Naeem Juwan, better known by his stage name Spank Rock, is an American rapper and songwriter from

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. He rose to fame with his 2006 album ''

YoYoYoYoYo ''YoYoYoYoYo'' is the debut studio album by Spank Rock. It was released through Big Dada on April 18, 2006. It was nominated for the 2006 Shortlist Music Prize. Song "What It Look Like" was featured in the soundtrack for 2006 Racing game, racing v ...

'', which was produced by former group member Alex Epton (

XXXChange Alex Brady Epton, known professionally as XXXChange (formerly known as XXXCBIOSCCC), is an American, New York-based record producer, mixer and film composer. In 2014, he joined XL Recordings in New York, and as their in-house producer/engineer wor ...

). A harbinger of post-millennial alternative rap, the duo became known for its mixing of disparate hip hop and club genres, including Baltimore club,

Miami bass Miami bass (booty music or booty bass) is a subgenre of hip hop music that became popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The use of drums from the Roland TR-808, sustained kick drum, heavy bass, raised dance tempos, and frequently sexually explicit ...

, electro music and rock. In 2007, Epton left the group to pursue his own production while Juwan went on to release the '' Bangers & Cash'' EP (2007) with pop producer

Benny Blanco Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is als ...

. After a five-year contract struggle with his label

Downtown Records Downtown Records is an American record label based in New York City with offices in Los Angeles. Owned and operated by Josh Deutsch and Terence Lam, the label is distributed by Geffen Records (formerly Interscope Records and The Orchard) in the ...

, Juwan released his second album, ''

Everything Is Boring and Everyone Is a Fucking Liar ''Everything Is Boring and Everyone Is a Fucking Liar'' is the second studio album by Spank Rock. It was released through Bad Blood Records on September 27, 2011. It peaked at number 14 on the ''Billboard'' Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart. Crit ...

'', with a range of producers including

Boys Noize Alexander Ridha (born 22 August 1982), better known by his stage name Boys Noize, is a Berlin-based German-Iraqi electronic music record producer, songwriter, and DJ. It is similar to the name of Ridha's label, Boysnoize Records, which he esta ...

Le1f Khalif Diouf, known by his stage name Le1f (), is an American rapper and producer. He also founded the record label Camp & Street, with Boody, DonChristian, and Chaz Requina. As a gay rapper he's garnered attention for his musical and performa ...

, and

Squeak E. Clean Sam Spiegel (born October 31, 1979), known by the stage name Sam i and previously as Squeak E. Clean, is an American DJ, Hip hop producer, producer, composer, and Music director, director from New York City. In addition to creating his own mat ...

Biography

Juwan grew up in West Baltimore in a row home alongside five sisters and two brothers. As a teenager, Juwan frequented clubs such as Paradox, where DJs played Baltimore club music. In high school, his older sister introduced him to Brooklyn-based producer J. Period, known for producing records by underground rappers

Mos Def Yasiin Bey (; born Dante Terrell Smith, December 11, 1973), previously and more commonly known by his stage name Mos Def (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. His hip hop career began in 1994, alongside his siblings in the s ...

and Artifacts. J. Period mentored Juwan and helped him improve his skills as a rapper for some time. After moving to Philadelphia and dropping out of college, Juwan met fellow Baltimore native Alex Epton, who had studied composition at the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on H ...

in Boston and learned studio production as an intern at the

DFA Records DFA Records is an American independent record label founded in 2001 by Mo' Wax co-founder Tim Goldsworthy, musician James Murphy, and manager Jonathan Galkin. They previously had a production team called The DFA, consisting of Goldsworthy and ...

studio in New York. Juwan and Epton started performing under the name Spank Rock together in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and

Phoenixville Phoenixville is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northwest of Philadelphia at the junction of French Creek and the Schuylkill River. It is in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The population is 18,616 ...

