Artist Spotlight: Spank Rock

Hip-hop has been grinding its gears for the past twenty five years. When Run DMC dropped in 1983 they had a totally fresh sound. Hip rhyme patterns and word play over simple drum beats produced on 808's. Since then there's been some great lyricists, some great battle rappers, some soulful composers, and some excellent businessmen, but the end product sounds the same, just more polished. Enter Spank Rock.

Spank Rock is not for hip-hop purists. Spank Rock is for music fans who might be bored with the direction the genre has been stuck in for years now. No matter how meticulously we try to deconstruct genres into detached and disparate subcategories, music is nothing if not synergistic. All hip-hop categorization aside, its not everyday an album as fresh as Spank Rock's YOYOYOYOYO drops from the sky and into your cd player. Baltimore Club meets Electronica meets Miami Bass meets Contemporary Hip Hop.

Spank Rock has made a minor name for themselves by being dirtier than most: the first couplet of the album is "ass shaking competition champ/ooh that pussy gets damp." My guess is that the message doesn't fall upon virgin ears. Despite the vulgar language, you won't just be noddin' your head at songs end as is the case with most Nas tracks, you'll be dancing. Or wanting to, if you only knew how.

The rhymes aren't as tightly crafted as Hova or Em, but they're spit with such fervor and enthusiasm its hard to ignore and quite infectious. Spank Rock's vibe is clear; we're here to party, but we get down to a different beat. The vocals act more in combination with the beats, than at the forefront, and its sheer genius at it's very best. All in all, Spank Rock sell on their ability to be funny, seize the party, and get your ass up and movin'. And isn't that all that hip-hop should be about anyway?

As the custom goes, here are a couple mp3 links to check em out, especially since I just hyped it so much. I would definitely suggest you go out tomorrow and pick up YOYOYOYOYO. It won't leave your car stereo for a couple weeks.

Spank Rock MySpace Page

Spank Rock-Backyard Betty
Crunkadelic fo sho.

Spank Rock-Bump (Switch Remix)
This particular remix is pretty well done.

Spank Rock-Lindsay Lohan's Revenge
You'll laugh your ass off. Brings new relevance to rat population.