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

Alright, first up is this EP between Spank Rock and Benny Blanco entitled "Bangers & Cash". I should get out of the way that Spank Rock's "YoYoYoYoYo" was one of my favorite albums of 2006, so I was incredibly excited for this to come out in 2007. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find it until last week.

The album is a clear tribute to 2 Live Crew. A rap duo that caused quite a bit of controversy in the late 80's and early 90's. And a group that Spank Rock has often sampled, so it is no surprise that they would create this album in homage to them. The EP contains catchy beats from Benny Blanco, sick flows from Spank Rock, samples from 2 Live Crew (duh) & NWA and collabs by friends Santogold, Sylvia Gordon and Amanda Blank (schwing!).

Overall, the EP stands at a short 5-song, 17 minutes and I am fine with that. Spank Rock is heard rapping about fucking bitches and eating pussy on every track and it almost feels like he just has a bunch of shit written and doesn't care what the beat sounds like. Never once does he slow his flow to match what Benny produced or change up the lyrical content. This doesn't mean it isn't good though! Spank is GREAT at what he does and it is more than fitting for this album, it's just bittersweet. The middle songs especially shine, containing an unexpected rap from Santogold on "B-O-O-T-A-Y" and the always spectacular Amanda Blank on "Loose." But the last song ("Bitch!") feels like a G-Unit beat and the rhyme is less than good. It is also the only song which doesn't include a sample from 2 Live Crew and instead uses NWA. But seeing as how there are only 5 tracks, I would have hoped for something a little more memorable. I will give this EP a mediocre 7 out of 10.

Scoring System

Okay so I guess I should explain the system. I am going to have different scoring systems: one for music, one for shows and one for movies.

Music will be scored as follows:

• They will be on a scale of 1-10; the higher, the better.
• Examples of a 10 would be Sonic Youth's "Daydream Nation" or Wu-Tang Clan's "36 Chambers." These are albums I can listen to in entirety and never get sick of.
• Thankfully, I have never come across anything atrocious enough to deserve a 1. It would have to be something that was so awful that I wouldn't even be able to stand listening to one song.
  
• I was going to write about what it will be scored based on but that seems just dumb considering each genre is different...

Shows will be scored:

• based on crowd banter
• based on light show
• based on whether or not the band is actually into it
• based on what songs are played (yeah, I know)
• based on presence
• In a scale of 1-5. I will rate each band playing in the night and then an overall score for the show. THIS WILL NOT BE AN AVERAGE.
  

Movies will be evaluated based on:

• Acting
• Screenplay
• Cinematography
• Soundtrack
• Editing
• And in a 1-5. I will take into account each main category and give an appropriate rating. THIS WILL NOT BE AN AVERAGE.
  

Opening Statement

Okay, first reviews will probably start popping up tomorrow. I just feel like I need an obligatory first post. So, here it is.