Show Report: Spank Rock @ The District
Intro by Jack Cusumano
The District is a bizarre little mishap stranded in the middle of 40th Street. During the day/evening it functions as a trendy, upscale restaurant, which proved a bit confounding to the travelers from Orlando looking for a nightclub. The sound guy assured us, however, that we did indeed have the right location, and that shortly the outdoor patio would be transforming into a show venue.
The Design District, the area in which it's located, is rather generous. Every gallery in the immediate area was handing out offerings of free wine and cheese, which we and Naeem "Spank Rock" Juwann were obliged to take advantage of in the dead time before the show.
As for the performance itself, you can probably imagine. Rockswell and Darko spun with such superb skill and taste that if any Orlando club DJs were in attendence they probably committed suicide on the spot. Naeem transformed from his mild-mannered alter ego into the God of the Club, acting as a rhyming Pied Piper for the sea of horny hipsters raging below him. XXXChange shared mic duties, plus took on the bonus role of Hype Man. All that standard Spank Rock shit was played (save a few, like the cougar infested "Touch Me"), but a few twists were added for the live show. "What it Look Like" was spat over the top of hot-shit Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" beat, and the utterly insane live-gem "Shake it 'Til My Dick Turns Racist" was happily present. Yes, Spank got so wild he fell in a fountain, ruining a wireless mic and his sneakers. Yes, Darko was setting of sparklers on a stage full of wildin'-out fans. But you can't say you didn't see it coming.
Now, here's some blogstyle personal thoughts from individual kP members in attendance at the Spank Rock show.
Thoughts From Alisha Torrealba
I expected to be somewhat star struck- here was a guy whose album was constantly in my head, and every time I heard it I was still entranced by its sick beats, and smooth and fabulously dirty poetry. But here I was on our KillerPOP field trip with a fake press pass in one hand, and a Dixie cup of wine in the other, chatting with Spank Rock. This is the life of the musician first hand- Indulging in strange situations where youre expected to pour out your artistry to anyone whos willing to listen. "I had no idea that this album would have an affect like it had on you guys," he told us. There's no denying that Spank Rock is something refreshing to the (insert genre here) scene, and seeing him in his beginning stage of a hopefully long musical career is also refreshing to the aspiring artist. Hes not spoiled with label luxuries, he's just a guy runnin' amok and putting out his passion. As anxious as I am to just take off and play music, it was great to get some simplistic encouragement from someone else who has decided to devote this time in his life to it- You just gotta do it, Spank instructed. I experienced a great mixture of energy, from just walking around the Miami art galleries and ghettos talking about music with Spank, to dancing on stage with him. We became part of the movement that night, and it was fucking awesome to say the least. However, Matt best described my mutual feeling with, "I think I need to just drop out of school now."
Thoughts From Matt Harrison
Out in the courtyard of The District, we stood between the two collapsible stages set up for MC Spank Rock to perform on. With asses already shakin’ from Rockswell and Darko’s party cuts and XXXChange’s vocal supplements, Naeem (aka Spank Rock) crawled out on stage and began his attack, never missing a beat thereafter (save the moment when he dropped his mic into a fountain due to his state of intoxication). After an hour of dancing, Naeem began pulling the kP crew onto the stages as he began “Sweet Talk.” While the night was already nothing short of astounding, Naeem passed the mic to us. Elated and expecting a swift return, we watched Spank dismount the stage to join the crowd, leaving Jack, Charles and I to continue the audiences momentum as we shouted the final hook: “So girls stand up, tell all them lyin’ n****s get they man up, whatchu know about the women with they leg up, stop actin’ like a bitch and throw your hands up!”
After the show, I sought out Naeem to thank him for an indescribable performance and was startled when he responded with praise of his own: “Matt, thank you guys so much. When I got up on stage, I was so nervous that no one would dance. You guys were dancin’ the whole time. Everyone was lookin’ to you.”
Thoughts From Jack Cusumano
Dude must stand about six feet tall. Loitering outside one of the interchangeable pop-art galleries in Miami's design district, at which free wine at cheese were attracting a decidedly high-brow crowd, Naeem "Spank Rock" Juwann stood out with a fitted O's hat on his head, an all-over print shirt peeking out from a black tee reading "Los Hermanos" on his back and some dope red and shimmery-white Nikes on his feet. When I mentioned to him how exciting the thought of he and the rest of the Spank Rock crew collaborating with some of the bigger names in mainstream hip-hop was to the KillerPOP staff, he agreed. In fact, he mentioned that he's been in contact with some of the major labels in regards to that very idea. But the dude keeps his humility, as what amount of fame he's accumulated so far doesn't seem to have sunken in yet. He mentioned how recently someone had called up and told him, "Yo, the Beastie Boys know who you are!" to which his response was a simple, "Oh, yeah?" This is the exciting, surprising and promising life of a 25 year old who until recently had been "getting fired from The Gap and failing out of school."
Thoughts From Brittany Middleton
Incase you're wondering, Miami's just as you imagined. Money paves the narrow streets and sharply dressed dudes and ingénues create a predictable climate. The impressive gallerias that enclose the quaint space had us fooled, but deeply within the glittering heart of the Design District, in a club of the area's namesake, lay a thunderous beat, an amalgamation of energy and ecstasy that pumped through longtime fans and Spank Rock virgins alike. Our sweat collected like morning dew as we reveled like it was the dawn of the Second Coming. With Spank Rock as general, his mighty DJs sustaining morale, we were fully equipped with an arsenal of stories tell to the public, specifically the typs that you can only read about on the internet. And so, these were the stories of our Miami jaunt. We came, we saw, and we partied hard, kids.
