When it comes to influential figures in hip-hop radio, there are few as long-standing and respected as Aston Taylor Jr., better known to the world as Funkmaster Flex. The Bronx-born and bred DJ (who began deejaying nightclubs at the tender age of sixteen, including a stent at the legendary Manhattan club, the Tunnel) has hosted a show on Hot 97, one of New York City’s most prominent hip-hop radio stations, since 1992. Along with breaking new records and playing your favorite songs, Flex’s show became popular for its legendary freestyles from some of your favorite rappers and emcees. The popularity of his radio show would eventually lead to Flex getting a deal with Loud Records, where he would try to recreate the magic of his show in album form, mixing old, current, and new music with freestyles from the game’s hottest rappers. It would become a mixtape series called 60 Minutes Of Funk, starting with Vol. 1, released in 1995. The critical success of Vol.1 would lay the groundwork for Vol. II, released in 1997.

Vol. II would follow the same formula as I: old and new music mixed with freestyles, and Flex breaking a few new records. Similar to Vol. I, Vol. II became a critical darling, but unlike Vol. I, it would earn Flex his first gold plaque (a trend that would continue for Vol. III, Vol. IV, and his collaborative compilation effort with Big Kap, The Tunnel).

I was definitely outside when Vol. I dropped, but that would be my last Funkmaster Flex mixtape experience. Until now, and what better time than now to add to my 60 Minutes Of Funk knowledge?

Talkin’ Shit – After a few opening words from the Funkmaster, you hear a snippet of Method Man’s verse from “Protect Ya Neck.” Then, a basic drum beat, accompanied by a semi-zany horn loop, comes on for supermodel Veronica Webb to repeat the same few lines over and over and over and over for nearly three and a half minutes. The monotony is shortly broken up by Jermaine Dupri giving Flex a drop, and Flex intermittently weaves in the Meth vocal snippet from earlier. I was slightly entertained (and by entertained, I mean aroused) when Ms. Webb referred to herself as “Premium pussy” (in his liner note shoutouts, Flex hi-lariously refers to her as Veronica “Premium” Webb, which left me wondering if he got a chance to sample it). But even with that seductive moment, this shit was entirely too long and unwarranted.

Clear My Throat – A Boyz II Men snippet helps count in DJ Kool’s classic party record. The record was a staple on Vol.1, and it lives through on Vol. II.

I’m Not Feeling You – Flex stays loyal to his Loud Records label mate, Yvette Michele. He let her shine on Vol.1 with the irresistible “Everyday & Everynight” (that he’s credited with producing), and she returns with yet another hypnotic groove on Vol. II. The Sylvester loop the instrumental is built around has been used before (see Big Daddy Kane’s “Taste Of Chocolate Intro” and Lil’ Kim’s “Big Momma Thang”), but Flex and YM put their sauce on it, giving it new life. I’ve never heard Yvette Michele’s debut album (and only album to date), but she’s two for two in my ears.

Freestyle – The first “freestyle” of the evening comes from Jay-Z rhyming over the instrumental to Sadat X’s “Stages And Lights.” It’s not one of my favorite Jay-Z performances, but still solid.

How About Some Hardcore – Flex plays a clip of M.O.P.’s hood classic debut single and shares a few words to hype up the mixtape.

Freestyle – Lil Kim’s next up on the freestyle front, and her bars sound strongly backed by Biggie’s pen. She takes what appears to be a subtle shot at Pac, who was already deceased by the time this album was released (excuse my unintentional bars): “And those with no couth, get thrown off the roof, like Bishop with the Juice.” Considering the timing and circumstances, that line was a bit distasteful, but Queen B still delivers an overall decent verse. The raw and discreetly funky backdrop was dope.

Tour – I’d never heard of Capleton before listening to this album. I did a little digging and discovered he is a Jamaican reggae/dancehall artist who briefly released music through Def Jam in the mid-nineties, but his catalog before and after Def Jam is pretty extensive. This snippet is a remix of the opening track on his 1995 album, Prophecy. As I’ve mentioned several times before on this blog, I’m not a big fan of reggae/dancehall music sans Bob Marley, but you can’t go wrong when you incorporate the bass line from Slick Rick’s “Children’s Story” into your record.

Freestyle – Speaking of reggae/dancehall artists I’ve never heard of, Lady Saw gets off a quick singing chant over a simple drum beat, and the shit is kind of catchy. After several listens, I still don’t know what Ms. Saw saw in her living room the evening before, but whatever.

Clear My Throat – More DJ Kool…

Freestyle – One of my all-time favorite emcees, Nas, gets a freestyle slot on Volume II. It’s not one of my favorite Esco performances, but he manages to get a little busy.

