Company Flow

Company Flow became heroes to hundreds of alter-native rap fans when they released their Funcrusher album at the tail end of the '90s. The grimy lo-fi production, simple beats, and unobtrusive samples thrilled underground hip-hop-heads, as did the front and center rhyming skills of verbose white boys El-Producto and Big Jus, who battled furiously to out-mystify their audience. The lack of hooks, choruses, or a musical motif that would somehow separate one track from another made the words of these chaotic, integrity-obsessed, science-fiction-spouting, mainstream-rap-hating MCs paramount. Underneath their surreal stream of words they seemed to value above all else the days of old when rap was a simpler world of battles, b-boys, DJs, and lyrical prowess. The one thing missing from their equation was that old-school rap was also a helluva lot of fun to listen to.

More interesting, and more fun to listen to, is the all-instrumental Little Johnny From the Hospitul. Reminiscent of DJ Shadow in its overcast stoner ambience, it's also a beat junkie's delight. In the hands of El-P and Co Flow DJ Mr. Len, sound effects, vocal snippets, and low-riding bass become the stuff of dreams, nightmares, art, and the soundtrack to a late-night ride down pitch-black streets.

After the members of Company Flow went their separate ways, El-P started a label, Definitive Jux, giving a home to like-minded souls who believed that going back to the future was the best way to wrest rap from the hands of pedestrian gangstas and bling-bling wanna-bes. Fantastic Damage goes a long way toward cementing El's reputation as a masterful creator of noisy, industrial, clanging, and decidedly radio-unfriendly sonic landscapes. El-P's bullying tone matches the sounds, but unless you're a conspiracy theorist or a Philip K. Dick fan, his mile-a-minute verbal deluges get old real fast. For enthusiasts of mostly excellent metallic buzzing noises and fractured sound collages, El-P was kind enough to release an instrumental version of his album as well. (SCOTT SEWARD)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide