''Fantastic Damage'' is the first solo studio album by American hip hop artist

El-P Jaime Stuart Meline (born March 2, 1975), better known by the stage name El-P (shortened from his previous stage name El Producto), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Starting his career as a member of Company Flow, he has ...

. It was released through Definitive Jux on May 14, 2002. It peaked at number 198 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Music videos were created for "Stepfather Factory" and "Deep Space 9mm". ''Fandam Plus: Instrumentals, Remixes, Lyrics & Video'' was released through Definitive Jux on October 1, 2002.

Production

The majority of ''Fantastic Damage'' was made after the breakup of El-P's previous group

Company Flow Company Flow was an American hip hop trio from Brooklyn, New York City, consisting of Bigg Jus, El-P and Mr. Len. The group was at one time associated with the independent record label Rawkus Records. Rapper/ producer El-P and DJ/producer ...

. El-P recorded the album in his bedroom in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

using

turntables A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration Waveform, waveforms are recorded as correspond ...

, an Ensoniq EPS-16 Plus sampler, a Kaoss Pad and an Oberheim OB12

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

. According to El-P, he primarily used a DA-88 and "barely touched ProTools". It took over a year and a half to record the album.

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

was a big influence on El-P's production style on the album. The album contains references to Philip K. Dick and

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

, who El-P credits as influences on his worldview and lyrics.

Critical reception

Steve Huey of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote, "''Fantastic Damage'' constitutes some of the most challenging, lyrically dense hip-hop around, assembled by one of the genre's true independent mavericks." Kathryn McGuire of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' called it "a heavy, turbulent affair". ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' placed ''Fantastic Damage'' at number 11 on its list of the top albums of 2002, while '' Spin'' placed it at number 27 on its list of the year's best albums. In 2015, ''

Fact A fact is a truth, true data, datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance. Standard reference works are often used to Fact-checking, check facts. Science, Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement by ...

'' placed it at number 21 on its "100 Best Indie Hip-Hop Records of All Time" list. Although interpreted as a " post-9/11 record" which channeled the feelings of New Yorkers and Americans after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, the album was written and largely recorded before September 11, 2001.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes. * El-P – vocals, production, recording, mixing, art direction * Aesop Rock – vocals (6) * Ill Bill – vocals (6) *

Rob Sonic Robert Smith, better known by his stage name Rob Sonic, is an American rapper and record producer from the Bronx, New York (state), New York. He has been a member of the groups Sonic Sum and Hail Mary Mallon. He is a founder of the record label S ...

– vocals (7) * Vast Aire – vocals (8, 12) * Cage – vocals (9) * Camu Tao – vocals (9) * Nasa – vocals (15), recording, mixing *

C-Rayz Walz Waleed Shabazz (born August 3, 1975), better known by his stage name C-Rayz Walz, is an American rapper from the Bronx, New York. He has been a member of the collective Stronghold. Early life Waleed Shabazz was born and raised in the Bronx, Ne ...

– vocals (16) * Mr. Lif – vocals (16) * DJ Abilities – turntables * Dan Ezra Lang – art direction, design, painting * Alexander Calder – painting * Phase Two – painting

Charts

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2002 debut albums Definitive Jux albums El-P albums Albums produced by El-P