7 Days of Funk (album)

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7 Days of Funk
Studio album by
7 Days of Funk
ReleasedDecember 10, 2013 (2013-12-10)
Recorded2013;
The Compound
(Los Angeles, California)
Funkmosphere Lab
(Los Angeles, California)
Genre
Length33:56
LabelStones Throw
Producer
Dām-Funk chronology
Higher
(2013) 		7 Days of Funk
(2013) 		Invite the Light
(2015)
Snoopzilla
chronology
Reincarnated
(2013) 		7 Days of Funk
(2013) 		Bush
(2015)
Singles from 7 Days of Funk
  1. "Faden Away"
    Released: October 15, 2013

7 Days of Funk is the

Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood.[3]

promotional single "Hit Da Pavement". 7 Days of Funk was met with generally positive reviews from music critics with an average score of 74 at Metacritic, based on 19 reviews. It was named in HipHopDX's list of top 25 albums of 2013.[5]

Background

SXSW Music Festival on March 19, 2011.[11][12] They forged a mutual admiration; then unexpectedly, Snoop sent Dām a cryptic SoundCloud message: "I need some of that heat."[13] For Stones Throw Records founder Chris "Peanut Butter Wolf" Manak, "It made perfect sense for them to [collaborate]. They're approximately the same age, and they both [represent] Los Angeles funk the hardest."[13]

In an October 2013 interview with Rolling Stone, Snoop commented on their collaboration, saying "We're the babies of the Mothership. I've had funk influences in my music my whole career. Dām-Funk is cold. He's keeping the funk alive and I knew I had to get down with him." Dām-Funk echoed Snoop's sentiments as he elaborated: "These beats were made for him and he laid down some of the smoothest harmonies and melodies I've ever heard. It's hip-hop, but you can also hear what we grew up on, from Zapp to Evelyn "Champagne" King and Patrice Rushen."[14]

Snoop also spoke about re-branding himself as Snoopzilla for this project, which pays homage to

funk singing, like Rick James and Steve Arrington. And on this EP, I was on some relationship shit: being tired of the one that I'm with and trying to be with the one that I'm with—shit where I'm questioning the one that I love. I'm not even talking about nobody personally. Is it music? Is it my wife? I'm questioning something! I don't even know what the fuck it is. As time goes by, I get a clearer vision on why I'm saying what I said, because some of these songs are really affecting me right now emotionally. They were just songs I did out of the spirit of having fun, but when I write shit, it comes to motherfucking life."[15]

Recording and production

[…] [Snoop] came to the pad with no entourage or anything. We went through some tracks and he stumbled on one, and we recorded the vocals right there. It's called "Hit Da Pavement". After it stopped, he was like, "Man, this is too good, I wanna do an EP." We went on from that and started gelling organically, no business people involved, no labels, no management. From that point, we got down and here we are with an EP. We have more, but we're going to save the extra tracks; seven songs goes with the theme of 7 Days of Funk.

— Dâm-Funk, speaking in December 2013, with Life+Times about how the project came to be.[16]

7 Days of Funk was recorded in

Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood by Brian "Big Bass" Gardner.[3] The album features guest appearances from Snoop's Tha Dogg Pound cohorts Daz Dillinger and Kurupt, as well as drummer-vocalist Steve Arrington.[4] According to Dām-Funk, other artists including rapper Tyler, The Creator wanted to be involved on the project, but time ran out.[15] All songs are produced by Dām-Funk and feature background vocals from Shan Lawon and Val Young.[3]

The album opener, "Hit Da Pavement", which features additional vocals from

A1 [Record Shop] just listening to some records, and Snoop calls, like, 'Hey man, you need to check this out, check your email.' Four hours later I'm at the club, and he's like, 'Hey man, check these out, two more done.' He was just smashing them. When you're inspired by something, that's how you do it."[15]

Dām-Funk created the music, and Snoopzilla came up with the vocals, then Dām took it from there. "I was like, 'I'm letting Dam-Funk produce me, so produce me'," Snoop explained during an interview with Spin.[18] "That's what the project was all about – him having the comfort zone of doing what he do, with no 'Hey man, we've got to get this done by this date.' No pressure, no dates, no nothing. We worked when we wanted to work and made what we wanted to make."[18] Dām-Funk gave Snoopzilla creative freedom on each song. "I just left it up to Snoop," he told HipHopDX. "I mean he was in charge of all of that. He really did a good job. And it was like a telepathic type of vibe, where I didn't have to say too much or anything at all. It's like he just handled it and knew where to put different nuances in and place the cadences. His rhythm matches everything I wanna hear on a track. So it worked out beautifully."[19]