MORE INFO: spankrock.net, Poplife @ The District
Intro by Jack Cusumano
The District is a bizarre little mishap stranded in the middle of 40th Street. During the day/evening it functions as a trendy, upscale restaurant, which proved a bit confounding to the travelers from Orlando looking for a nightclub. The sound guy assured us, however, that we did indeed have the right location, and that shortly the outdoor patio would be transforming into a show venue.
The Design District, the area in which it's located, is rather generous. Every gallery in the immediate area was handing out offerings of free wine and cheese, which we and Naeem "Spank Rock" Juwann were obliged to take advantage of in the dead time before the show.
As for the performance itself, you can probably imagine. Rockswell and Darko spun with such superb skill and taste that if any Orlando club DJs were in attendence they probably committed suicide on the spot. Naeem transformed from his mild-mannered alter ego into the God of the Club, acting as a rhyming Pied Piper for the sea of horny hipsters raging below him. XXXChange shared mic duties, plus took on the bonus role of Hype Man. All that standard Spank Rock shit was played (save a few, like the cougar infested "Touch Me"), but a few twists were added for the live show. "What it Look Like" was spat over the top of hot-shit Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" beat, and the utterly insane live-gem "Shake it 'Til My Dick Turns Racist" was happily present. Yes, Spank got so wild he fell in a fountain, ruining a wireless mic and his sneakers. Yes, Darko was setting of sparklers on a stage full of wildin'-out fans. But you can't say you didn't see it coming.
Now, here's some blogstyle personal thoughts from individual kP members in attendance at the Spank Rock show.
Thoughts From Alisha Torrealba
I expected to be somewhat star struck- here was a guy whose album was constantly in my head, and every time I heard it I was still entranced by its sick beats, and smooth and fabulously dirty poetry. But here I was on our KillerPOP field trip with a fake press pass in one hand, and a Dixie cup of wine in the other, chatting with Spank Rock. This is the life of the musician first hand- Indulging in strange situations where youre expected to pour out your artistry to anyone whos willing to listen. "I had no idea that this album would have an affect like it had on you guys," he told us. There's no denying that Spank Rock is something refreshing to the (insert genre here) scene, and seeing him in his beginning stage of a hopefully long musical career is also refreshing to the aspiring artist. Hes not spoiled with label luxuries, he's just a guy runnin' amok and putting out his passion. As anxious as I am to just take off and play music, it was great to get some simplistic encouragement from someone else who has decided to devote this time in his life to it- You just gotta do it, Spank instructed. I experienced a great mixture of energy, from just walking around the Miami art galleries and ghettos talking about music with Spank, to dancing on stage with him. We became part of the movement that night, and it was fucking awesome to say the least. However, Matt best described my mutual feeling with, "I think I need to just drop out of school now."
Thoughts From Matt Harrison
Out in the courtyard of The District, we stood between the two collapsible stages set up for MC Spank Rock to perform on. With asses already shakin’ from Rockswell and Darko’s party cuts and XXXChange’s vocal supplements, Naeem (aka Spank Rock) crawled out on stage and began his attack, never missing a beat thereafter (save the moment when he dropped his mic into a fountain due to his state of intoxication). After an hour of dancing, Naeem began pulling the kP crew onto the stages as he began “Sweet Talk.” While the night was already nothing short of astounding, Naeem passed the mic to us. Elated and expecting a swift return, we watched Spank dismount the stage to join the crowd, leaving Jack, Charles and I to continue the audiences momentum as we shouted the final hook: “So girls stand up, tell all them lyin’ n****s get they man up, whatchu know about the women with they leg up, stop actin’ like a bitch and throw your hands up!”
After the show, I sought out Naeem to thank him for an indescribable performance and was startled when he responded with praise of his own: “Matt, thank you guys so much. When I got up on stage, I was so nervous that no one would dance. You guys were dancin’ the whole time. Everyone was lookin’ to you.”
Thoughts From Jack Cusumano
Dude must stand about six feet tall. Loitering outside one of the interchangeable pop-art galleries in Miami's design district, at which free wine at cheese were attracting a decidedly high-brow crowd, Naeem "Spank Rock" Juwann stood out with a fitted O's hat on his head, an all-over print shirt peeking out from a black tee reading "Los Hermanos" on his back and some dope red and shimmery-white Nikes on his feet. When I mentioned to him how exciting the thought of he and the rest of the Spank Rock crew collaborating with some of the bigger names in mainstream hip-hop was to the KillerPOP staff, he agreed. In fact, he mentioned that he's been in contact with some of the major labels in regards to that very idea. But the dude keeps his humility, as what amount of fame he's accumulated so far doesn't seem to have sunken in yet. He mentioned how recently someone had called up and told him, "Yo, the Beastie Boys know who you are!" to which his response was a simple, "Oh, yeah?" This is the exciting, surprising and promising life of a 25 year old who until recently had been "getting fired from The Gap and failing out of school."
Thoughts From Brittany Middleton
Incase you're wondering, Miami's just as you imagined. Money paves the narrow streets and sharply dressed dudes and ingénues create a predictable climate. The impressive gallerias that enclose the quaint space had us fooled, but deeply within the glittering heart of the Design District, in a club of the area's namesake, lay a thunderous beat, an amalgamation of energy and ecstasy that pumped through longtime fans and Spank Rock virgins alike. Our sweat collected like morning dew as we reveled like it was the dawn of the Second Coming. With Spank Rock as general, his mighty DJs sustaining morale, we were fully equipped with an arsenal of stories tell to the public, specifically the typs that you can only read about on the internet. And so, these were the stories of our Miami jaunt. We came, we saw, and we partied hard, kids.
MORE INFO: spankrock.net, Poplife @ The District
Photo by Jack Cusumano
Photo by Matt Harrison
Photo by Matt Harrison
Photo by Matt Harrison
Photo by Jack Cusumano