Spank Rock and Benny Blanco are...Bangers and Cash

• Genre: Experimental Rap/Hip-Hop
• Spank Rock and Benny Blanco are...Bangers and Cash Website

About

What do you get when you cross one of Baltimore's down-and-dirtiest emcees with New York's most versatile graphic designer/DJ/producer? Well, some of the most foul-mouthed, freaky-deaky hip-hop this side of Digital Underground. Born in San Diego, Benny Blanco moved to Boston in the early '90s to attend Berklee College of Music. After graduation, he worked as a graphic designer by day and started accruing a string of high-profile DJ gigs at night. Blanco continued his successful moonlighting in New York, where he moved in 2003, adding a series of eclectic mix tapes to his resume. His partner's story is a bit more complicated. Spank Rock is emcee Naeem Juwan, but it's also the name of the indie-hop-meets-dirty-rap duo he formed with producer XXXChange (Alex Epton). Juwan grew up in Baltimore and started rapping in junior high. After a stint in Philly, he moved back to Baltimore and hooked up with Epton. In 2007, Spank Rock and Benny Blanco joined forces, named themselves Bangers and Cash, mixed up booty-hop traditions from Miami to Detroit, and penned an EP of raunchy tunes guaranteed to get your booty on the dance floor.

- Rachel Devitt