As a member of Company Flow, he honed his production skills alongside DJ Mr. Len and Bigg Jus. His unique style helped Company Flow gain critical, then popular success, culminating in 1997 with Funcrusher Plus. Eventual differences between the group & label Rawkus, lead to El-P & Len leaving the label in 2000.
El-P then started his own record label, Definitive Jux. Of the many albums he has helped produce (most on Definitive Jux), the most influential and successful has been Cannibal Ox's album, The Cold Vein (2001). In 2002 he released his debut album, Fantastic Damage, which received critical acclaim. His follow-up, I'll Sleep When You're Dead, hit stores in March of 2007. It featured a wide range of artists, including The Mars Volta, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, and Cat Power. El-P has also contributed productions and guest raps to albums by DJ Krush, Aesop Rock, Murs, Cage, Mr. Lif, Prefuse 73, Del the Funky Homosapien, Mike Ladd, The High and Mighty, Aceyalone, and Alec Empire on the first Handsome Boy Modeling School album.
Cannibal Ox member Vordul Mega can be heard on "Linda Tripp", El-P's rebuttal to Sole's "Dear Elpee". He was also selected to work on Rage Against the Machine frontman Zach de la Rocha's solo album.
In 2012, El-P released his 3rd solo album, Cancer 4 Cure, on Fat Possum Records. The album was released to general acclaim, aggregating a score of 84 out of 100 on Metacritic.
In 2013, Meline formed rap duo Run the Jewels, with Michael Render (aka Killer Mike).
Sites: Discogs, Wikipedia and SoundCloud.
Constellation Funk
El-P Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴
Murder breath, one eye, solo step, bring it
El-product, in the duct, snuggle in, tight fight
This is, what, something to define me baby
Runnin man, run quick, scissor sticks, spray out
Look into semantics man look into them closely
Most host parasite eve of the title fight
Someone took a dive tonight Follow where the money goes
Money black heart thump make me punch faces
Pervert kings stood behind the curtain for the blade stick
So much in a blood bath numbers dullard thought
I control no one Radio controls debt
Major Tom up creek Callin ground control
A bitch is slave whore port control weak weaponry
Fix the grave floor board above dead enemies
Leaflet family branches get mad at lung compartments
Sorry to leave this past my direction had been ignored
Oxy phones with ceaseless animatronics pager buttons rusted in
the on position triggered metal detectors at the door
This is for the single maternal figures beaten to the floor
And crawled back for the children and stood up for more
And watched those same kids as adults
got bullshit vinyl kites callin women whores
Joust with junkies flounce boots with Velcro flunkies
How cute, how to shoot more records
Off the record, I took the needle off your record
You spit that feeble plea tell shit that you're hungry
I replied that I didn't find it funky
Enough mechanisms tackle bigger hungers
Without vents on Billy Crystal some moments
I'm open for that exorcism strictly by the prime numbers
To redesign your Small Wonder
Pisces one Scorpio alert of destruct
Constellation funk (constellation funk)
The same light over your head just passed
Alert of destruct (alert of destruct)
Yeah
Your revolution is young with a strange fragrance
Vacuum sealed piety working for corporations
Life is complicated I know activists
That poor their heart out to an audience
That's completely fucking complacent
God forbid we're catch back stage being human
Public image limited to the purity of your movement
That was quite confusin
I know white rappers who claim they're more artistic
and advanced than the inner city tune is
Now you're fucked up and can't move units
Cause you know nothing in a culture that created hip-hop music
Stuck in an authenticity contest with a bunch
of cats that grew up in the exact same way that you did (Now where do you fit?)
I'm talkin centipede that shit that slides on its dirty ab pack
dirty def fretless bass pipe don't believe the hype
Don't act fugazi, don't tell me the rules
I'm the ruler and I'm motherfucking crazy
+ ??? ??? ?? + essential cannibal reduce a man to his
Touch down like diagonal afterburners
Collectin a loveless infant
And you wonder why such attacto radical rounding animal
Sounding selection's competitive with your mission
We steep with veteran sense in our refinement
We see the beauty in chaos and misdirection
We love a brutal and passionate human lusting
We pet our women with tongues in our anal crevice
See I'm a man for what it's worth, an idea, love it
My family grew up without manhood in its structure
And we were stronger for that fact I do believe so
We held our own against some fuckin evil people
And now I'm grown and I still can't protect my sister
But I know she has her mother's strength within her
And maybe I can tap that strength and burn with greatness
EXPOSE THESE ALCOHOLIC STEPFATHERS AND RAPISTS!
The doors close, you lose in my eyes world live
I suppose you can melt now scorpio
Melt away scorpio
Down your hole, down your hole down your hole
Pisces one scorpio alert of destruct
Constellation funk (constellation funk)
The same light over your head just passed
Alert of destruct (alert of destruct)
Pisces one scorpio alert of destruct
Constellation funk (constellation funk)
The same light over your head just passed
Alert of destruct (alert of destruct)
The lyrics to El-P's "Constellation Funk" are filled with dense, introspective wordplay and social commentary. The first verse is a stream-of-consciousness flow, with El-P referencing his own moniker ("El-product") and the idea that he's something to "define me baby." He talks about someone taking a dive in a title fight, alluding to the idea that money and greed can corrupt even the most pure of things. El-P also ponders the control of media and government ("radio controls debt, major tom up creek calling ground control"), and the dichotomy of love and violence ("money makes love, thug, cardiac"). The chorus, "Pisces one Scorpio alert of destruct / Constellation funk," is a warning of things to come, perhaps signaling an astrological event that will bring about destruction.
The second verse is a scathing critique of various aspects of modern society. El-P condemns corporations and the complacent audience that supports them, as well as the idea of authenticity being valued over true artistic expression. He talks about loving the chaos and misdirection of life, as well as the unfortunate reality of abuse and trauma within families. The final lines of the song read like a rallying cry for change, with El-P proclaiming his desire to expose the abusive and toxic people in the world.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
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