Happy 30th Anniversary to Lords Of The Underground’s second studio album Keepers Of The Funk, originally released November 1, 1994.
Like a lot of music obsessives I have the useless ability to remember when and where I purchased each and every record, CD and tape in my collection. I got my copy of Keepers Of The Funk by Lords Of The Underground from Tower Records on a trip to London in 1994. I was 13 years old at the time, and though my parents already knew and didn’t mind that I listened to rap music with a lot of swearing, I usually purchased music on my own with no supervision. On this occasion, Mum and Dad were there with me in the store. I was allowed to buy one CD and scrambled to find something from the new release section that didn’t have a Parental Advisory Explicit Lyrics sticker on it. That chosen CD was Keepers Of The Funk and it fast became one of my absolute favorite albums. I’m now 43, and it still is.
Newark, New Jersey’s Lords Of The Underground, made up of Mr. Funke, DoItAll and DJ Lord Jazz, broke through in 1993 with their excellent debut album Here Come The Lords. It was a fertile period for hip-hop from New Jersey, with Redman, Naughty By Nature and the rest of Queen Latifah’s Flavor Unit among those making enough noise to rival what was happening on the other side of the Hudson River.
Lords Of The Underground were backed by hip-hop’s first super-producer, Marley Marl, and quickly established themselves with Here Come The Lords. But for me, Keepers Of The Funk is the stronger album.
Mr. Funke and DoItAll are not naturally gifted or sophisticated emcees. Words tend to erupt from their mouths rather than flow effortlessly, but this gives their music a wild energy like Das EFX, Biz Markie or early ‘90s Busta Rhymes. The chemistry between them is on par with the two-emcee combos of the more widely-remembered groups from hip-hop’s second golden age. They also both have distinctive voices that stand out; in particular Mr. Funke with his loud and rambunctious rhyme style.
I often talk about underrated rappers and producers in these tributes, and if there’s a name that genuinely deserves that distinction its producer K-Def. A protégé of Marley Marl, K-Def got his break producing for Tragedy among others, before stepping up to produce much of Here Come The Lords alongside Marley Marl.
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A year later, Lords Of The Underground entrusted Marley Marl and K-Def again to produce most of Keepers Of The Funk, this time with K-Def taking on a larger role. Among his contributions is the excellent single “What I’m After.” One of my most favorite songs of all time, “What I’m After” is hard-hitting boom bap at its finest, and samples one of the biggest records by fellow Newark artist and long-time Lords Of The Underground collaborator, Redman.
“What I’m After” also features one of the best “breakdown” sections of any rap song. A staple of many classic ‘90s rap joints, the breakdown was the part of a song, often between verses two and three, where the producer would add an extended portion of cuts and scratches or a beat change, before the next verse came back in. For what it’s worth, some of my other favorite breakdowns include those heard in Nas‘ “The World is Yours” and LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out.”
But as much as I love “What I’m After”, I love “Tic Toc” even more. It has one of the toughest beats of all time from Marley Marl and showed he could still make absolute headnodding anthems several years on from his pioneering late ‘80s/early ‘90s run, while still giving DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Large Professor and Da Beatminerz, all of whom he inspired, a serious run for their money.
Outside of Marley Marl and K-Def, Lords Of The Underground should be commended for producing some of Keepers Of The Funk themselves, including another of the singles, “Faith.” The mellow headnodder utilizes a popular sample choice at the time, “Free” by Deniece Williams. The Lords went one step further though by having Williams feature on the track, helping them score a minor chart hit.
Lords Of The Underground released sporadic albums after Keepers Of The Funk, but never to the level of quality found here or on their debut album. In August of 2019, the MTV Video Music Awards were held in New Jersey and included a finale paying tribute to hip-hop artists from the state. It only lasted seconds, and DoItAll was the only group member present, but it was still great to see Lords Of The Underground represented in the lineup.
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Editor's note: this anniversary tribute was originally published in 2019 and has since been edited for accuracy and timeliness.