, where their reputation quickly increased. They later toured with Hollertronix and M.I.A. They also toured with Beck in 2006. Spank Rock's debut studio album, ''

'', was released in 2006 on the

Big Dada Big Dada is a British independent record label imprint distributed by Ninja Tune. It was started by reputed hip hop journalist Will Ashon in 1997. It is best known for marketing of prominent British hip hop artist Roots Manuva, poet and play ...

record label. It was nominated for the 2006

Shortlist Music Prize The Shortlist Music Prize, stylized as (shôrt–lĭst), was an annual music award for the best album released in the United States that had sold fewer than 500,000 copies at the time of nomination. First given as a cash prize in 2001 under ...

. In 2007, Alex Epton (

) left Spank Rock to pursue his own production while Naeem Juwan signed a deal with

. Spank Rock's first Downtown Records release came in the form of fall 2007's '' Bangers & Cash'' EP, a

2 Live Crew 2 Live Crew is an American hip hop music, hip hop group from Miami, Florida, which had its greatest commercial success from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. The group's most well-known line up was composed of Luther Campbell, Luke Campbell, Fr ...

-inspired collaborative EP with

. In 2010, Spank Rock was featured, along with The View's

Kyle Falconer Kyle Francis Falconer (born 6 June 1987) is a Scottish musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist of The View. Along with the other band members, Falconer hails from the Dryburgh district of Dundee. He shares songw ...

, on "

The Bike Song "The Bike Song" is the second single taken from ''Record Collection'', the third studio album by Mark Ronson, released under the moniker Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. The song featured singer Kyle Falconer from Scottish indie rock band The Vi ...

" by

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, R ...

, which appeared on Ronson's 2010 album

Record Collection Record Collection may refer to: * Record Collection (record label), a Los Angeles-based music studio * ''Record Collection'' (album), a 2010 album by Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. *"Record Collection", a song by Kaiser Chiefs on the 2019 album, ...

. Spank Rock toured with Ronson for the album's 2010 UK tour. The following year, Spank Rock released his second studio album, ''

'', on his own label, Bad Blood Records. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' premiered the first single from the album, titled "Energy," produced by

, and later selected the single "Nasty" as a "Best New Track." ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' premiered the album in September 2011 on their website. The album featured production from Boys Noize, XXXChange,

Sam Spiegel Samuel P. Spiegel (November 11, 1901December 31, 1985) was an American independent film producer born in the Galician area of Austria-Hungary. Financially responsible for some of the most critically acclaimed motion pictures of the 20th centur ...

, and Le1f, as well as appearances by

Santigold Santi White (born September 25, 1976), known professionally as Santigold (formerly Santogold), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. '' Billboard'' presented her in 2022, saying: "Spanning punk rock, hip-hop, and dance music, S ...

and

Big Freedia Freddie Ross Jr. (born January 28, 1978), better known by his stage name Big Freedia ( ), is an American rapper and performer known for his work in the New Orleans genre of hip hop called bounce music. Freedia has been credited with helping popu ...

. After the release of his album, Spank Rock was selected to be one of the faces of Alexander Wang's 2011 T collection, along with Santigold. In 2012, Spank Rock released a second EP, ''E. I. B. A. E. I. A. F. L. Remixes'', a collection of various producers' remixes of tracks from ''Everything Is Boring and Everyone Is a Fucking Liar''. He also co-wrote the Boys Noize-produced track "Look at These Hoes" from

's album,

Master of My Make-Believe ''Master of My Make-Believe'' is the second studio album by American musician and singer Santigold, released in the United Kingdom on April 24, 2012 and in the United States on May 1, through Downtown and Atlantic Records. The album features contr ...

. Spank Rock released his third EP, ''The Upside'', in 2014 on Bad Blood Records and Boysnoize Records, with production contributions from Kid Kamillion, Boys Noize, and Damian Taylor. Lead single "Gully" was remixed by Brodinski and

Switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...

, and received extensive play on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

. Spank Rock began appearing in concerts in 2016 as an MC with

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n electronic music group

The Avalanches The Avalanches are an Australian electronic music group formed in Melbourne in 1997. They are known for their studio albums '' Since I Left You'' (2000), ''Wildflower'' (2016), and '' We Will Always Love You'' (2020), as well as their live and ...

