Adam BernardSpank Rock is an interesting character. One look at his current EP’s cover, which is an image of he and producer Benny Blanco underneath two large greased up women, is all the evidence anyone really needs of that. Originally from Baltimore, Spank Rock’s first single was “Put That Pussy On Me” and its popularity led him to create his current album, Spank Rock and Benny Blanco are Bangers & Cash, which is a tribute of sorts to 2 Live Crew. This week RapReviews.com caught up with Spank Rock to find out about his work, the random nudity at his live shows and why he calls Bangers & Cash “the most exciting EP that’s come out to date.”
Adam Bernard: First off, why did you want to hurt my eyes so badly with that cover shot?
Spank Rock: C’mon man, that’s some beautiful chocolate pudding right there.
AB: Clearly a nice homage to 2 Live Crew. So tell me all about Spank Rock and Benny Blanco are Bangers & Cash, how did it come together and what do you hope to accomplish with it?
Spank Rock: It’s a collaboration between me and my boy Benny (Blanco), he’s a 19 year old producer. He’s a fucking genius in my head. He came to me and he was like we should Spank Rock vs. 2 Live Crew. It was gonna be a mixtape or a single, but then we decided to do an EP. We just wanted to make nasty ass party music and even though it’s an homage to 2 Live Crew we really wanted to make it our own. He wanted to show off his production style and I wanted to show off what I bring to rap.
AB: Out of all the artists you could possibly choose to honor why did you choose 2 Live Crew?
Spank Rock: Because they impacted Hip-Hop and dance music like no other group ever did. They were in trouble with the government, they were getting banned from cities, but they were truly honestly just having a really good time. And also they were never really respected in Hip-Hop during their time; they were so far out of the box. Luke put all that music out himself. He created a genre that makes a strong impact on the rest of the world. I grew up on that and I think that’s who we should really be paying attention to, people who were being honest and taking risks and not just sticking to what people expect, what rules people put on a genre of music.
AB: With so many people calling to make Hip-Hop cleaner where does your music fit in? Are people going to be shocked or are people just going to party?
Spank Rock: I think some people will be like oh my God he said that, but I think the good people will party.
AB: What’s the lewdest thing you say on the album?
Spank Rock: Coke on a tip will make a bitch go numb. I think that’s pretty fucked up. I think that’s pretty lewd.
AB: Now how do you think a line like that will affect your dating life?
Spank Rock: I think it’s gonna be even better.
AB: How did you link up with Blanco and when did you know you had to do this project?
Spank Rock: I met Benny when I was working with Disco D, he was interning with him at the time. He’s hilarious. He’s this little 19 year old Jew. He has the best sense of humor and great taste in music. After D passed we linked back up and just started becoming friends. He asked me to do the Spank Rock vs. 2 Live Crew project, played some beats for me and I was completely blown away. It sounded like they could stand up in the club with other big pop / Hip-Hop jams. So I got in there and started saying some nasty shit. We had a lot of fun and once we started finishing it up we got to grease up some big girls, take some photos with em and it turned out exactly how we wanted it to turn out. It was fun and exciting.
AB: How long did you know Disco?
Spank Rock: I knew D for only about a year. He was becoming a new friend and becoming a mentor.
AB: Did you ever get to work on tracks with him?
Spank Rock: Yeah, he was really crazy, so when I worked with him it was really like pulling teeth with me. He was really challenging me and trying to pull a stronger voice out of me as a rapper. He wanted me to become tighter in every single way. I never had anyone who put that much energy into making me better. It was really important for me. I really miss him a lot.
AB: Have you been able to reciprocate that and help out a producer in some way?
Spank Rock: I don’t know if I can really say that, but I know that the working relationships I do have with my producers, like XXXchange and Benny, they’re very honest and do share ideas back and forth and I really enjoy the outcome of it, so maybe I do have some affect on them, but they’re very talented, I don’t know how much help I can be. That’s not really my skill.
AB: In terms of your live performances, what can people expect when you’re on stage?
Spank Rock: It all depends on how fucked up I am.
AB: OK, so on a sober night what can people expect?
Spank Rock: On a sober night people can expect great breath control and awesome weird moves like McLovin.
AB: And on a night where there might have been some chemical enhancement?
Spank Rock: Chemical enhancement, really awesome McLovin style dance moves, some catastrophes with broken iPods and nudity.
AB: Your dancers or your own?
Spank Rock: I don’t know, it all depends, man. Probably both. {*laughs*}
AB: Are you thinking you might be one of the handful of rappers who ends up on a Warped Tour someday?
Spank Rock: I don’t know if that’s my goal. I’m way too gangster for Warped Tour. I’m crazy. They couldn’t handle this!
AB: I know you’re also working on a full length album right now. Talk to me about it. What can people expect? Will it be like the “Sweet Talk” 12 inch you released earlier this year?
Spank Rock: I think “Sweet Talk” is probably a perfect song to reference. I think the next album is really going to try to follow that vein. When I first heard that instrument I couldn’t believe he put that all together. It was really funky and really rock and roll, as well. Not like Korn rock and roll, but more soulful and then it goes to this whole Motown kind of jam at the end. It was so exciting to hear that in Hip-Hop and I think I’m going to try to make more stuff like that.
AB: Who would you like to work with that you haven’t worked with yet?
Spank Rock: I would love to have UGK on this next album. I really think they’re some of the best rappers out right now. I think they’re the first rappers to have a double album that I can listen to front to back.
AB: What do you feel makes you unique and different in this rap world?
Spank Rock: I don’t know. There are definitely some rappers I really look up to that I take some influence from, but I think one of the biggest trends in being a rapper and Hip-Hop culture is to be extremely arrogant. I think a lot of people make claims about themselves that they haven’t really reached, so I think that’s one thing with me, I’m approaching this as a songwriter and not as a… I don’t have my own dick in my mouth is what I’m trying to say. I really just enjoy making music and enjoy the outcome of partying and seeing how kids respond to it.
AB: Who are the kids that have been responding to it most? Who have you been seeing in the crowd?
Spank Rock: Sometimes they’re too young, but we have a really good audience. It’s a mix as far as gender is concerned, but also ethnicity and I feel like it’s really progressive. They come out to have fun, they come out to see something meaningful, they come out to get their spirits lifted a little bit, so it’s a good group of kids and we’re just all in there wilin out together. I’ll be in the crowd dancing with em.
AB: What else should people know about you as a person?
Spank Rock: Nothing. I put out albums. I put out music for people to enjoy. They can take whatever they want to take from it, but I have enough close friends. {*laughs*}
AB: But you want people to still buy you a drink at the bar, right?
Spank Rock: I’m on the cover of Fader, I’m famous, man. I don’t need nobody to buy me no drinks, I got champagne and Grey Goose just lined up pouring out of fountains.