Tales of sordid street escapades, drugs and fast women have been long running themes for Tucson, AZ’s Zackey Force Funk. Though these are themes that have been explored to excess in music over the years, his psychedelic, acid-trip style has been what places him in another realm. Three quarters singing and one quarter rapping, the Force Funk sound has been well-established in the world of underground electronic music over the last decade. With the arrival of his MoFunk debut album, Bodyrock Shotgun, ZFF is set to advance yet another level with melodic modern funk production that challenges him to expand his one-of-a-kind vocal style to new territory.
Highlights include the XL Middleton-produced title cut, a slow-rolling, vocoder-laced tune that haunts as much as it thumps. Brian Ellis brings his signature brand of moody electro funk on “Glass Dick Lovin’,” a dark tale of love lost to drug addiction. “Money Weighs A Ton,” imported from the recent Boy Dude LP on Hobo Camp, slides seamlessly into the playlist with pulsating synths framing an unapologetic hustler’s manifesto. “El Mero Mero” (prod. by XL Middleton) stands as another declaration of street corner superiority, while “Get The Gun” serves as a self-explanatory footnote on how to keep said position, over Moog-y production from Adam Chini that is equal parts Blaxploitation and retro science fiction. Further productions from Throwback Zack, Proh Mic, Trailer Limon, DJ Spy-D, and Elegant Borzoi form a veritable who’s who in the land of modern funk, and show Zackey’s superb ear for beat curation.