Hip-hop with a premium placed on fun isn't exactly a new tactic. Hell, there's plenty of happy-go-lucky rap out there. Soulja Boy gets people dancing, for example, and there's even a tinge of the block party vibe in Gwen Stefani's hits.
What's the point?
Fun in hip-hop is too often derided for failing to represent authentic core values. Those tracks that are both light-hearted, and entertaining, and party-centric just don't get the context right. They just aren't hip-hop.
One group that understands how to make sure they are both fun and authentic is LA's People Under the Stairs. For ten years they've been making affable hip-hop. They know how to rock a party, and most importantly, they know how to put a record together.
Their latest output, FUN DMC, is an album dedicated to ushering in the return of the RUN DMC era of party music. Fun rap. They succeed, and do so largely because they're so wildly adept at balancing everyday situations with the nature of community spirit in their music. BBQs and relaxing with a brew are constant themes. The lyrics are FUN; the beats are FUN, and most importantly; the music is FUN.
What makes the album especially exciting is the nature of the recording process. Much of the album was recorded live on site, throughout Los Angeles. Here the intent was to add an element of context: to ensure that the songs had a local feel. Hip-hop, as each and every fan should argue, requires a bit of local flair to attain any global success. PUTS finds themselves in their city, just as their city should find itself in their new songs.
FUN DMC manages something incredibly rare in the current music climate. It doesn't rely on technology, catch phrases and special moves to get the feeling out. It simply lives and breathes its mission -- FUN. Ten years after they first emerged, the People Under the Stairs still know how to have a good time.
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