 05/07/2023
Published
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Catalog

Ratings: 4,965
Cataloged: 2,467
Track rating sets:Track ratings: 267
Rating distribution
Rating trend
Page 1 2 .. 33 .. 66 .. 99 .. 132 .. 165 .. 198 .. 231 .. 264 .. 297 .. 331 >>
3 Jun 2024
SmokeyDom  4.50 stars
2 Jun 2024
MarkOfAllTrades  4.00 stars Bionic
2 Jun 2024
minimumhatred  4.00 stars
1 Jun 2024
jk421jk  4.00 stars
1 Jun 2024
SourCR  4.00 stars
1 Jun 2024
illmeister  4.00 stars good shit
31 May 2024
swampex  1.50 stars
31 May 2024
Khronos  ▼3.00 stars Good
  •   1 Bad Touch Example
  •   2 8 Steps to Perfection
  •   3 Collude / Intrude
  •   4 Blind
  •   5 Silence
  •   6 Legends
  •   7 Help Wanted
  •   8 Population Control
  •   9 Lune TNS
  •   10 Definitive
  •   11 Lencorcism
  •   12 89.9 Detrimental
  •   13 Vital Nerve
  •   14 Tragedy of War (In III Parts)
  •   15 The Fire in Which You Burn
  • 4.00 stars 16 Krazy Kings
  •   17 Last Good Sleep
  •   18 Info Kill II
  •   19 Funcrush Scratch
31 May 2024
sickboimeth  4.00 stars arroz con croqueta
30 May 2024
tough_guy10101  2.50 stars Great :D
29 May 2024
koke_koke  3.50 stars
29 May 2024
kan_rates  4.50 stars great
29 May 2024
szphiwhatever  3.50 stars pretty good
29 May 2024
aldousornette  5.00 stars
28 May 2024
kratom  3.50 stars
Cover art for Funcrusher Plus by Company Flow
......
Next
Little Johnny From the Hozpitul: Breaks end Instrumentuls Vol. 1
Next in discography: ...

Track listing

  • 1 Bad Touch Example 3:26
  • 2 8 Steps to Perfection 4:43
  • 3 Collude / Intrude 5:25
  • 4 Blind 3:42
  • 5 Silence 3:33
  • 6 Legends 4:02
  • 7 Help Wanted 2:12
  • 8 Population Control 4:26
  • 9 Lune TNS 3:38
  • 10 Definitive 5:47
  • 11 Lencorcism 0:36
  • 12 89.9 Detrimental 1:03
  • 13 Vital Nerve 5:01
  • 14 Tragedy of War (In III Parts) 3:49
  • 15 The Fire in Which You Burn 5:02
  • 16 Krazy Kings 4:52
  • 17 Last Good Sleep 5:59
  • 18 Info Kill II 3:48
  • 19 Funcrush Scratch 2:48
  • Total length: 73:52

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Contributions

Contributors to this release: goindeep84, unj, diction, Nodima, Matica, gordonzacks, OneManArmy_, voodookat, AVERAGESCHMO, [deleted], [deleted], swo17, teque, tha_flu, ecjam6
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