Freestyle – Even though he’s not credited in the liner notes, somebody going by the alias of Pretty Boy kicks this session off rhyming over the instrumental to Mobb Deep’s “Still Shinin’.” He spits a few forgettable bars and wisely clears the way for Foxy to jump on the beat, and she shows us why she’s the sole emcee credited on this track. If you read this blog faithfully, you know how disappointed I was with Foxy’s debut album, Ill Na Na. If she rapped like this on the album, my whole listening experience might have been different.

Hip Hop Hooray – Clip of Naughty By Nature’s classic.

Uptown Anthem – Clip of another Naughty classic.

How I Could Just Kill A Man – Flex plays Cypress Hill’s killer first single (pun intended) up to the second verse, where B-Real nasally says “Time for some action,” which blends into…

Time 4 Sum Aksion – A portion of Redman’s monster 1992 debut single (Man, Red’s been rockin’ a long time!).

Freestyle – This freestyle starts with a basic drum beat and Red saying some super questionable shit that I’ll try not to judge him on (“I got Tic Tacs in my mouth with a big dick, but it don’t matter,” followed by a couple of slurping noises). Then Red cues K-Solo to mumble a little bit of nothing before he recycles his verse from “Do What U Feel” off the Muddy Waters album, making this the second consecutive Flex album that he regurgitates a verse on.

Freestyle – This freestyle session features an emcee who goes by the alias of Ras T. I think he’s the same guy Flex gave a freestyle segment to on Vol. I. (under the moniker of Rasta T), although his flow and cadence sound completely different this go-round. I dug his straightforward approach on Vol. I, but the added animation to his voice on Vol. II makes him sound like a bootleg Rock from Heltah Skeltah. The cheesy noises in the instrumental (that sound like they’re trying to create a computerized/futuristic mood) didn’t do it for me, either.

Freestyle – This is labeled a freestyle by a gentleman named Michelob, but it sounds like part of an actual song. Over a smooth r&b flavored groove (complete with male singers on the hook), the beer-loving emcee spits a verse about a chick he wants to get with, but she already has a man, leaving his dream unattainable (unless she chooses to get triflin’ and use my man as a side piece). I don’t know what came of Michelob’s rap career, but this tidbit was good enough to leave me open to hearing more from him.

Set It Off – A short vocal clip from Greg Nice (half of Nice & Smooth) sets up the next trio of old-school classics.

Flashlight – Parliament’s timeless funk hit record, followed by…

Outstanding – The Gap Band’s vintage barbecue anthem…

Rising To The Top – Then Flex plays a clip of Keni Burke’s often sampled R&B classic that never seems to get old.

Freestyle – After sending RIPs to some of his fallen peeps, Flex gives space for a gentleman named Dav to take center stage and get prime-time placement for a portion of one of his songs. I didn’t care much for this one. Dav sounds like a poor man’s Keith Sweat and the world only needs one nasally-voiced crooner.

Freestyle – I’m not gonna lie. I got a little excited when I heard Mary J. Blige harmonizing over the instrumental to Mobb Deep’s “Survival Of The Fittest.” That excitement intensified when she seemed to be preparing to spit bars, but instead, she repeated the same two-line Flex drop for the next minute or so. What a tease.

Relax & Party – Flex follows MJB’s drop with a record from a singer named Ivory. He proves to be a decent enough vocalist, but the hip-hopped instrumental he sings over (built around a synth bell sound reminiscent of the sample Dre used for “Nas Is Coming”) is a funky little diddly and an entire vibe.

Crowd Participation – DJ Flexxx (not to be confused with Funkmaster Flex) shares a go-go call-and-response joint that might sound great live, but not so much on a recorded mixtape.

No Joke/Follow Me – Buckshot (the frontman for Black Moon and de facto leader of the Boot Camp Click) is one of the most unheralded emcees ever. Flex lets him shine and showcase his underappreciated talents on Vol. II with this short two-pack. The first half is a remake of Eric B & Rakim’s classic record of the same name (minus the “I Ain’t”), and Buckshot masterfully drips his sauce on it, honoring the original while making it sound like a completely new record. The second half finds the BDI emcee dissecting a funky Parliament piano loop (previously used for Salt-N-Pepa’s “Get Up Everybody (Get Up)” and Boss’ (rip) “Born Gangsta”) with calculated slickness and precision (I wonder if there’s a second verse to “Follow Me.” If there is, I’d love to hear it). This delicious two-piece combo is one of the highlight moments of Vol. II. Side note: the back CD jewel case panel groups the two songs together as one track (27), but the actual CD separates the two songs (“No Joke” as track 27 and “Follow Me” as part of the next track, 28).

