I can’t say enough about Funkmaster Wizard Wiz. He was a bugged out dude making a really bugged out type of Hip-Hop, especially for the mid-80’s. The single “Crack It Up” / “Can’t You Take a Hint?” was released in the mid-80’s during the crack epidemic that was sweeping inner cities of America, especially in New York City. So what does Funkmaster do? He makes a song about the pleasures of smoking crack. Yup – a pro-crack song.
I don’t have the history on the single, but there must have been some type of controversy because the version of the single I have over-dubs the words “don’t” in front of the “Crack it Up” chorus. However, a version does exist in all it’s pro-crack glory, advising you to “put it in a pipe, and smoke it“.
The B-Side, which I posted up here, is just as weird. Funkmaster is basically saying all the crazy things he would do, proving just how crazy he is. The “Bellevue Patient” in the song references a psychiatric hospital in New York City. The beat replays Barry White‘s “I’m Gonna Love You Just A Little Bit More“. This is one of the earliest uses of the song as a sample or possibly the first. Hopefully Funkmaster didn’t turn out to be a crack head.