El christens himself the third shooter on the grassy knoll during his climactic verse on “8 Steps To Perfection,” the opening single of his full-length debut, Funcrusher Plus. As one-third of Company Flow, El unloaded verse after verse positioning himself as the antidote to the supposedly poisonous influence of big business in hip-hop. It’s difficult to assess the audacity of such a statement in July 1997, a time period predating both broadband internet and the Bush regime. Gangsta rap was moving serious units, Biggie’s murder was fresh news, and one white dude from Brooklyn posited himself as badder than bad, standing against corporate music and not taking profit margins into account. Funcrusher Plus makes a bold statement in ethos and style, and in many ways El has followed its lead since, from the science fictional cover art to the William Burroughs samples. That isn’t to suggest that El hasn’t improved on the Funcrusher formula, though. For one, though he had a quick, sharp tongue from the start, fellow emcee Bigg Jus comes across as the more critical of the pair, frequently opening tracks and leaving El to mop them up. The beats hold up to the test of time, but display their influences a bit proudly compared to what came later in El’s career. It’s worth noting that El shared musical duties with DJ Mr. Len, but together their staccato keyboard hits, orchestral stingers and bop-based rum loops feel too reminiscent of RZA’s work on Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). Still, Funcrusher Plus made for a hell of an opening salvo, and most emcee/producers would envy having such a record in their discography, but El mostly improved upon his work here later.