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Biography
Born and raised in West Baltimore, Juwan was introduced to the Baltimore club music scene in his teens. During high school Juwan’s older sister introduced the budding musician to producer J. Period, who took the Baltimore-native under his wing. Juwan subsequently met Alex Epton, an alumni of the New England Conservatory of Music, and the two began performing together under the moniker Spank Rock. Playing early shows around Philadelphia and Phoenixville, the band’s profile increased significantly supporting artists including Hollertronix and M.I.A.
Following a tour in support of Beck in 2006, Spank Rock issued their debut full-length “YoYoYoYoYo”. Replete with hypersexual lyrical themes and decades-old samples, the record generated a host of positive reviews, led by the singles “Rick Rubin”, “Sweet Talk”, and “Bump”. Released on Big Dada Records, the album proved to be the final Spank Rock output as a duo with Alex Epton, also known as XXXChange, going solo in late 2007. Spank Rock subsequently collaborated with Benny Blanco on the EP “Benny Blanco & Spank Rock Present: Bangers & Cash” and appeared on the Kylie Minogue remix track “Benny Blanco”.
Later collaborating with Mark Ronson, Spank Rock featured on his single “The Bike Song” from the 2010 album “Record Collection” before appearing on Ronson’s supporting tour. Issued on his own label Bad Blood Records, the rapper’s sophomore album “Everything Is Boring and Everyone Is a Fucking Liar” arrived in September 2011. Led by the single “Energy”, the record earned mixed reviews however featured a string of producers including Mark Ronson, Boyz Noize, and XXXChange. In December 2014 the musician released the EP “The Upside”, led by the single “Gully”.
Live reviews
Assuming you can get past the sheer silliness - or crudeness, depending on your point of view - of his stage name, there’s a lot to like about Naeem Juwan’s music; anybody turned off by his moniker, though, should probably also know that he christened his debut album with the equally trite name YoYoYoYoYo. That record was the one that introduced Juwan’s uncanny ability to take hip hop sounds that are essentially pretty age-worn, pretty tired, and inject new life into them, with some sumptuously deep bass tracks and digital wizardry setting him apart from his nostalgia-obsessed contemporaries. Since that album made a name for him back in 2006, he took a while to follow it up, but eventually did so in triumphant fashion with the gloriously - and, indeed, honestly - titled Everything Is Boring and Everyone Is a Fucking Liar in 2011, which featured collaborations with the likes of Big Freedia. He’s currently on tour with Boys Noize and Baauer across the United States as he preps album number three, bringing his eccentric flow and choppy beats to a live audience in a fashion that’s ostensibly pretty sparse, but actually proves genuinely enthralling; he’s one of the most original propositions currently performing on the hip hop circuit.
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