Doug Funnie

Released early in December, Head In The Cloudz is a thirteen track album from Doug Funnie. A glance through the track-listing reveals a guest spot from MC Lars.

A news broadcast is sampled for the introductory track, Intro (Nightly News). The dramatic music infused with beats and a pulsating bass line works well. But the vocals are buried in the mix and the whole thing sounds muggy. A short skit leads neatly into I'm Late, and again beats are mixed with samples. This time from the score to Alice In Wonderland which works well to form a crazy and energetic track. Although clearer than in the intro, again the vocals are somewhat overpowered.

Continuing the Disney theme, Hi-Ho (9 to 5) borrows from Snow White. The production values on this track are significantly greater than those it follows. The vocals are clear and easily distinguishable. The beat is punchy and progresses nicely.

The afore mentioned MC Lars provides a verse on Big Kid, a song that references that nerdiest of hobbies, collecting. The hook is catchy the production, again is decent, though there seems to be an unnecessary mild phase effect on the vocals that detracts ever so slightly from the crispness of the delivery.

Track five is a skit titled, Office Talk (seemingly the office in question still uses type-writers). The skit leads into Velma, a tribute to the Scooby-Doo character.

Going In features Andrew Atwood. At just under two minutes there is little to be enthused about. The track is musically repetitive and lacks the dynamism vocally to make up for that. Oh Yeah, is different. It's a much less complex composition relying on a simple kick and snare beat with a minimalist bass line. However, unlike Going In, the vocals are much more interesting to listen to with slight variations in the style of delivery throughout.

After the rather serious Oh Yeah, we're back into up-beat, Disney sampling territory with The Kang. After a spoken intro the track is a little disjointed at first, The Lion King sample flows well once the beat kicks in to fill the gaps. With a running time of two minutes and nine seconds of which twenty eight seconds are the spoken sample by the end I was left wanting more of this. It's fun and bouncy.

In Drowning Sorrow Doug manages to rap drunk. Not in the literal sense (at least I don't think so!). He manages to paint the picture of a guy at a bar drinking and smoking his problems away. He does a great job of sounding drunk, maintaining his flow whilst emoting changes in mood. It's clever stuff. Neatly following Drowning Sorrow comes The Morning After (Skit).

Training Day, samples Rocky, constantly teasing with the swirling intro to that famous anthem but never quite delivering. So much so that I had to pause the album to hit up Going The Distance on YouTube (You're welcome).

Head in The Cloudz concludes with the easy going Tomorrow. Again good use of sampling adds to the vibe leaving the listener with a nice feeling of contentment as this lilting finale fades out.

This is the first album from Doug Funnie I've listened to and I feared the worst when the first couple of tracks exhibited only average production values. Things picked up and for the most part this is a very listenable album. However there are a few frustrations that come with it for me. The best tracks are too short and the skits merely act as brief interludes to progress the loose story-line running throughout, rather than adding anything in terms of humour or entertainment. Some of the sampling is a little rough around the edges but forgiveable as in most cases the end result is catchy and enjoyable. - Will Harrison of Unheard Nerd

In poetry, a great deal of the magic is held in the management of time; when you say what you say has great impact on how what you say is heard. The same is true for an MC, the beat is always counting down towards an end. There are dozens of ways to stack syllables that fits the count just right. Doug Funnie can speed it up or slow it down with the best, mixing in pop cultural references that catch you off guard. An excellent example of this comes on this Summer’s EP From Hardship 2 Triumph, on the track “Peanuts” where he samples the Vince Guaraldi theme going as far as to use the Teacher’s “Wah-wah-wah” in the breakdown.

Earlier this week, I sat down with the Funnie One at Ozzie Rabbit. He was patient as I tried to keep the conversation going despite allergies overtaking my head. Getting his musical start making beats, “I figured it was a good way to learn a new computer,” Doug was influenced equally by Timbaland and the music of the video games he was playing. As his skills developed, friends wanted to rap on top of those beats; he decided he should take care of the rhymes as well. As portrayed on H2T, “All my classmates looking at me crazy when sitting in class, banging on a desk, trying to be the best, you know I got to start somewhere.”

