If you were looking to add the "Baltimore sound of Spank Rock to your hip-hop rolodex of new alt-hop terms, youre sort of hollering up the wrong tree. While the influence of hip-hop is there, and MC Spank Rock (aka Naeem Juwon) does rocks the mic over the beats producer Armani XXXchange (aka Alex Epton) throws down, the chopped-and-screwed-on-45 beats owe as much to the club, dance and booty-bass genres as anything else. Regardless of proper classification, though, youve probably already heard of the duo and their debut for Ninja Tunes Big Dada imprint, YoYoYoYoYo. The album seems poised to upset not only the sensibilities of rap purists, but also almost everyone, considering that they boast song titles like "Backyard Betty and "Coke & Wet (not to mention the previously released "Put that Pussy on Me). While other songs, like the undeniably dope "What It Look Like are receiving less press attention, even on the dirty birds there is something light and mischievous about Juwons dexterous dirty talk, and, at the end of the day, they seem mostly concerned with getting the cool kids off the back wall and back onto the dance floor.
Youre being associated with the Baltimore scene, but both of you say that your move to Philadelphia was equally important. XXXchange: I dont really feel like were part of that scene. Theres like four or five guys who really do it down there. Were really like third or fourth wave, and dont have that much to do with what really goes on in Baltimore. If you had to pigeonhole it, Id say its more of a Philly scene a Hollertronix thing, more like Diplo and stuff like that. MC Spank Rock: I moved to Philly because its kind of similar to Baltimore in that its kind of a grimy, rough city, but there are so many more young kids and artists there, that it kind of has this great influence on you. I think a lot of kids were finally admitting to themselves that they liked different types of music. People started realising that things were being shared more, and that they could like things that might be outside their world.
Its not to mention the dirty lyrics Did you intend to create a reaction? MC Spank Rock: I didnt set out to do anything specific. It wasnt until hearing it with people and them asking me questions that I realised that, you know, I couldnt play this record in my moms house. Its just kind of, umm, casually dirty?
(Big Dada)Youre being associated with the Baltimore scene, but both of you say that your move to Philadelphia was equally important. XXXchange: I dont really feel like were part of that scene. Theres like four or five guys who really do it down there. Were really like third or fourth wave, and dont have that much to do with what really goes on in Baltimore. If you had to pigeonhole it, Id say its more of a Philly scene a Hollertronix thing, more like Diplo and stuff like that. MC Spank Rock: I moved to Philly because its kind of similar to Baltimore in that its kind of a grimy, rough city, but there are so many more young kids and artists there, that it kind of has this great influence on you. I think a lot of kids were finally admitting to themselves that they liked different types of music. People started realising that things were being shared more, and that they could like things that might be outside their world.
Its not to mention the dirty lyrics Did you intend to create a reaction? MC Spank Rock: I didnt set out to do anything specific. It wasnt until hearing it with people and them asking me questions that I realised that, you know, I couldnt play this record in my moms house. Its just kind of, umm, casually dirty?