Since Lovebug Starski, rap has been no stranger to terrible nomenclature. In fact, there’s probably a post waiting to be written about the worst handles in hip-hop history, with Malachi Da’ Nutcracker, Shaggy 2 Dope, and Yung Joc, sure-fire candidates for any top 10 list. Add Washington D.C.-based beatmaker, Damu the Fudgemunk to that litany, not least for his short-sighted decision to willfully saddle himself with a moniker more fit for a queer squirrel than the jazz-inspired, prodigiously talented producer that he is. Not that there’s anything wrong with gay rodents. After all, The Chipmunks were my favorite cartoon throughout the 80s and I always had my suspicions about Theodore.

But truthfully, I would’ve probably passed on Damu had it not been for his insistent championing by Dan Love, a dude who’s got a better feel for breaks than most orthopedic surgeons. And I’m happy I overlooked that woeful alias, because Overtime, Damu’s soulful, jazzy blend of of soot-covered drums, crackling vinyl hiss, and scenes stitched in from Office Space has kept me sane as I battle a fever brought on by 12 hours of Rocking the Bells.

If you want to know more about Damu, this interview at From Da’ Bricks comes highly recommended, as does the EP itself, with its beats composed in the vein of early Dilla, Low End Theory-era Tribe and Digable Planets. Plus, Damu’s giving away the entire thing away gratis. Proving that once again, the only way that I could be coerced to listen to a man named Fudgemunk would be because of the all-mighty power of free. Which I believe was the 11th Commandment that got left out when Moses ran out of granite.

Download:
MP3: Damu the Fudgemunk-”Summer 2004″
ZIP: Damu the Fudgemunk-Overtime EP (Left-Click)

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This entry was posted on Monday, August 11th, 2008 at 11:34 pm and is filed under Are You From the Lester Bangs School of Thought?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.