Potluck: Straight Outta Humboldt

Potluck’s 2006 release, Straight Outta Humboldt, is loaded with gargantuan West Coast O.G. funk, sped-up samples, seriously catchy hooks, and — yes, of course — weed. Lots and lots of weed. And so, the Humboldt County, California team of 1Ton and UnderRated keep the chronic-related rhymes on perpetual burn. You should already know that Potluck’s label mates, the Kottonmouth Kings, have an ongoing love affair with “Mary Jane”, the likes of which I don’t even think the late, great funkster Rick James could have comprehended. Potluck’s music expresses a similar love for the herb. In “Get High”, they go behind their own song title to state the case clearly, “We don’t get high; we stay high”. With songs like “Fire”, the almost melancholy “Mary Jane” (with the Luniz), the fantastically fuzzy “Dank Alumni”, the guitar shredding “Roll Big”, and “Marijuana 101”, the album doesn’t exactly play Hide the Blunt. They are open and notorious about their smokes. If you’re patient enough, you’ll find rhymes that confront a number of interesting topics: the love-hate relationship we all have with money (“Money Makes the World Go ‘Round”), racism and the experience of being biracial (“My Life”), the uncertainty of love when you’re surrounded by materialism and greed (“Love Me”), and the comparatively more lighthearted problem of contending with ladies with insufferable egos (“U Ain’t That Fine”, featuring E-40 and Bosko, with the line, “You look like a nickel but you think you’re a dime”).