Marcus McKinley, producer from East Palo Alto, Bay Area, has done so much for the West Coast scene, under the C-Funk moniker. The local Tandem Records releases his solo debut album on which he emerges also performing as a rapper. C-Funk chooses girls and weed as his main topics and spits bars with a syncopated style on an interesting g-funk production, despite the album being very irregular due to several commercial choices.
"Smoke Tru", hard and skinny funky boom bap with Syl Johnson sample on the hook and an effortlessly light-hearted slow delivery, anticipates several cuts on girls: the next one is a sexual track with fresh rhythm, funky lo-fi boom bap and a quiet delivery, while "SH" is a light delivery ballad, almost sung slowly, with taut synths and g-funk vibes.
"Lisa" keeps the same themes on a cheap beat and precedes "You AIn't Heard Nothin'": lean and cheap, decent production, light-hearted slow delivery, female sample guessed, tight and light repeating "alright". "Yabba, Dabba, Doo" features two uncredited C-Funk friends as guests, on a light and minimal funky boom bap, cheerful female hook intro, light-hearted slow and tight trio syncopated delivery, drum machine that simulates clapping, hard and dirty.
"What You Sayin'" is a tune delivered with raggamuffin style on hard funky boom bap, with lean and dirty drum machine, hard and syncopated. The eighth song is another ballad, simple and light rhythm, hard, dirty, heavy and syncopated drum, simple hook, rapper's effortless slow syncopated delivery, with a hook sung plus simple bridge.
"The Chase" presents a new inflection in the quality of the music chosen by C-Funk, which then picks up for the final part, with a good set of rhythms mirroring a fresh and light funky boom bap, contrasted by a heavy and slow drum machine and effortless, easygoing syncopated delivery. Closes a festive cut, with festive hook and slow, cheerful delivery.
It's all easy for C-Funk here, he provides both lyrics and production, sure, there are different fillers, but it's all pretty smooth as a record, funny and effortless, indeed, its strength probably lies in the fillers themselves: take "Play My Song on the Radio", goes to the commercial right from the first word of the title, but it has the best rhythm and probably the best sample of the LP, absurdly. Underrated work, recommended for West Coast fans; unlike so many others, Marcus McKinley has been on the scene for years and has done a commendable job for which he still hasn't been praised enough.
Rating: 7/10.
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