Righteous - Dag (1994)

The early 90s was a golden age for a lot of music subgenres, the 90s version of straight up funky R&B was one of them. West Coast hip hop was basically just remixed Parliament and, according to archeological sources and some vital work being done by ancient history departments, the Red Hot Chili Peppers used to be funky as hell. Regardless, Dag channeled some of this energy, wound up on a major label, and recorded this hidden gem.

I think they did one subsequent record that wasn’t particularly memorable, so this is a bit of a one-way ticket. But it really is a tight, gritty, fun funk record. A mostly-undiscovered classic.

Tracks I Liked

Righteous (City Pain) - a smoothed out soul tune with some real drama to it.

Lovely Jane - as close as you can get to Parliament’s “Flashlight” without getting sued.

Even So - just a great track

Plow - synth bass, i think, rumbling under this one makes it particularly stand out.