Funnie rapped about the cultural elements that were a part of his life, finding an unusual lyrical approach to portray alternatives to the common themes of hip-hop. It was only after he saw Nerdcore Rising that he realized there was a name for what he was doing, “I thought it was just hip hop but then I saw the movie and it was like ‘Oh, that’s what I’m doing.’ I was already doing it but now I knew what it was called.”

Working with other hip hop artists in the area like Kyeyote and Phantastik the Phenom, he’s also been known to work with Perdition guitarist Alex Hickman has performed parts on many Doug Funnie tracks. Perdition and fellow punkers Pajammas both shared space with local rappers on Funnie’s Mixtape from last year. After we chatted he was off to practice with a punk group he plays with called The Failures.

For Funnie’s new record, Head in the Clouds, he’s done a track with notable Nerdcore act MC Lars. He hopes to make a return trip to Austin for this year’s South By Southwest; he’s seeking a slot at the Nerdcore Showcase. Tonight (11/2) The Grotto celebrates the release of Doug Funnie’s new album. Also on the roster are the vocal hyperbole of Lindby and Phantastik the Phenom, a frequent Funnie collaborator. Catch a great show tonight, highlighted by the release of more great tracks from one of our most talented purveyors of rhyme. - Fort Live

Uh-oh. Is Rivercrest Yacht Club’s reign as the clown princes of North Texas hip-hop in jeopardy? MCs Heffminster de la Rocha, Generic, and DDS, with their killer rhythm section of drummer Lucas White (James Hinkle, Gunga Galunga) and bassist Lee Allen, have been in studio-hibernation for, oh, the past couple of years now. A takeover seems imminent. But is the kind of hip-hop in which the RYC specializes –– indie-rocking funk and R&B with hopelessly erudite lyrics about pop culture, history, and science –– still popular? Popular shmopular. As long as what comes next is good, there’s always going to be an audience for shticky, head-bobbing brilliance. Enter: Doug Funnie. The military brat now based in Bedford has been performing locally for a couple of years now, mostly at Lola’s Saloon and The Grotto, and has released a few recordings but nothing as ambitious as his new album. Head in the Cloudz covers just about every hip-hop vibe imaginable, from trebly gangsta bombast (“Drowning Sorrows,” “Training Day”) to smoove R&B (“Velma”) to symphonic Jadakiss-like grandeur (“Going In”) to hyper-minimalist old-school (“Macho Man”) and all points in between. Everything is layered thick with choice samples and Funnie’s often witty, often rapid-fire rhymes about pop-culture ephemera and boasting and toasting. Recorded recently at Sessionworks Studios in Hurst with engineer Shawn Lunsford, Head in the Cloudz also features several cameo performances. Two noteworthy contributors are guitarist Alex Hickman of Fort Worth pop-punks Perdition and California’s MC Lars, self-proclaimed originator of “post-punk laptop rap.” Head in the Cloudz will be available on Funnie’s Bandcamp page soon and at all shows, including on a short tour that’s in the works and on Friday at The Grotto (517 University Dr., 817-882-9331), where Funnie will celebrate the CD’s release with a few outrageous, varied underground acts, including Lindby, Doom Ghost, Kid 214, and Phantastik of Phenom. - Fort Worth Weekly

In an old-school rap song battle, I’m pretty sure there’s one tune that trumps them all. But I’m not going to tell you here. Just know that if you ever challenge me, my song’s eventually going to land on your head with both feet. You would have heard this charming ode (hinted at somewhere in this story) last Thursday at Lola’s –– for a few minutes, owner Brian Forella and I accidentally got into a friendly little battle, swapping songs behind the bar on his laptop/jukebox, and after weathering some Rakim, MC Lyte (!), and Radio-era LL, I had to pull out my trump card (a song, incidentally, slammed down unceremoniously on my noggin a few years ago in a battle with Forella’s brother Brendan).


