On The Floor! - Live at Check Yo Ponytail Tour, USA

Spank Rock

Boys Noize Records, Baltimore

2006 saw the emergence of Spank Rock, the name plastered on every magazine cover, lighting up every blog and gracing many end-of-year charts. Their debut 'YoYoYoYoYo' caught the ear of just about anyone, well, anyone with an ear, and left everyone and their media dog panting to find out more about these boys. Yes, these boys. Boys who had created an imaginative, artistic sound that no one else could quite touch: combining hip hop with the bass-driven sound of Baltimore house, filtering filthy raps into deep electro and furiously quick BPMs, and the odd guilty pleasure to boot. Despite all the hype, they still have a rare, down to earth charisma and the addictive enthusiasm of four starry-eyed boys from Baltimore, completely in awe of their position and unaware of just how much they've wowed the world. Flash back to 2000, when fun-loving DJ Chris Devlin's (aka Chris Rockswell) apartment 320 was often found heaving with rowdy parties, bubbling with the likes of introspective producer and RBMA alumnus Alex Epton (Armani XXXchange), quick-tongued and filthy-minded MC Naeem Juwan (MC Spank Rock), and rambunctious battle DJ Ronnie Darko. The four collectively formed Spank Rock organically, with Chris Devlin and his apartment being the centre point. While attending high school together, Chris DJed in Naeem's first hip hop band with a guitarist named Chip. Alex, who lived down the street from Chris, got introduced to Naeem at one of Chris' graffiti art exhibitions. Aspiring DJs, Chris and Ronnie met randomly in Music Liberated, where Ronnie was flyering for one of his parties. Then, through no effort of their own, Alex and Naeem's little studio projects suddenly got whipped up by Big Dada, after their mate Wes (aka Diplo) had secretly passed on their demo... The insanity of years in between apparently culminated in sheer excitement as the title of Spank Rock's 2011 follow-up album, 'Everything Is Boring And Everyone Is A Fucking Liar' suggests. Six years didn't mean a loss of momentum but rather an opportunity to make new friends such as Kylie Minogue and Boys Noize, who flipped a bit of Can for Spank Rock's single 'Energy'. Seems just like bass-rap trapped in dirty minds and skinny jeans actually did develop a longevity most folks didn't expect back in the big hipster rap paranoia of 2006. Catch them live on stage at the 2011 Check Yo Ponytail Tour, which took them through ten cities across the US.