Snoopzilla explained that he and Dām made the album only thirty-four minutes in length because it would induce the listener to want more. "We just be looking at it like it's only 34 minutes of music. That's all we gave up was 34 minutes. But it's 34 minutes of quality music, good music. Babygirl that [did an] interview with me, she was like, 'That music reminds me of a big hug. I could just play it from top to bottom.' There's a lot of albums you can't play from top to bottom anymore, you gotta go to your favorite song and go back and go forward. This record you could play from top to bottom. And it's 34 minutes, so by the time you get to where you going, it just started all over again, and you back riding again."[19]

Title and artwork

According to Snoop, the album title, 7 Days of Funk, refers to the amount of time it took to create the project. "Seven songs. And seven days to find the funk," he said during an interview with Spin. "You only get seven days in a week, but you found that funk, so you can continue. You can funk for another seven days. You can funk until the end of time. But those seven days are what's important. We just going one week at a time, and we trying to make sure we handle you on every day of that week. With the funk."[18] Dām explained to Life+Times that 7 Days of Funk is self-explanatory. "Just imagine living seven days of funk. That's what your life, what you're living and breathing. There's only seven days in a week, so what's after that? Another seven days of funk."[16]

Directed by Stones Throw cover artist Jeff Jank, the album artwork is drawn by Lawrence "Raw Dawg" Hubbard, co-founder and artist behind Los Angeles cult magazine,

vinyl LP edition features a wrap-around drawing showing the front and back of a theater. Snoopzilla and Dām-Funk are hanging out in front of their low rider—a time machine, in fact—with some thuggish throw-down happening at the theater doors. On the back, there is paparazzi, drunks and prostitutes.[20]

Promotion

On October 15, 2013,

7-inch single, backed with its instrumental version. The box includes the bonus record "Wingz"—not available on any other format—with A-side "Systematic". Purchase of the box set comes with a digital download of the original 8-track album and a 7 Days of Funk sticker.[25]

On December 9, 2013,

VEVO.[33] By evening, Dām-Funk and Snoopzilla celebrated the release of 7 Days of Funk at the Exchange Night Club in Los Angeles, performing live with Peanut Butter Wolf (host), Egyptian Lover, Bootsy Collins, Steve Arrington and special guests.[34] On January 15, 2014, the music video was released for "I'll Be There 4U".[35] On February 26, 2014, the music video was released for "Do My Thang".[36]

Singles

The

iTunes Music Store on October 15, 2013.[37] On November 5, 2013, the music video was released for the track.[38] 7 Days of Funk named "Faden Away" as their favorite song on the album.[19]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Pitchfork Media
7.0/10[45]
Rolling Stone[46]
Slant Magazine[47]
Spin7/10[48]
XXL4/5 (XL)[49]

7 Days of Funk received generally positive reviews from

Blurt Magazine expressed that despite the name of the project being 7 Days of Funk, "there's enough groove in this [record] to last a lifetime."[41]

David Jeffries of

Pitchfork writer Nate Patrin wrote that "It's a strong mode to be in, but 7 Days of Funk doesn't change or challenge things—it's a brief LP, even accounting for bonus tracks, and with everybody firmly in a comfortable lane there's not much surprise."[45]