[From Chi-town to the F-Dub comes young old-schooler Kyeyote.] The moral of the story is: We all got trumped that night. From the How in the World Does Shit Like This Happen Department: The Fort Worth Music Co-Op, the popular nonprofit musician-run booking agency, had scheduled a hip-hop show. But not just any hip-hop show. At this time I’d like to inform you that I was sharing a table with Rivercrest Yacht Club’s MC Generic, who, while maybe not as conversant in old-schoolage as Forella and me, is a professional freaking rapper. In other words, his opinion carries a lot of weight. The stage setup –– just a laptop on a high-top cocktail table –– did not seem very promising. But then the beats began to thrum, and onstage hopped a young, thin, New-York-Yankees-garbed black kid. He started spitting rhymes so fast and was articulating them so succinctly that you would have thought Rakim himself had grabbed the mic. Seriously, though, all hyperbole aside, the dude was insanely good and decidedly old school, spitting long, mercurial but clear, socially conscious lyrics, placing him somewhere between Rakim and El-P. Turns out Kyeyote is from Chicago’s infamous South Side but has been living in the 817 for several months. He was invited to perform by the evening’s ostensible headliner, Doug Funnie, a nerdcore artist from Euless who a couple of months ago opened for nerdcore star MC Frontalot at SXSW. (All I really know of Frontalot is his guest spot on MC Hawking’s “Bitchslap.” Two words: Heee. Larious.) A quick Google search on my spacephone revealed that Funnie is finishing up a new EP, Hardship to Triumph, and plays bass in and fronts The Morning Circuit, a hip-hop band slated to release an album in October. Too bad there weren’t more people at the show. Some bona fide Generic-approved hip-hop went down. Of course, any fantasies on your part that I’m actually down with the retro hip-hop scene will be shattered when I recreate for you one particularly embarrassing moment: Doug Funnie is onstage rapping (he’s also really good), and Kyeyote is standing down in front with several other fans, playing with his smartphone. Mr. Hip-Hop (me) goes over to Kyeyote and says, “C’mon, man. Your boy’s on.” To which the nice young rapper replies, “I know, but he asked me to get up there and rhyme with him, and I gotta write down what I’m gonna say.” So. Lola’s Rap Battle Finals: Young Black Rapper 100, Old Wannabe-Down Meathead Wop 0. So tell me, which one of us should get top billin’? - Fort Worth Weekly

Bedford nerdcore rapper Doug Funnie’s newest collaborative album, Mixtape Vol. 2: The Fallout, boldly showcases an odd cross-section of a small part of Fort Worth’s rap and rock scenes. The 12-track effort from December opens with a barrage of mostly head-bobbing hip-hop tracks that, eight songs in, abruptly gives way to a discordant variety of rock-oriented samplings. With the final track, the whole affair devolves into a rap-rock whimper by The Morning Circuit, Funnie’s band, whose sound is one part Rage Against the Machine and two parts –– how to put this gently? –– Limp Bizkit.

Fallout’s rock selections range from the palatable, like the emo-laden “Quasars by Proxy” by punk quartet The Pajammas, to the downright baffling, like the cover of Deathcab for Cutie’s “I Will Follow You into the Dark” by upstart proto-punks Perdition.

Although it’s nice to see local artists reaching across genres to support one another, the discontinuity here threatens to derail the entire album. And that’s too bad, because the six rap songs between the intro and the punk stuff offer, for the most part, a spirited glimpse at some killer rhyme-dropping 817 talent. In addition to Funnie, there are standout performances by two gems: 22-year-old Arlington rapper Phantastik the Phenom and the sharp-tongued Kyeyote, a Chicago native turned Bedfordian who shines on several impressive tracks. - Fort Worth Weekly

Bedford nerdcore rapper Doug Funnie’s newest collaborative album, Mixtape Vol. 2: The Fallout, boldly showcases an odd cross-section of a small part of Fort Worth’s rap and rock scenes. The 12-track effort from December opens with a barrage of mostly head-bobbing hip-hop tracks that, eight songs in, abruptly gives way to a discordant variety of rock-oriented samplings. With the final track, the whole affair devolves into a rap-rock whimper by The Morning Circuit, Funnie’s band, whose sound is one part Rage Against the Machine and two parts –– how to put this gently? –– Limp Bizkit.

