Album Review: Damu The Fudgemunk – Kilawatt: V1 (2009)
Rating: 3 out of 5 Potholes
There are always certain artists working in the underground, steadily releasing great music while upholding the principles of true hip-hop, who get slept on more than the average underground hip-hopper. Damu The Fudgemunk is one of those cats. From his days producing with Boston-bred emcee Insight, under the Y Society moniker, it has been obvious that Damu has an ear for catchy samples and an uncompromising love for that ’90s boom bap sound. He also worked the solo circuit, releasing a few free projects to keep his fans’ appetites satiated. He also toured up and down the East Coast to various big cities, performing street shows. He’s even lent some of his talents to the uber-consistent group Panacea. Therefore, after compiling such a fine resume, it is very nice to see Damu getting recognized by being included in the Kilawatt EP series.
The Kilawatt EP series is a set of EPs that will be released, with one producer handling the production duties for each volume. And Kilawatt: V1 belongs to Damu. This particular volume is centered around two main tracks, “Day By Day” and “Prosper”, both of which feature the lyrics of emcee Raw Poetic, of the aforementioned Panacea. For each track there also appears an instrumental version included. Slipped in between each track is a “Wonka Beat” – basically just something extra that Damu threw in as a testament to his production skills. So naturally, this EP is very condensed content-wise (which should not have been an issue anyway for any seven-track EP).
Damu’s love for the old school is evident as each track is laced with the crackling of dusty vinyl, which adds a nice textural element to otherwise standard beats. Damu is a master sampler, and chooses wisely between jazzy horns, soulful keys, and various vocal samples. Each track has a rich authentic vibe, with simple boom bap drum loops providing the framework.
On the two vocal tracks, Raw Poetic does what he really does best; he has a knack for easing into a track, sitting back on the beat and just letting it ride, never feeling the need to become the sole focus of the music. He raps about positive, admirable topics, such as ways in which he can go about his daily routine to ensure that he lives a healthy and fulfilling life. However, at times his simplicity on the mic and vocal ease are lost in the exquisite production, making his presence somewhat diminished.
Kilawatt: V1 is certainly nothing new and improved (although I suppose if all you’ve been listening to is the radio, then it may seem so), but instead it just adds depth to what is unfolding as a fantastic production career for Damu. It is certainly worthy of the spins and old school heads will find comfort in the fact that there is still music like this available.
Cool, I’ll check that out. Thanks for the heads up!
Zach, gotcha. I see where you’re coming from. Thanks for the clarification. While we’re on the subject, there is a very interesting convo taking place right now about damus sound, with a variety of opinions being expressed by commenters in the most recent cratekings.com post featuring that same video clip from above. Def check it out if you have a sec.
J,
Thanks for the comment. Much appreciated. Allow me to clarify. By standard, I don’t mean ordinary or average. Standard here is more expressive of how these beats stay true to traditional hip-hop, some may call it boom-bap, and don’t really venture into experimental territory. As for the sampling, I believe I pointed out how Damu is indeed a master of samples, or master sampler or something along those lines. I’ve been aware of his reputation for flipping and chopping elusive samples. So I hope that that came across here, perhaps I should have further explained that. Hope this clarifies my reasoning somewhat. As always, I very much respect and value your opinion, so the comment is greatly appreciated.
Peace,
Zach
what up zach. i realize that you’re the “tough review guy,” and i appreciate that. i really do. but i gotta disagree that these are “standard beats” although i may be biased (ok, i AM biased). even you seemed to think so as in this review you went from calling the beats “standard” to “exquisite production” within the span of 2 paragraphs. im not attacking you, but i’m just pointing this out because it jumped out at me. also, i’m not gonna name drop in here, but damu took some very common records and flipped em well, in my opinion. some of these samples are dollar bin records that others may overlook but when we played these tracks in fat beats for some of the employees they flipped like “how the hell did you get that to sound like THIS?” anyway, just my 2 cents. xmas. peace.
j