In a mixed review,

Consequence of Sound also provided a mixed review, calling 7 Days of Funk a "slog through shallow percussion (especially in the amateurish drum pattern on the Kurupt-featuring 'Ride') and drowsy synthwork". The reviewer described the duo's productivity as "the musical equivalent to two longtime friends spending a Saturday afternoon on the couch".[52] Chase Woodruff, writer for Slant Magazine, wrote that "No amount of pitch correction and filtering can change the fact that Calvin Broadus, no matter what he calls himself, can't sing, and 7 Days of Funk is as lyrically empty an album as you'll hear this year; any message it may have is exclusively vibe-based. But it's a welcome sign of life from an MC who many assumed to be over the hill, and where it fails, it fails on its own terms—and that's a kind of success in itself."[47]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."
Damon Riddick
4:16
2."Let It Go"
4:34
3."Faden Away"
  • Broadus
  • Riddick
5:40
4."1Question?" (featuring Steve Arrington)
  • Broadus
  • Riddick
  • Steve Arrington
3:45
5."Ride" (featuring Kurupt)
4:04
6."Do My Thang"
  • Broadus
  • Riddick
4:47
7."I'll Be There 4U"
  • Broadus
  • Riddick
3:18
Bonus track – 8th day…[3]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
8."Systamatic" (featuring Tha Dogg Pound)
3:32
Total length:33:56
iTunes bonus track[53]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
9."High Wit' Me"
  • Broadus
  • Riddick
3:02
Total length:36:58
45 box set bonus track[54]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
9."Wingz"
  • Broadus
  • Riddick
3:25
Notes[3]
  • All tracks are produced by
    Dām-Funk
    .
  • "Hit Da Pavement" features additional vocals from Bootsy Collins.

Personnel

Credits for 7 Days of Funk adapted from AllMusic[55] and from the album liner notes.[3]

  • 7 Days of Funk – primary artist
  • Delmar "Daz Dillinger" Arnaud – composer
  • Steve Arrington – composer, featured artist
  • Kevin Barkey – management (Snoopzilla)
  • Calvin "Snoopzilla" Broadus – composer, executive producer, vocals
  • Ricardo "Kurupt" Brown – composer, featured artist
  • Ted Chung – management (Snoopzilla)
  • Cole M.G.N. – mixing
  • Bootsy Collins – vocals [additional]
  • Tha Dogg Pound – featured artist
  • Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – mastering
  • Wes Harden – management (Dâm-Funk)
  • Lawrence Hubbard – cover illustration
  • Jeff Jank – art direction
  • Shon Lawon – engineer, mixing, vocals [background]
  • Damon "Dâm-Funk" Riddick
    – engineer, instrumentation, producer
  • Patrice Rushen – composer
  • Brent Smith – booking
  • Frank Vasquez – A&R, engineer
  • Freddie Washington – composer
  • Val Young – vocals [background]

Chart positions

Chart (2013)[56] Peak
position
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[57] 33
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[58] 27
US
Rap Albums (Billboard)[59]
 14
US
Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[60]
 2
US
Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[61]
 13

Release history

Date Format(s)
Label
 Edition Catalog Ref.
December 10, 2013
CD, digital download
 Stones Throw Standard STH2334 [32]
February 5, 2014 LP
Box Set
 STH2335 [25]

