Portland, Oregon was bursting with Hip Hop talent throughout the 1990s, and Five Fingers of Funk was at the forefront of that movement. As one of the Pacific Northwest city's biggest draws, they'd pack venues such as La Luna, the Crystal Ballroom and the Roseland, proving even local Hip Hop could fill a room. Meanwhile, Portland artists Cool Nutz and Small Ax were putting together the Portland Oregon Hip Hop Festival (POH Hop), which showcased many of Portland's most skilled MCs. The band remained "fiercely" independent, self-releasing three full-length albums and rocking stages with Maceo Parker, Bootsy Collins, Run-DMC, De La Soul and The Roots. Now, the group has returned with a new single called "Kill Sound," the second offering from their forthcoming album, Portland Say It Again.
"The core of 'Kill Sound' is a bass line that Allan played during one of our Tuesday night rehearsals," Pete Miser explains. "I had a microphone hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room so I could make rough recordings of the stuff we were coming up with. In 2014, I archived my cassette collection and stumbled on this rehearsal from May 30, 1995. I chopped together the rhythm section to make an instrumental, sent it to Chill and then forgot about it until we started working on Portland Say It Again.
"I knew from the beginning this album wouldn’t be complete without the presence of some of our extended family from the POH Hop era. Getting Cool Nutz on a song was a no-brainer. Getting Jumbo from the Lifesavas was a dream. Getting them both on the same song felt like All Star Weekend! Add to that, my brother since '80s, Jamalski on the hook and, well, I can go ahead and die happy now. Salute to the town and all the young cats coming up today. You stand on the shoulders of giants (as did we back then)."
Portland Say It Again is expected to arrive on May 5 via Kill Rock Star Records. The album marks the band's first release with the original members since 1998. The 10-track effort documents "the ironies of being a grown up in the young man’s game of Hip Hop," according to the press release. Armed with a three-piece horn section and DJ Chillest Illest on the mic and turntables, Five Fingers of Funk also recruited Bosko and Dres from Black Sheep to contribute to the project. Pre-orders are available here.
