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Future Funk Vol. 1 follows up on a 38-song barrage GRiZ released to the people since his return. This album’s quality is no surprise after watching him play several sets at Griztronics last month. Like I said in my recap, some of the best dubstep production I’ve ever seen went down at Griztronics, and GRiZ was obviously a massive reason for that. The range he displayed between his day-one sunset performance and his day-two headlining set made the case crystal clear: GRiZ’s mastery of the genre is ascending before our eyes. Did GRiZ go and train with Goku in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber during his hiatus? Someone investigate and get back to me.
GRiZ’s Future is Funky
The quality jumps out of your headphones from the first listen, and it only gets better. While Subtronics was reviewing entries of his latest remix contest live on stream, he talked about how simplicity is always a sure route to great production. When I listen to Future Funk Vol. 1, I feel like it’s following this rule to the letter. The layering is simple, yet deep, and packed with great sound design and instrumentation. The feature list is small, but Big Gigantic and Effin make impactful contributions in “Rump Shaker and “When I’m Hot.”
The hip-hop elements are scattered throughout, elevating everything they touch. Songs like “ILLest in the Game” remind me of riding around listening to West Coast hip-hop legends like The Game and Nipsey Hussle. “555” is an ethereal, rap hitter. Griz described this song as “dreamy wavy electro soul,” and he fucking nailed it. This record is timeless, like the sound of crack cocaine sizzling and popping in my ears till my dying breath.
“Rainbow Machine” is easily the MVP of the album, and it goes crazy live. It’s catchy, it’s funky, but it’s still dubstep first and foremost, representing the entire project. Prob Cause’s presence is notable with three features on the album. His flow is fun and wavy, like drinking cold beer and smoking a joint on a boat, in the middle of the lake, on a hot summer day. The combination of Prob’s flow and GRiZ’s saxophone riffs, with some proper dubstep, is like Neapolitan gelato; it WORKS.
It’s rare to see an artist capture the attention of an entire music festival like GRiZ did at the Gorge that weekend. He’s clearly one of the most influential and beloved artists in the genre, and I think he just produced one of the best dubstep albums ever released. I don’t have the authority to claim that officially, but you can’t tell me it’s not up for discussion.
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My name is Jonathan, and I'm a writer, journalist, and photographer. I've been going to concerts and music festivals since 2007 and I started covering them professionally in 2017 after I graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism from CWU.
I've written for publications such as Respect My Region, the Seattle Met, and CBR.com. I've covered festivals like Bass Canyon, Bumbershoot, and Capitol Hill Block Party, and interviewed artists such as Sol, Dave B, Big Gigantic, KJ Sawka, Vampa, Jeanie, and Virtual Riot.