Filled with crooked, broken funk and positive lyrics, some beamed in from deep space, Fonk is
Declaime’s -- aka
Dudley Perkins -- wild vision of a crossover record. It is so wild that he acts as if this effort could top
Thriller during the highlight “Warrior,” which addresses
MJ’s recent passing with “Moonwalk look like a million miles high/Yeah, he was OK and his moves were fine/Now it’s time for me to go for mine.” The left-field rapper’s grand vision of hip-hop domination involves a mutated resurrection of the West Coast G-funk sound created by the album’s sole producer,
Quazedelic, a kindred spirit for
Declaime, as he can talk third eyes and pyramid power for as long as you’d care to listen. Like everything
Declaime does, there are moments of transcendence and moments of great clarity here, the latter being as simple as “Dad”’s fantastic line “Kids: It ain’t about you anymore.” Elsewhere, fatherhood is addressed with “Sippin’ on a cold glass of water, reminiscing about the birth of my daughter/Little Miss Sunshine, how she made me a father/Drove my life down, made it a little less harder/Whole lot broader, way much wider,” possibly the most beautiful set of lyrics in the rapper’s catalog.
Georgia Anne Muldrow is a welcome guest on the three tracks she lights up, especially the great “Dreamer,” which sincerely wishes “May all your dreams come true/May all the sadness and madness be through.” Hard to believe the mind-expanding rapper could offer an album that’s so effectively comforting and hopeful, but Fonk is just that. If you like your positive vibes all squiggly and challenging, this odd re-imaging of G-funk is the first step toward a better tomorrow. ~ David Jeffries