Freestyle – This BCC session is divided into five pieces (excluding “Follow Me”). It starts with Rock and Ruck (aka Heltah Skeltah), Tek (half of Smif-N-Wessun), Starang Wondah (one-third of the O.G.C. aka Originoo Gun Clappaz), and Lidu Rock (little brother to Rock and half of the duo, Representativz) warming things up with a Boot Camp Click roll call over a loop from Grover Washington Jr.’s “Knucklehead.” Then Rock and Starang mix things up with semi-melodic bars over almost nonexistent drums, covered in subtly warm vibes. Next, Ruck and BJ Swan celebrate the twelve days of Merry Dissmas (a holiday filled with blue balls, wishful thinking, and misogyny) over a Detroit Emeralds drumbeat you may recognize from Main Source’s “Looking At The Front Door.” Then Tek and someone named MS (not to be confused with multiple sclerosis) spar over the most minimal drum beat ever heard by human ears. This grimy six-minute plus Boot Camp experience ends with Top Dog and Lidu Rock chanting and rhyming over one of the greatest hip-hop instrumentals of all time in “Shook Ones Part II.” There are a few dull moments during this extended session, but most of it works.

Freestyle – Akinyele and Sadat X provided one of the highlight moments on Vol. I with “Loud Hangover,” and Ak returns for Vol. II. Well, kind of. Other than a few adlibs at the beginning and end of the track, he doesn’t lend his voice to the song. Instead, he allows Complexion (who you might remember from Ak’s “Fuck Me For Free” record) to sing and someone named Curry to rap (or talk…maybe spoken word?) over a decent Caribbeanish backdrop. Complexion (who reinterprets the hook to Bootsy Collins’ classic joint, “I’d Rather Be With You”) matches the vibe of the instrumental, adding a little reggae flavor to his vocal, and Curry adds deadpan explicit rhymes, turning this into a hip-hop porno song. The music was dope and Complexion’s hook is catchy, but Curry’s overly simple delivery and elementary rhymes make this one hard to digest.

Method Man – A quick clip from Meth’s self-titled joint off Enter The Wu-Tang plays.

Freestyle – Biggie and then up-and-coming Yonkers trio, The Lox, rep for Bad Boy over Wu-Tang’s “C.R.E.A.M” instrumental. Styles P kicks things off with a solid opening verse, followed by Biggie, who spits a restrained but dope sixteen (it almost feels like he held back a little to not embarrass his co-workers in this cipher). After a quick hook, Sheek Louch gets off a truncated thugged-out verse before Jadakiss closes things out with a quality performance delivered in a far less raspy voice than I’ve grown accustomed to hearing him rhyme with through the years (it was also chuckle-worthy to hear him brag about using chopsticks while eating Chinese food as if that’s a form of high living). All in all, all four emcees hold their own over this classic hip-hop beat. Sadly, this would be one of Biggie’s last released cameo appearances before his death, just a few months later. Random thought: This may be the only project to feature all three of the big three (Nas, Biggie, and Jay-Z) on the same album. If I’m wrong, let me know in the comments.

Freestyle – Years before his fall from grace, public cancelation, and his alias becoming a slang term for suspicious activity, Sean “P-Diddy” Combs was the head of Bad-Boy Records. Thanks to Craig Mack, Biggie, and the Hitmen’s production, by 1997, Bad Boy was one of the hottest and most successful hip-hop labels around. This freestyle session finds Diddy introducing the world to his then-newest protege, Mase, and in true Diddy fashion, he talks all over the record. Flex pairs Mase with another Wu-Tang banger (the instrumental to “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta Fuck Wit”), which is a marriage that I didn’t necessarily love. The instrumental has too much energy for Mase’s deadpan vocal tone and ends up swallowing him up (pause).

Mobb Deep Blend – As the title suggests, Flex lays Prodigy’s first verse from “Hell On Earth (Front Lines)” and the hook over the very familiar (and funky) The Whole Darn Family loop (previously sampled on Tha Alkaholiks,’ “Only When I’m Drunk” and the Jay-Z/Foxy Brown duet, “Ain’t No Nigga”). This quickly ends and gets scratched into the next record.

Freestyle – The Lost Boyz continues to build on their newfound hot streak with this Flex collabo. Mr. Cheeks rhymes with an uncharacteristic urgency that matches the instrumental’s gravitas. And what would an LB record be without Freaky Tah (rip) padding Cheeks bars with energetic adlibs?

Release Yo Delf – Apparently, Flex was a huge Method Man fan. He blends a piece of one of my favorite songs off the Tical album into the mix. Random thought: with all the Wu-Tang music included on Vol. II, I found it interesting that none of the Wu members have a freestyle on the album.