Fallout’s rock selections range from the palatable, like the emo-laden “Quasars by Proxy” by punk quartet The Pajammas, to the downright baffling, like the cover of Deathcab for Cutie’s “I Will Follow You into the Dark” by upstart proto-punks Perdition.

Although it’s nice to see local artists reaching across genres to support one another, the discontinuity here threatens to derail the entire album. And that’s too bad, because the six rap songs between the intro and the punk stuff offer, for the most part, a spirited glimpse at some killer rhyme-dropping 817 talent. In addition to Funnie, there are standout performances by two gems: 22-year-old Arlington rapper Phantastik the Phenom and the sharp-tongued Kyeyote, a Chicago native turned Bedfordian who shines on several impressive tracks. - Fort Worth Weekly

Wait, Who?

So, Doug Funnie — like friend of Skeeter, who’s in love with Patty Mayonnaise? Citizen of Bluffington… the mighty Quailman?? Well, not quite. Take all that and add hip hop to it and you would be on the right track.

Doug Funnie is a Nerdcore hip hop artist in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in Texas. Inspired by artists like Wu-Tang Clan, Common, Joe Budden, Lauren Hill, and Gemineye; Doug Funnie creates unique tracks that you won’t find anywhere else.
What Makes Him Nerdy?

Nerdcore. It’s a fun term. It’s also a term that Doug Funnie lives up to. Energetic and full of nerdy references, Doug’s music is hip hop/rap sprinkled with lines from 90's cartoons and titles like Spittin’ Like A Charrizard.

The same thing we do every night, Pinky, try to take over the world… [hashtag-winning].

Where Do I Start?

Spend some time on Doug’s YouTube channel and check out both recorded tracks as well as footage from live performances (and be sure to hit that subscribe button!)



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Nerd Band of the Week: Doug Funnie
Sierra Houk September 20, 2011 Comments Off
Wait, Who?

So, Doug Funnie — like friend of Skeeter, who’s in love with Patty Mayonnaise? Citizen of Bluffington… the mighty Quailman?? Well, not quite. Take all that and add hip hop to it and you would be on the right track.

Doug Funnie is a Nerdcore hip hop artist in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in Texas. Inspired by artists like Wu-Tang Clan, Common, Joe Budden, Lauren Hill, and Gemineye; Doug Funnie creates unique tracks that you won’t find anywhere else.
What Makes Him Nerdy?

Nerdcore. It’s a fun term. It’s also a term that Doug Funnie lives up to. Energetic and full of nerdy references, Doug’s music is hip hop/rap sprinkled with lines from 90's cartoons and titles like Spittin’ Like A Charrizard.

The same thing we do every night, Pinky, try to take over the world… [hashtag-winning].
Find more DOUG FUNNIE MIXTAPE AVAILABLE!! BOOK:(214)6645310 songs at Myspace Music

Where Do I Start?

Spend some time on Doug’s YouTube channel and check out both recorded tracks as well as footage from live performances (and be sure to hit that subscribe button!)


Where Can I Get His Music?

In addition to the tracks on his YouTube channel, you can listen to and download Doug’s earlier work on his Myspace page.

You can purchase CDs at his live shows. Upcoming dates include:

September 29th in Austin, TX at the Red Eyed Fly
September 30th in Fort Worth, TX at Lola’s Saloon with The Boss Level
October 21st in Austin, TX at The Highball with Nerdcore’s MC Frontalot

If you’re in the area, be sure to go out to those shows and support these talented artists!

Look for a mix tape coming out in October featuring Doug Funnie as well as other local artists such as Perdition, TMC, Myself, Kyeyote, P-T-P and more. A teaser of the album Doug has been working on with The Morning Circuit will be released in October as well.

To stay up to date on his upcoming shows and music releases, follow Doug Funnie on Twitter, @funniemusic, or friend him on Facebook. Be sure to check out his accomplice in bringing the world nerdy art, The Action Comic Clothing Co., and give them a follow on Twitter, @racketeerrobot. - Almost Nerdy