Froggadelic

Welcome to the land of Froggadelica y’all. Therein you will find some of the smartest hardest rap vocalizations ever. Frogg and his band of merry funkateers seem bent on taking Hip Hop to new levels of stank, pushing the genre into realms previously unattainable. This is a world where organismic mixes of ska, metal, reggae, psychedelia and good old funk and roll comes alive to snatch your earhole into a black hole of street wisdom. This is a virtual musical stew where the drumming of Sean Franklin (boy was obviously raised of old Funkadelic ala Tiki Fullwood) meets the stratos-fried axe molestations of Kerry, Elliot, and Vinson, the other members of this 6 man assault force. Frogg, who funkheads will recognize from his guest spots rapping on various George Clinton projects (the mid-90s Dope Dogs most notably) leads the rap onslaught and is augmented by the lead vocals of Alki. It’s a studio joint but the whole effort has this live, spontaneous stank on it, which is not surprising being that this is a group fronted by some former members of that ‘revolving concept band of early millennial funk’, Enemy Squad. Structured, yet slangin’, imagine the hardest gansta rap this side of NWA-turned inside out with a positive spin on it, the silly seriousness of Bootsy, the speed metal of Red Hot Chili Peppers with the earthy eccentricities of the Jungle Brothers and De La Soul. But what struck me is the creative and musical integrity of the project, nary a sample in sight, all original grooves and raps. Just solid and super tight vamps as Frogg ‘hip hops thru your hood tonight’. From the 420 good time salute of ‘Party On!’ thru the live-by-the-bullet-die-by-the-bullet philosophical rantings of ‘What You See’ this set is legit, with plenty of street credibility twisted up in these 17 jams. Its definitely some ‘other shit from the mothership connection, stuffs and thangs and thangs and stuffs’ as Frogg gets into his ganstafied groove on “Froggisms’ the lp’s opening track. Like Funkadelic, Froggadelic cuts straight thru all kinds of bullshit telling it like it is.