El-P chose this to be the first release on his newly minted underground indie hip-hop label Def-Jux. It was also the final release from his rap crew Company Flow, who had done so much to bring back the punk spirit of 'two turntables and a mic' era hip-hop. In the era of major pop breakthroughs, the likes of Puff Daddy and G-Funk ruled with a smoothed out sound, soul singers, and interpolated chunks of old music, as opposed to more clunky samples. Company Flow were a deliberate rebuke to this trend; using the harsh cuts, strained vocals, sirens, bells, bone crunching beats and bursts of distorted synth noise of the old cut 'n' paste era, Run DMC style.
With added punk attitude, lo-fi production values and a angry political edge; they look forward to groups like Moor Mother, Death Grips and Sleaford Mods, not to mention El-P's current and highly successful duo with Killer Mike as Run the Jewels.
Co-Flow first impacted with the double album 'Funcrusher Plus' in '97, which stands as a high watermark of indie rap music of the era. They would be a center point throughout the Rawkus label and Soundbombing comps. 'Patriotism' from Soundbombing 2 is a particular anti-political masterpiece. Following the fizzling out of Rawkus, Def-Jux would be the go-to label for underground hip-hop for a good few years.
This release came as a double 12", twinned three new Co-Flow pieces with two cuts from Cannibal Ox's forthcoming debut (see entry 34). Down to a duo of El-P (production and rapping) and Mr. Len (rapping), with guest vocals from the sick and demented Ill Bill, on day release from Non-Phixion.
DPA (stands for drum pattern analyser) is an epic track with three distinct parts, hard to pick out reverbed NY drawl and insane 'say what the fuck we want' rapping.
Simian Drugs follows, with record scratches, monkey noises, bursts of Biz Markie, and a debauched effort where Ill Bill confesses 'I'm friends with God and I'm friends with Satan, It all depends upon the situation'. All recorded presumably on the aforementioned monkey drugs.
The last track before Cannibal Ox blow our heads off is 'Simple', which is anything but. Drunken beats try to catch up with a sampled guitar lick, what sounds like a live recorded bass, and bridges which consist of loads of overlapped voices, like it was recorded a a party and just chunked into the track. Mind-melding and psychedelic in a very down to earth NY street way.
El-P's rapping has certainly sharpened up since then and his beats are more funky and laid-back now than this industrial cacophony. Still this is essential stuff for those who want to go deeper.