Freestyle – After EPMD’s first break up in 1992, E-Double and PMD started solo careers. The split divided their Hit Squad collective, which included K-Solo, Redman, Das EFX, and a few other acts that aren’t worth mentioning. Redman sided with Erick Sermon, adding Keith Murray to form, Def Squad, while PMD kept the Hit Squad name, taking K-Solo and Das EFX. Clearly, Def Squad would go on to have more success than Hit Squad 2.0, but that’s not to say that Hit Squad 2.0’s output was completely trivial. Flex invites Das EFX, PMD, and K-Solo (even though he doesn’t get a credit in the liner notes) to jump on the mic and rhyme over a Millie Jackson loop (the same one used for BDP’s “Original Lyrics”) and energized drums. All four emcees sound rejuvenated and give adequate performances over the lively backing music. Well done, fellas.

Freestyle – Mr. X to the Z represents the West Coast, his Alkaholik Crew, and his underproductive but full-of-potential supergroup, Golden State Project (Golden State Project was a trio comprised of Xzibit, Ras Kass, and Saafir. They collaborated on a few records, including “Bounce, Rock, Golden State” off the Training Day Soundtrack in 2001, but due to industry business and hoopla, they never released a full project). Flex mashes up the instrumentals from “Likwit” and “Make Room” off the Alkaholiks’ debut album, 21 & Over, to rap over. X doesn’t sound spectacular rhyming over it but manages to hold court.

Freestyle – In my mind, Cormega will always be Nas’ incarcerated mans who received an immortal shoutout on “One Love” (“What up with Cormega? Did you see him? Are ya’ll together?”). After leaving prison, Mega became one-fourth of the Nas-led supergroup, The Firm (along with AZ and Foxy Brown). His time in The Firm would be short-lived after falling out with Nas and eventually being replaced by another Queens emcee, Nature. This Mega/Flex session was apparently recorded before he left The Firm, as he shouts them out during his verse (he also shouts out Flex, but for some reason, they bleep out which Volume this “freestyle” would go on). Mega fairs well spittin’ from his “Mega Montana” persona, but the blunted soulful backdrop carries this one.

Clear My Throat – More DJ Kool…

Sucker MC’s – A portion of Run DMC’s legendary record plays. Years after its release, it still sounds hard as hell.

Back To Life (However Do You Want Me) – Soul II Soul’s timeless techno/R&B groove…

Here We Go – Followed by more Run-DMC…

Mona Lisa – Then a snippet of a joint off Slick Rick’s solo debut album (The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick).

Flex Outro – Vol II ends with a few words and a goofy laugh from Funkmaster Flex.

For the last few NFL seasons, the Philadelphia Eagles have been at the top of NFC teams competing to represent the North in the Super Bowl and earn the title of Super Bowl Champs. In the 2023-24 season, the Eagles would fall short of the goal, losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Wild Card round. The year before, they would make it to Superbowl LVII only to come up short to the Kansas City Chiefs, 38-35. One component of the Eagles’ success over the past few seasons has been a play affectionately called the “tush push.” When the Eagles’ offense finds themselves in a third-and-short or fourth-and-short situation, they often resort to the play: Jalen Hurts takes the snap from his center, Jason Kelce, gets low and propels himself forward. At the same time, a few of his wide receivers would push him, giving him that extra boost to ensure he picks up the first down. The play is nearly unstoppable. During the 2023-24 regular season, the Eagles ran the play forty times and picked up the first down thirty-seven times. Like everything else, people criticized the play, with some considering it a form of cheating. But I say, if you have a proven winning formula, why switch things up?

Funkmaster Flex continues his winning formula on The Mixtape, Vol. II, by weaving together old and new records, along with new freestyles over classic hip-hop beats (with the twenty-five-plus years that have passed, it’s all old music now). Musically, Vol. II is more diverse than Vol. I. The first chapter was singularly focused on hip-hop, while the second chapter includes reggae vibes and pays homage to old-school funk and R&B. With only four of the album’s forty-five tracks having a runtime of over three minutes, Vol. II moves rapidly, which becomes helpful when you come across one of the handful of underwhelming freestyles or weak records in the album’s sequencing. Just when you reach to skip to the next tune, the track is over, and you can continue to have a true mixtape experience without interruption.

Jason Kelce retired after the 2023-24 season. But even in his absence, I’m sure Hurts and his new center will successfully run the same “tush push” play on short yardage downs, just as Funkmaster Flex would continue to find success with the rest of his 60 Minutes Of Funk mixtape series.

-Deedub

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