Finally, an Obtainable Oneliner

So I mentioned earlier that we were in the midst of an Omniscence triumvirate; and here, finally, third part: Dope Folks Records has rereleased his incredibly rare and sought after EP, The Funky Oneliner. The Funky Oneliner originally came out in 1993 on 6th Boro Records - a small run on an indie label, making it one of records you rarely see, and when you do, it goes for hundreds and hundreds of dollars. So basically, unless you were rich or incredibly lucky, you couldn't have one. Until now, of course.

1993 means, yes, this came out before his all too brief stint on East/West Records. He was a virtual unknown, who only had one compilation appearance under his belt, so most the world slept on this at the time. It was only after he started making "Rhyme Of the Month" that heads went back and tried to track copies down.

Like the title suggests, dude had punchlines for days. And fortunately, they were more along the Big L/ Notorious BIG-style punchlines, focusing on wit rather than just pop culture references for their own sake. coming with a scratchy voice and smooth flow, he was accompanied by jazzy, understated production that was the perfect compliment for his style... not showy, just pure head nodders. With some nice, subtle scratch hooks by his DJ, T-Luv.

Of course, you know the production's gonna be hot just looking at the label. It's produced by Fanatic, The Funké Leftover. The same Fanatic from Bizzie Boyz and all those Payroll classics. The "Funké Leftover" part of his name is a reference to a project he was coming out with at the same time, being half of a crew two-man crew called The Funké Leftovers. I really wouldn't be surprised to see a Dope Folks release on them one of these days.

This EP actually isn't very long. It's just four songs, plus instrumentals. The original EP version also included Radio Edits for all four songs, but I'm happy to see them gone in favor of more vinyl space (quick rule of vinyl: the more music you cram onto a single side of wax, the worse the sound quality gets, which is why heads are often seeking out rarer, 2LP versions of albums). These songs sound great here. It's worth noting that one of the songs, "I Gotta Maintain" is the same as "Maintain" song I wrote about that was intended for his Rhyme Factor album. It's great to have it here, since that album never came out; but it's just interesting that he was intending to include an older track on his major label debut.

...Also, he takes a shot at Kane on this EP. What's the story behind that?

Anyway, as always, this is limited to 300 copies, and I think Dope Folks sold out even before they shipped. So if you see a copy, snatch it up quick. You don't want to have to end up paying through the nose like heads did for the OG pressing.