Spanking DC

I’m going to be trying something completely new here at DCistGoHome; I’m going to be moderately polite - although with a big caveat. On DCist’s Weekend Picks last friday, Sommer Mathis wrote:

Of course, the non-DAM! show of the night is clearly Baltimore's Spank Rock, who'll be bringing their old school hip-hop beats with an electronic twist to Black Cat.

First, I’d like to acknowledge that she structured this perfectly within the bounds of what is acceptable on the pages of DCist. There is no cultural icon theft. There is no attempt to lay claim to a Baltimorean institution as being somehow reflective of DC in anyway. There is no bullshit treating Baltimore as a DC suburb. The delineation of our two completely separate cities is made clear.

Sommer, you’re growing. I’m proud of you. *HUGS*

Hell, I’m feeling so damn warm and fuzzy about this that I won’t even delve too deeply into the fact that there is absolutely nothing “old school” about Spank Rock’s beats. In fact, the beats aren’t even hip hop - although sometimes they’re loosely based on, or rooted in, Baltimore Club - but Baltimore Club and “old school” hip hop not the same thing. There is a shit load of hip hop influence in Spank Rock’s sound, but not in the beats. They’re rough, they thump, they knuckle heads, but they aren’t “old school,” unless by old school you’re talking about Motown R&B.

Unfortunately, I will have to delve a little more deeply into the fact that Spank Rock isn’t actually Baltimore’s. Emcee, Naeem Juwan, or Spank Rock proper, is working out of Philly. Producer, Alex Epton, or XXXchange (the other half of Spank Rock), likewise, is a Brooklyn figure. It isn’t until you get down to the turntables of C. Rockswell and Ronnie Darko that you’ll find a Baltimore address, and at this point you’ve arguably left Spank Rock and entered the realm of the Baltimore Bass Connection. BBC and Spank Rock are not the same thing. True, everyone involved, with the exception of Philly’s Amanda Blank, have Baltimore roots; and they represent Baltimore in a big way (arguably a little too heavy handidly for some tastes) and are on a mission export their variant of the Baltimore sound to the world stage; but they were founded in and built up from the undergrounds of Philadelphia and Brooklyn, not Baltimore, by Baltimorean expats. As Naeem said in this Radio Free Chicago interview:

It's interesting to me how most music journalists don't care to pay attention. If you listen to our music, it's obvious that our sound has many influences, Baltimore club is one of them, but to be called a Baltimore club artist, because our sound is unique, Club is becoming more popular, and we're from Baltimore is just lazy. There are only two songs that have the club sound on our album.

So you see, Spank Rock isn’t actually a Baltimore outfit, or living in Baltimore, or even playing true Baltimore Club music (full confession from me: I actually adore Spank Rock and the BBC, while genuine B-more Club makes my ears bleed), they’re reping Baltimore for the significant/relevant portions of the Mid-Atlantic; namely, Baltimore, Philly, Jersey and New York. They’re blowing up. Baltimore Club is blowing up. There is a tie, but they are not the same thing. Nor are they the same thing as the Baltimore Bass Connection - which in itself isn’t producing genuine Baltimore Club music, but a geek-kid variant to a largely white audience.

Confused yet? Of course you are. It would be confusing to anybody. Being from DC, you are especially disinclined to be able to sort any of this out. Perhaps people writing for Phillyist or Gothamist can explain this all to you. It isn’t that I even minded this post at all; except, you know, everything you said was actually wrong and all - as though Baltimore and everything related or derived from Baltimore is beyond your understanding... or something.

As Emcee Rabbit of the BBC (and former Washingtonian. She went Injun in the Baltimorean Wilderness) said of the Black Cat show last weekend, “DC watch yourself.” See? It isn’t just me. Just about everyone in this whole damn city feels exactly as I do. Oh, I’m just kidding. In this one post, you and I are buds. *HUGS!* But seriously, watch yourself.