. He subsequently appeared in performances at

Coachella Coachella may refer to: * Coachella, California * Coachella Canal, in California * Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California * "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind", a 2017 song by Lana del Rey See also

* Coachell ...

and

Vivid Sydney Vivid Sydney is an annual festival of light, music and ideas, held in Sydney, Australia. It includes outdoor immersive light installations and projections, performances by local and international musicians, and an ideas exchange forum featurin ...

in 2017. Under the Naeem moniker, Juwan released a solo studio album, '' Startisha'', in 2020. It features contributions from

Justin Vernon Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon (born April 30, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the primary songwriter and frontman of indie folk band Bon Iver. Known for his distinct falsetto voic ...

Francis and the Lights Francis and the Lights is an American pop project led by Francis Farewell Starlite. The term "and the Lights" refers both to the lights on a stage and pixels on a computer screen. Starlite often uses the Francis and the Lights name when credit ...

, Ryan Olson,

Swamp Dogg Jerry Williams Jr. (born July 12, 1942), generally credited under the pseudonym Swamp Dogg after 1970, is an American soul and R&B singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. Williams has been described as "one of the great cult figures of ...

, Velvet Negroni,

Amanda Blank Amanda Blank (born Amanda Mallory McGrath; March 21, 1983) is an American singer, rapper and member of the performance art band Sweatheart based in Philadelphia. Early life Amanda Blank was born in Germantown, Philadelphia, Germantown, a neighb ...

, and Micah James.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (2006) * ''

'' (2011) * '' Startisha'' (2020)

Mixtapes

* ''Couche Tard'' (2006)

DJ mixes

* ''

FabricLive.33 ''FabricLive.33'' is a DJ mix compilation album by Spank Rock, as part of the FabricLive Mix Series. Track listing # Intro # Kurtis Blow – The Breaks – ''Universal'' # CSS – Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above (Spank Rock ...

'' (2007)

EPs

* '' Bangers & Cash'' (2007) * ''E. I. B. A. E. I. A. F. L. Remixes'' (2012) * ''The Upside'' (2014)

Singles

* "Put That Pussy on Me" (2005) * "Rick Rubin" (2006) * "Sweet Talk" (2006) * "Bump" (2006) * "Energy" (2011) * "Car Song" (2011) * "I Know a Place" (2014) * "Gully" / "Vertigo" (2014) * "Gully (Brodinski Remix)" (2014) * "Assassin" / "Back Up" (2014)

Guest appearances

DJ Kentaro Kentaro Okamoto (born c.1982), better known as DJ Kentaro, is a musician and DJ from Japan.''Tuff Kuts'' review, ''The Wire'', 2008, vol. 293-298, p. 70 He won third place in the Technics category of the DMC World DJ Final in 2001 and won it in ...

- "Free" from ''Enter'' (2007) *

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

- "

D.A.N.C.E. "D.A.N.C.E." is the second single by Justice and the first from their album ''†''. It includes edited and extended versions of "D.A.N.C.E", a rougher mix in the style of their earlier releases, "B.E.A.T", and the track "Phantom" which was pre ...

(Remix)" (2007) *

Shy Child Shy Child were an American electronic music duo from New York City, United States, consisting of Pete Cafarella on vocals and synthesizers and Nate Smith on drums. History Shy Child formed in the summer of 2000, when former college friends Pete ...

- "Kick Drum" from ''Noise Won't Stop'' (2007) * Feadz - "Back It Up" from ''

Ed Rec Vol. 3 Ed Banger Records (sometimes referred to as Ed Rec) is a French electronic music record label founded by Pedro Winter in 2003 as a division of Headbangers Entertainment. It focuses on house music, particularly French house, as well as alterna ...

'' (2008) *

The Chemical Brothers The Chemical Brothers are an English electronic music duo formed by Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons in Manchester in 1989. They were pioneers (along with the Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, the Crystal Method, and other acts) in bringing the big beat genre t ...

- "Keep My Composure" from ''

Brotherhood Brotherhood or The Brotherhood may refer to: Family, relationships, and organizations * Fraternity (philosophy) or brotherhood, an ethical relationship between people, which is based on love and solidarity * Fraternity or brotherhood, a mal ...

