Spank Rock's YoYoYoYoYo was far and away the best rap debut of 2005, but six long years later, they'd never equaled it and, what's worse, not even released another album. Frontman Naeem Juwan had fallen out with Spank Rock's production phenom, XXXChange, and then he had switched labels, and then he switched labels again to his own Bad Blood Records. Finally, Everything Is Boring & Everyone Is a F---ing Liar arrived in September of 2011 and immediately delivered on all the drama. Contrary to the title, this is not a cynical record, at least no more cynical than YoYoYoYoYo. It also raises the stakes on Juwan as the Prince of his generation (but, of course, not the only Prince of his generation). While the debut was rooted in Baltimore club music, tracks on Everything Is Boring come from all over, most of them from Berlin's Boys Noize, whose towering digital distortion isn’t as immediate or motivating as XXXChange, but follows Juwan's songs more closely without sacrificing the freewheeling aesthetic of YoYoYoYoYo. Juwan is even more passionate than before, balancing the loaded party anthems ("Birfday," "Nasty," "#1 Hit") with songs that can only be described as message tracks ("Turn It Off"), along with an alias named Hennesey Youngman who addresses constant questions about when the new Spank Rock is coming out. There's less of a party atmosphere, sometimes literally (since there are few guests), although there's still plenty of rhyming about girls and substances backed by martial snares and metronome bass claps. Keeping such a schizophrenic affair entertaining and connected is a feat in itself, and Spank Rock's second album shows that, despite long odds, Juwan can succeed on his own terms.
© John Bush /TiVo