References

  1. ^ "Snoop Dogg x DāM-FunK Present 7 Days Of Funk [Stream]". Okayplayer.com. 4 Dec 2013. Retrieved 10 Dec 2013.
  2. ^ "7 Days of Funk | 7 Days of Funk | Stones Throw Records". Stones Throw. Retrieved 25 Oct 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g 7 Days of Funk (Media notes). 7 Days of Funk. Stones Throw Records. 2013.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  4. ^ a b Karaslamb (15 Oct 2013). "Snoop Speaks On "Snoopzilla" & DāM-FunK Collabo LP". Okayplayer. Retrieved 25 Oct 2013.
  5. ^ DX Staff (30 Dec 2013). "HipHopDX's Top 25 Albums Of 2013 | Discussing Lil' Wayne, Drake & Many More Hip Hop Artists". HipHopDX.com. Archived from the original on 22 January 2014. Retrieved 30 Dec 2013.
  6. ^ "adidas, HVW8 and Snoop present The Dogg House". HVW8.com. February 2011. Retrieved 10 Dec 2013.
  7. ^ "Snoop Dogg & Dam Funk | Stones Throw Records". Stones Throw. 17 Feb 2011. Retrieved 25 Oct 2013.
  8. Complex.com
    . Retrieved 10 Dec 2013.
  9. ^ Gale, Alex (22 Nov 2013). "Snoop Dogg Eschews Major Labels for Retro "7 Days of Funk" With Dam-Funk". Billboard.com. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 10 Dec 2013.
  10. ^ "Snoop Dogg x Dam-Funk x HVW8". HVW8.com. 2011. Retrieved 10 Dec 2013.
  11. ^ "7 DAYS OF FUNK - DAM FUNK & SNOOP | Stones Throw Records". Stones Throw. 15 Oct 2013. Retrieved 25 Oct 2013.
  12. ^ Weiss, Jeff (20 Mar 2011). "SXSW 2011 Snoop Dogg, Dogg Pound, Warren G, Dam-Funk and Mayer Hawthorne pay tribute to Nate Dogg, reconfigure modern funk". latimes.com. Retrieved 13 Dec 2013.
  13. ^ a b Weiss, Jeff (29 Nov 2013). "Dam-Funk Drives Us Around L.A., Discusses 'Invite the Light' Album and 7 Days of Funk". self-titledmag.com. Retrieved 10 Dec 2013.
  14. Rolling Stone
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  15. ^
    Pitchfork Media
    . Retrieved 25 Oct 2013.
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  17. ^ Edwards, Gavin (9 Dec 2013). "Snoopzilla Talks '7 Days of Funk,' Dr. Dre's 'Detox' | Music News". RollingStone.com. Retrieved 11 Dec 2013.
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  23. ^ Bussolini, Brandon (1 Dec 2013). "First Listen: 7 Days Of Funk, '7 Days Of Funk'". NPR.org. Retrieved 11 Dec 2013.
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  25. ^ a b "7 Days of Funk | 7 Days of Funk (45 Box Set)". StonesThrow.com. Retrieved 11 Dec 2013.
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  28. ^ "Snoop and Dam-Funk Release "7 Days of Funk"". SnoopDogg.com. 10 Dec 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-12-10. Retrieved 13 Dec 2013.
  29. ^ "Rap-Up.com || Video: 7 Days of Funk (Snoopzilla x Dam-Funk) – 'Hit Da Pavement'". Rap-Up.com. 10 Dec 2013. Retrieved 23 Dec 2013.
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  34. ^ Roberts, Randall (11 Dec 2013). "Review Snoop, Dam-Funk, Bootsy, others celebrate '7 Days of Funk'". latimes.com. Retrieved 11 Dec 2013.
  35. ^ "Video: 7 Days of Funk – 'I'll Be There 4U'". Rap-Up.com. 2010-10-18. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
  36. ^ "Snoopzilla & Dam-Funk "Do My Thang" Video". Complex. 2013-12-07. Retrieved 2014-02-27.
  37. iTunes.apple.com
    . Retrieved 10 Dec 2013.
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  39. ^ a b "7 Days of Funk Reviews - Metacritic.htm". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 29 Jan 2014.
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  41. ^
    BlurtOnline.com. Archived from the original
    on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 10 Dec 2013.
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    Pitchfork.com
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  47. ^ a b Woodruff, Chase (10 Dec 2013). "7 Days of Funk: 7 Days of Funk | Music Review". SlantMagazine.com. Retrieved 10 Dec 2013.
  48. ^ a b Beta, Andy (9 Dec 2013). "Snoop Dogg and Dam-Funk Take the Ol' Mothership for a Lazy Spin on '7 Days of Funk'". Spin.com. Retrieved 10 Dec 2013.
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  52. Consequence.net
    . Retrieved 12 Dec 2013.
  53. ^ "iTunes - Music - 7 Days of Funk by 7 Days of Funk". iTunes.apple.com. Retrieved 10 Dec 2013.
  54. ^ "7 Days of Funk | 7 Days of Funk (45 Box Set) | Stones Throw Records". StonesThrow.com. 7 Oct 2013. Retrieved 10 Dec 2013.
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  56. ^ Billboard issue dated December 28, 2013:
  57. ^ "7 Days of Funk - Chart history | Independent Albums". Billboard.com. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 29 Dec 2013.
  58. ^ "7 Days of Funk - Chart history | Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums". Billboard.com. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 29 Dec 2013.
  59. ^ "7 Days of Funk - Chart history | Rap Albums". Billboard.com. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 29 Dec 2013.
  60. ^ "7 Days of Funk - Chart history | Heatseekers Albums". Billboard.com. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 29 Dec 2013.
  61. ^ "7 Days of Funk - Chart history | Tastemaker Albums". Billboard.com. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 29 Dec 2013.
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