Grant JonesRappers have had all sorts of curious kinks and sexual preferences over the years. Whether it be the body types preferred (and celebrated) by Sir Mix-A-Lot or Redman, or the detailed specifics provided by current chart-toppers Doja Cat and Sexyy Red, you’re never too far from an emcee sharing their perversions in detail. I always hark back to Doppelgangaz as a prime example of building a strong identity around celebrating the goofy side of sexual imagery in their storytelling, and unlike the humorously named ShittyBoyz who have nothing to do with human feces, Dookie Bros (Franchise and Shy the BeatYoda) have built a small following among underground hip-hop fans by blending east coast influences with toilet humor.
Like any self-respecting rap fan, the 90s aesthetic that worships scratched hooks and chopped loops is often an easy win. You immediately got my attention. Whether it succeeds is largely down to the emcee rocking the mic, and so often we are inundated with bland personalities churning out generic brag rhymes, or recyling tales we’ve heard done better countless times before. Dookie Bros just about navigate around this subgenre, by going all in on the schoolboy humor.
2023 saw a few EPs drop: “Manure Music Vol.1”, “Manure Music Vol. 2” and “Merry Shitmas” and all of them possess solid beats, but it’s the rhymes that elevate them from the usual output in this area. Hell, “Official Intelligence” and “Shit Talkin'” (added to the RapReviews playlist on Spotify) are certified head-nodders. 2024 kicks off with “Happy Dook Year”, another EP that continues this blend of love for Hip-Hop, and disgusting imagery. It’s delivered with enough tongue-in-cheek – it’s just which cheek is it?
Perhaps the most innovative thing Dookie Bros has done is inject a bit of life into the whole “real rap” scene. Admittedly, they aren’t quite “composing classics while you’re napping on your moldy mattress” as stated in “The Real Dookie”, but they supply enough tomfoolery to justify the boasts. Rap can often be stupid, and this basks in its ridiculousness. Lines like “your mama Dukes even said you’re a doofus/now she’s waiting in my bed and I’m about to see her excellent huge tits” are intentionally stupid, and I love that. “Flush Em Down” takes the metaphor of the bum cigar literally, riffing on Public Enemy’s “Shut Em Down” on the hook as rappers (turds) need to be flushed away.
Labeling this throwback rap does a disservice to Shy the BeatYoda, as it does feel modern. The beats feel clean, and the scratches are as sharp as they need to be, and I enjoyed the use of more obscure rappers. That Celph Titled line on “Missile Launcher II” never gets old.
“I Luh This Shit” is the exception, a straight-laced admission of the duo’s passion for Hip-Hop, leaning heavily on the word ‘shit’ without the need to picture a cable. This is where Dookie Bros could potentially suffer creatively, if they lean too heavily into their adulation for their influences, because they have something different with their approach to outlandish rhyming. Nobody wants to hear the specific details of their bowel movements, but with enough silly details pebble dashed throughout their lyrics, it makes these beats, which “go hard like two day old shit”, all the more interesting to continue revisiting. After the four EPs they have dropped in twelve months, the next one may well crack the porcelain.