PORTLAND SAY IT AGAIN/White Vinyl

Description

What did you do in 2020 when the coronavirus took over? While many Brooklyn residents cared for sick family members and others nurtured their first sourdoughs, rapper/producer Pete Miser dusted off an old hard drive and traveled back in time. Quarantined in upstate New York without internet or phone service, Pete found purpose in sifting through unreleased recordings of his long-abandoned ten-piece live hip-hop group, Five Fingers Of Funk. The surprise result is Portland Say It Again, the first album by Five Fingers Of Funk with the original lineup since 1998. "We Were Big In The Nineties" kicks off the project with a bold edition of a live show recording and a new bright horn arrangement reflecting on self-deprecating thoughts about legacy and middle age in the young man's hip-hop game. The completion of a new song sparked the creative enthusiasm of the entire group. In no time, new performances were organized in a collaborative frenzy that would combine reused analog recordings from the '90s alongside all-new material, all recorded remotely under strict social distancing practices. Album highlights include appearances from certified hip-hop legends of the Northwest Cool Nutz, Jumbo (from Lifesavas), Bosko, Chillest Illest, and Mic Crenshaw, as well as true school icons Dres (from Black Sheep) and Jamalski. The songs range from the ironic posturing of "My Mom's Prius" and "You Déjà Know," to a letter for a young Black boy amid the George Floyd protests ("Shorty's Gonna Change The World"), to the title track - a heartfelt tribute to the Fingers' hometown of Portland, Oregon. The vibrant instrumentation of the full band is ever-present and has left a lasting mark on live audiences across the country. Portland Say It Again reminds us that funk can go into quarantine but never dies.