[Verse 1] Spilling the leftovers of creational clay We grew with the concept, now we're ready to go public Today's a big day for the company A big step for the little steppers who slept for years uncomfortably Little man, little lady, cute little baby Reach your hand out to the future of automated robotics On display here for the first time in (enter year here) At the World's Fair, but is it really? Ladies and gentlemen, I propose that the market is sinking Under the weight of the useless contraptions Added to the shopping carts of all hard-working families Electric doodads and wizzurhaps and such to keep the munchkins entertained But get replaced by newer versions or just break down systematically Mothers, how many times have you debated self-euthanasia tablets for breakfast snacks When restlessness attacks, seemingly at random? Feel an emptiness inside that's hard to identify, maybe? Pursuing hobbies like pill-popping or constant overeating? Chances are you've been abandoned Now, I'm no scientist (No, no, no, no, no) That's not what I went to school for And I'm not a doctor So I don't know much about medicine But I'm willing to bet that you, yes, you, little What's your name, sweetheart? (Wah wah) Yeah, whatever Get a funny feeling in your tummy when you see mommy cry Something between woozy and confusion And you spend your thoughts on how this sadness In your mommy can be rooted out, burned, scorned, turned out, forgotten So you can concentrate on candy and little baby dolls or Whatever it is that normal kids get to think about Well, I can honestly say that this invention is Let me start by saying we've grafted only the finest of Inserted the most high-tech State of the art with brain charted from authentic True-to-human emotions and trained to be domestic Made from the most easily available materials and, uh, loosely inspected Guaranteed to revolutionize Perfectly realistic and even somewhat institutionally respected Robotic relative
[Verse 2] So you've purchased a paternal unit, class A, type 1 The new addition to your living room space, watch it go Under warranty for at least ninety days, so have fun If, in that time frame, there's a problem, please let us know Before you start, there's a few details that you must learn Technical specs about your unit to make things run smooth In an effort to find an energy source our company's learned The cheapest way to keep his battery running is with booze Plug it in, give it a name, man of the house, self-sustained Wearin' the pants, you can relax, one of the pack, nuclear fam Literally nuclear Which brings us to the safety chapter Section eighty-seven in your handbook, subsection sixteen Entitled "Troubleshooting" "Fuel sources are at a slight risk of mixing With the crispy plutonium center Of your automated new spouse and then dripping Possibly leading to the unpredicted stimulation of its artificial emotion circuits And in a few unsubstantiated clinical trials This condition has led to simulated feelings of resentment and worthlessness Manifested in the highly unlikely but still possible act Of physical aggression towards you and your loved ones fleshy surfaces"
Released as the first single from El-P’s acclaimed solo debut, Fantastic Damage, in 2001, Stepfather Factory finds El rapping from the point of view of a CEO of a company in charge of a “stepfather factory.”
The song gets it’s title from El-P’s abusive stepfather, who beat his mother to near death when he was 12 years old. El also made a song about that experience as well when he was in his group Company Flow. It’s called “Last Good Sleep” and was released in 1997 on the album Funcrusher Plus. Stepfather Factory can be considered as a sort of sequel to that song.
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