Fantastic Damage is the first proper full-length solo album by New York rapper and producer

Hip hop production

Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music. Though the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music, it's most commonly used to refer to the instrumental, non-lyrical aspects of hip hop. This means that hip hop producers are the instrumentalists involved in a work...

 El-P, released on his own Definitive Jux

Definitive Jux

Definitive Jux is an independent record label based in New York City, United States. It was co-founded in 1999 by Jaime Meline and Amaechi Uzoigwe. The label was initially known simply as Def Jux, but in 2001, popular hip hop label Def Jam Recordings sued Def Jux over the name similarity...

 label on May 14, 2002. The tracks "Fantastic Damage", "Deep Space 9mm", and "The Nang, the Front, the Bush and the Shit" were featured in the El-P-scored graffiti

Graffiti

Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....

 film Bomb the System

Bomb the System

Bomb the System is a drama film written and directed by Adam Bhala Lough, which was released to film festivals in 2002 and American theaters in 2005. It revolves around a group of graffiti artists living in New York City who decide to make a mark on the city, and stars Mark Webber, Gano Grills,...

. An instrumental version of the album, Fandam Plus: Instrumentals, Remixes, Lyrics & Video, was released on 1 October 2002. This double disc release included all the instrumentals of Fantastic Damage on its first disc and three remixes, the Fantastic Damage lyrics, and video footage on its second disc.

Accolades

Rhapsody (online music service)

Rhapsody (online music service)

Rhapsody is an online music store subscription service, launched in December 2001, and available in the United States only. On April 6, 2010, Rhapsody officially declared its independence from RealNetworks. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, Rhapsody's version...

ranked the album #8 on its "Hip-Hop’s Best Albums of the Decade" list and included it on its list of "The 10 Best Albums By White Rappers". "Dark, cavernous and confrontational, Fantastic Damage is more concerned with being respected than it is liked, which makes it the perfect soundtrack for a post-9/11 U.S. Throughout, El-P's jaded rhymes are oblique and delivered in halting rhythms, while the album's lo-fi, electro-infused production is simply jarring. A landmark indie release." Pitchfork Media ranked the album as the 11th best of 2002.

Track listing

1. "Fantastic Damage" – 3:22
2. "Squeegee Man Shooting" – 4:24
3. "Deep Space 9mm" – 3:47
4. "Tuned Mass Damper" – 4:05
5. "Dead Disnee" – 3:53
6. "Delorean" – 5:33
   • Featuring Aesop Rock
     Aesop Rock
     Ian Matthias Bavitz , better known by his stage name Aesop Rock, is an American hip hop artist and producer. He was at the forefront of the new wave of underground and alternative hip hop acts that emerged during the late 1990s and early 2000s. He was signed to El-P's Definitive Jux label until it...
     
      and Ill Bill
     Ill Bill
     William Braunstein, better known as Ill Bill, is a American rapper and record producer from Brooklyn, New York. Having gained notoriety in the underground hip hop group Non Phixion, Ill Bill is known for his hardcore lyrics and as the producer, founder and CEO of Uncle Howie Records...
     
     
7. "Truancy" – 5:04
8. "The Nang, the Front, the Bush and the Shit" – 5:37
9. "Accidents Don't Happen" – 4:50
   • Featuring Cage
     Cage Kennylz
     Chris Palko, better known by his stage name Cage, is an American rapper from New York City. He has released three studio albums and two extended plays. Cage is also the founder of the underground hip-hop supergroup called the Weathermen.-Early life:...
     
      and Camu Tao
     Camu Tao
     Camu Tao was an American rapper and producer who was signed to the Definitive Jux label. He was a member of several groups: S.A...
     
     
10. "Stepfather Factory" – 4:11
11. "T.O.J." – 4:32
12. "Dr. Hellno and the Praying Mantus" – 4:39
    • Featuring Vast Aire
      Vast Aire
      Vast Aire is a rapper from New York City. He is one half of the New York hip hop duo Cannibal Ox, which consists of him and fellow rapper Vordul Mega. He is also a member of the rap group Atoms Family...
      
      
13. "Lazerfaces' Warning" – 4:36
14. "Innocent Leader" – 2:21
15. "Constellation Funk" – 4:58
16. "Blood" – 4:26
    • Featuring Mr. Lif
      Mr. Lif
      Mr. Lif is an American hip hop artist from Boston, Massachusetts. Often noted for his political lyrics, he has released two studio albums on El-P's Definitive Jux label and one on Bloodbot Tactical Enterprises. Mr...
      
       and C-Rayz Walz
      C-Rayz Walz
      Waleed Shabazz, better known by his stage name C-Rayz Walz, is an MC from The Bronx, New York. He is currently a member of the Legendary NY hip hop Syndicate Stronghold. C-Rayz Walz has been a fixture in the New York hip-hop scene for years. He hosts many hip-hop shows and events, has appeared on...
      
      

Samples

Squeegee Man Shooting

• "Equinoxe III" by Jean Michel Jarre
  Jean Michel Jarre
  Jean Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and New Age genres, and known as an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music featuring lights, laser displays, and fireworks.Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and...
  
  

Deep Space 9mm

• "Water" by Silver Apples
• "Holy Ghost" by The Bar-Kays

Tuned Mass Damper

• "Bass Folk Song" by Joe Farrell
  Joe Farrell
  Joseph Carl Firrantello , known as Joe Farrell, was an American jazz saxophonist and flutist. He is best known for a series of albums under his own name on the CTI record label and for playing in the initial incarnation of Chick Corea's Return to Forever.-Biography:Farrell was born in Chicago...
  
  
• "Part II" by Mike Oldfield
  Mike Oldfield
  Michael Gordon Oldfield is an English multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, working a style that blends progressive rock, folk, ethnic or world music, classical music, electronic music, New Age, and more recently, dance. His music is often elaborate and complex in nature...
  
  

Delorean

• "Power Surge" by Chris Rae & Frank McDonald

Accidents Don't Happen

• "Live Wire" by The Meters
  The Meters
  The Meters are an American funk band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Meters performed and recorded their own music from the late 1960s until 1977...
  
  
• Dialogue from the film Nineteen Eighty-Four
  Nineteen Eighty-Four (film)
  Nineteen Eighty-Four is a 1984 British science fiction film, based upon George Orwell's novel of the same name, following the life of Winston Smith in Oceania, a country run by a totalitarian government...
  
  

Innocent Leader

• "Soul Love" by David Bowie
  David Bowie
  David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
  
  

T.O.J.

• "Cyclic Bit" by Raymond Scott
  Raymond Scott
  Raymond Scott was an American composer, band leader, pianist, engineer, recording studio maverick, and electronic instrument inventor....
  
  

Personnel

• Artwork: Dan Ezra Lang
• Art direction: Dan Ezra Lang, El-P
• Mixing: Nasa, El-P
• Engineering: Nasa, El-P

Charts

Charts (2002)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...	198
U.S. Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...	9
U.S. Independent Albums Independent Albums The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels...	14
U.S. Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums	82

External links

• Definitive Jux Official Site