Zulu - Fakin’ Tha Funk (You Get Did) Review 

12/9/22

One of the first things that a lot of labels do when they bring on an underground band who has been hustling out music in a local scene for a while is release a compilation. Normally this just grabs whatever EPs or Mixtapes they’ve already managed to drop, throws them together, and makes it their first official label release. This is almost like the proof of concept, a message to fans explaining why an act has the opportunity they do. But the real moment of truth, the one that can make or break an act's label debut, is that very first single.  

For LA hardcore act Zulu that make-or-break moment comes on Fakin’ Tha Funk their first new material to drop on Flatspot Records after a compilation was released last year. In the meantime, their debut album which is coming on March 3rd has become one of the most anticipated releases in any west coast hardcore fan's calendar and we’re finally getting a taste of why.

At first, this may look like any other hardcore song, from the scant 80-second runtime to the artificial record wear on the album cover. But Fakin isn’t retro, and it isn’t short because the band thrashes and bashes out a full-length song that quickly, it’s short because that’s all the time they need to say what they have to say.

Fakin’ Tha Funk whose naming certainly isn’t an accidental reference to the nearly identically titled Main Source song, tackles cultural appropriation, with a heightened focus on how black culture is stolen by those who will never have to process black trauma or overcome black issues.