[Cover photo credit to Caitlin Justice Redd]
Kill Rock Stars and Portland-based Hip-Hop band Five Fingers of Funk have announced the release of Portland Say It Again. The album marks Five Fingers Of Funk’s first release with original members since 1998. The album documents “the ironies of being a grown up in the young man’s game of Hip Hop.”
The album spotlights the group’s three-piece horn section and DJ Chillest Illest on the mic and turntables. Also featured are guest appearances from Cool Nutz, Jumbo (of the Lifesavas), Bosko, and Dres from Black Sheep.
To celebrate the release the band has announced a hometown in-store performance and signing on Saturday, May 13th, 2023 at Portland’s Music Millenium.
Thirty years ago, playing alongside Indie Rock outfits such as the Dandy Warhols and Heat Miser, the Fingers bridged the gap between Portland’s Alternative movement and its underground Hip-Hop scene, ushering in an era in which local Hip-Hop was showcased in downtown venues for the first time.
The band remained fiercely independent, self-releasing three full-length albums and sharing stages with Funk artists like Maceo Parker and Bootsy Collins, as well as Hip-Hop artists Run DMC, De La Soul, and another live hip-hop band coincidentally founded in 1992, The Roots.
Five Fingers Of Funk eventually split up over”the predictable politics that come with ten young men touring in one van for years.” With the “perspective of time and individual musical accomplishments” the band has reunited to release Portland Say It Again on their new label home, Kill Rock Stars.
