Spank Rock and Benny Blanco Are... Bangers & Cash

AMG Review of Spank Rock and Benny Blanco Are... Bangers & Cash

John Bush
All Music Guide

A five-track CD collection of material that first emerged during summer 2007, Bangers & Cash is a duo comprised of Spank Rock's MC Naeem Juwan and outside producer Benny Blanco, a young auteur and protégé of the sadly departed Disco D, maestro of underground bootie rap. Trying to sort out how much of Bangers & Cash is party rap satire and how much genuine expression is impossible -- suffice it to say that everything about the music is as close to the real thing as you can get, while everything about the non-music (from the British-breakfast-inspired name to the CD artwork to the party flyers) is no doubt a takeoff on the latent absurdity of the thing. (Not to say Juwan and Blanco aren't big fans of all things booty.) Granted, although they end up sampling 2 Live Crew on nearly every track (four out of five, with N.W.A plundered on the fifth), the production is light years beyond the '80s, just like Spank Rock's YoYoYoYoYo. Lyrically, these tracks get so rude that even YoYoYoYoYo seems tame in comparison; fortunately Amanda Blank makes an appearance on "Loose" to balance the testosterone on display.