'' (2008) *

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

- "Heart Beat Rock" (Benny Blanco Mix featuring Spank Rock) from '' X'' (2008) * Santogold - "Shove It" from '' Santogold'' (2008) *

Neon Neon Neon Neon is a collaborative project from producer Boom Bip and Gruff Rhys, the frontman for the Welsh rock band Super Furry Animals. They began work on the project in October 2006 originally under the moniker Delorean. In March 2008 the duo, by ...

- "Trick or Treat" from '' Stainless Style'' (2008) *

Japanther Japanther was an American punk band established by Matt Reilly and Ian Vanek, then students at Pratt Institute. Japanther was featured in the 2006 Whitney Biennial and the 2011 Venice Biennale, and collaborated with a diverse pool of artists su ...

- "Radical Businessman" from ''

Tut Tut, Now Shake Ya Butt ''Tut Tut, Now Shake Ya Butt'' is a studio album by American experimental punk band Japanther. The song "Radical Businessman" was used in Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned, the add-on to the video game Grand Theft Auto IV. The album includes ...

'' (2008) *

Deekline Deekline is a British producer and DJ of breakbeat, breakstep, drum and bass and garage music. He is the innovator of breakstep music which is bass-heavy, breakbeat-infused 2-step, first characterised in his 1999 hit " I Don't Smoke", which r ...

& Wizard - "Roll That Shit" from ''Booty Breaks Vol. 3'' (2008) * Steve Aoki - "We Are Rockstars" from ''Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles'' (2008) * Heartsrevolution - "Ultraviolence (Remix)" (2009) * N.A.S.A. - "Wachadoin" from ''

The Spirit of Apollo ''The Spirit of Apollo'' is the debut album by N.A.S.A., a hip hop duo consisting of Squeak E. Clean and DJ Zegon. It was released on ANTI- in 2009. The track, "N.A.S.A. Anthem", was featured on the official NASA Glenn Research Center website ...

'' (2009) * Ninjasonik - "My Eyes" from ''Darth Baño'' (2009) * Staygold - "Backseat" (2010) *

Crookers Crookers is the musical project of Italian DJ and producer Francesco "Phra" Barbaglia. Crookers was originally a duo consisting of Phra and fellow producer Bot, who worked together from 2003 to 2012. When the two artists met, both were trying to ...

- "Park the Truck" from '' Tons of Friends'' (2010) *

- "

" from ''

'' (2010) * Rebecca & Fiona - "Church Is on Fire" from ''I Love You, Man!'' (2011) *

The Death Set The Death Set (also typeset as TheDeathSet or The DeathSet) is an experimental music band with roots in punk rock, sometimes referred to as art punk. The band formed in 2005 in Sydney. Six months after its inception, the band moved to the Unit ...

- "7PM Woke Up an Hour Ago" from ''Michel Poiccard'' (2011) * Addison Groove - "Bad Things" from ''Transistor Rhythm'' (2012) *

- "Star Alliance" (2013) * Cakes da Killa - "I Run This Club (Remix)" (2014) * Trippy Turtle - "Trippy's Theme (TWRK Remix)" (2014) *

- "Birthday" from '' Mayday'' (2016) * Nick Hook - "Another Way" from ''Relationships'' (2016)

Compilation appearances

* "Hoodie (Spank Rock Remix)" on ''

Chocolate Swim ''Chocolate Swim'' is a free download album released in 2006 by Adult Swim and Chocolate Industries (through Williams Street Records).http://www.imageyenation.com/?itemid=2200 Track listing #Kovas – "Up In Here" (3:59) #Lady Sovereign – "H ...

'' (2006)

References

External links

* *
Spank Rock
(archive) at Boysnoize Records {{DEFAULTSORT:Spank Rock Living people Year of birth missing (living people) African-American male rappers Rappers from Philadelphia Rappers from Baltimore East Coast hip hop musicians Downtown Records artists Big Dada artists 21st-century African-American people