Company Flow Albums (2)
'Little Johnny From the Hospitul: Breaks and Instrumentals, Vol. 1'
Release Date 6/7/1999
Tracks 16
Label Rawkus
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Little Johnny From the Hospitul is an instrumental album and a dark affair with slowish textured beats. These aren't your average hip-hop beats, with basic drum loops and DJ scratches thrown in; it's obvious that El-P and DJ Mr. Len spent considerable time constructing the songs. On "Suzy Pulled a Pistol on Henry," the kid from "Bad Touch Example" (on the Funcrusher Plus album) gets revenge on the person who molested her. Other standout songs on the album are "Gigapet Ephany," "Wurker Ant Uprise," and the always addicting "Shadows Drown," which features the distant sounds of water to distorted voices to the sounds of electronic locusts. ~ Dan Gizzi, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Featuring material recorded over 1994-1997, Company Flow's official full-length debut, Funcrusher Plus, had a galvanizing effect on the underground hip-hop scene. It was one of the artiest, most abstract hip-hop albums ever recorded, paving the way for a new brand of avant-garde experimentalism that blatantly defied commercial considerations. Musically and lyrically, Funcrusher Plus is abrasive and confrontational, informed by left-wing politics and the punked-out battle cry "independent as f*ck." It's intentionally not funky and certainly not danceable; the beats are tense and jagged, and often spaced far apart to leave room for the MCs' complex rhymes. Bigg Jus and El-P's lyrical technique is so good it's sometimes nearly impenetrable, assaulting the listener with dense barrages of words that take a few listens to decipher. Even if this is all highly off-kilter, it's also a conscious return to hip-hop on its most basic, beats-and-rhymes level; hooks or jazz and funk samples aren't even considerations here. The production is spacy and atmospheric, often employing weird ambient noises and futuristic synths that clash with the defiantly low-budget production values. It's also quite minimalist, particularly on tracks like "Vital Nerve," which is basically just a three-note synth line over a beat, and the classic Indelible MC's single "The Fire in Which You Burn," where Co-Flow trades rhymes with the Juggaknots over a skittering beat and sitar drone. Other tracks have sci-fi and conspiracy theory undertones; some are set in an Orwellian dystopia, while some pointedly satirize corporate and capitalist greed. Yet there's also some straightforward realism, as on "Last Good Sleep," a frightening domestic abuse drama. 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. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
