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

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

. He rose to fame with his 2006 album '' YoYoYoYoYo'', which was produced by former group member Alex Epton ( XXXChange). A harbinger of post-millennial alternative rap, the duo became known for its mixing of disparate

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

and club genres, including Baltimore club, Miami bass,

electro music Electro (also known as electro-funk, and sometimes referred to as electro-pop)
Gl ...

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 and songwriter. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall ...

. After a five-year contract struggle with his label Downtown Records, Juwan released his second album, '' Everything Is Boring and Everyone Is a Fucking Liar'', with a range of producers including

Boys Noize Alexander Ridha (born 22 August 1982), better known by his stage name Boys Noize, is a German-Iraqi electronic music record producer, songwriter and DJ known for collaborations with artists including A$AP Rocky, Tommy Cash, and Frank Ocean (for ...

, Le1f, XXXChange, and Squeak E. Clean.

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), formerly known as Mos Def ( ), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. A prominent figure in conscious hip hop, he is recognized for his use of wordplay and commentary on social an ...

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 college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

in Boston and learned studio production as an intern at the

DFA Records DFA Records is an American independent record label based in New York City. The label was originally founded in 2001 by Tim Goldsworthy, musician James Murphy (electronic musician), James Murphy, and manager Jonathan Galkin. Goldsworthy and Mur ...

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

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and Phoenixville, where their reputation quickly increased. They later toured with Hollertronix and M.I.A. They also toured with

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...

in 2006. Spank Rock's debut studio album, '' YoYoYoYoYo'', was released in 2006 on the Big Dada 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 ( XXXChange) left Spank Rock to pursue his own production while Naeem Juwan signed a deal with Downtown Records. 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 group from Miami, Florida, formed in 1984. The group was originally composed of DJ Mr. Mixx (David Hobbs), Fresh Kid Ice (Christopher Wong Won), and Amazing Vee (Yuri Vielot), though its most well-known lineup ...

-inspired collaborative EP with

. In 2010, Spank Rock was featured, along with The View's Kyle Falconer, on " The Bike Song" by

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Amy Winehouse's album '' Back to Black'' (2006), as well as two for Record ...

, which appeared on Ronson's 2010 album Record Collection. Spank Rock toured with Ronson for the album's 2010 UK tour. The following year, Spank Rock released his second studio album, '' Everything Is Boring and Everyone Is a Fucking Liar'', on his own label, Bad Blood Records. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

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

, and later selected the single "Nasty" as a "Best New Track." "Energy" is on the soundtrack for

FIFA 12 ''FIFA 12'' (titled ''FIFA Soccer 12'' in North America) is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts worldwide under the EA Sports label. It was released in September 2011 on consoles for PlayStati ...

. ''

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

'' premiered the album in September 2011 on their website. The album featured production from Boys Noize, XXXChange, Sam Spiegel, and Le1f, as well as appearances by

Santigold Santi White (born September 25, 1976), known professionally as Santigold (formerly Santogold), is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut studio album, '' Santogold'' (2008), was released by Atlantic Records and met with widespread critica ...

and

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

. 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. 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 o ...

, 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 Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

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

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n electronic music group The Avalanches. He subsequently appeared in performances at

Coachella Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music festival, music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valle ...

and Vivid Sydney in 2017. Under the Naeem moniker, Juwan released a solo studio album, '' Startisha'', in 2020. It features contributions from Justin Vernon, Francis and the Lights, Ryan Olson,

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

, Velvet Negroni, Amanda Blank, and Micah James.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' YoYoYoYoYo'' (2006) * '' Everything Is Boring and Everyone Is a Fucking Liar'' (2011) * '' Startisha'' (2020)

Mixtapes

* ''Couche Tard'' (2006) * ''How Can We Lose When We're So Sincere'' (2022)

DJ mixes

* '' FabricLive.33'' (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 - "Free" from ''Enter'' (2007) *

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

- " D.A.N.C.E. (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'' (2008) *

The Chemical Brothers The Chemical Brothers are an English electronic music duo formed by Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands in Manchester in 1992. They were pioneers in bringing the big beat genre to the forefront of pop culture. Originally known as The Dust Brothers, th ...

- "Keep My Composure" from '' Brotherhood'' (2008) *

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

- "Heart Beat Rock" (Benny Blanco Mix featuring Spank Rock) from '' X'' (2008) * Santogold - "Shove It" from '' Santogold'' (2008) * Neon Neon - "Trick or Treat" from '' Stainless Style'' (2008) * Japanther - "Radical Businessman" from '' Tut Tut, Now Shake Ya Butt'' (2008) * Deekline & Wizard - "Roll That Shit" from ''Booty Breaks Vol. 3'' (2008) *

Steve Aoki Steven Hiroyuki Aoki ( , ; born November 30, 1977) is an American DJ and record producer. In 2012, Pollstar designated Aoki as the highest-grossing electronic dance music artist in North America from tours. In 2024, Gold House recognized him as ...

- "We Are Rockstars" from ''Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles'' (2008) * Heartsrevolution - "Ultraviolence (Remix)" (2009) * N.A.S.A. - "Wachadoin" from '' The Spirit of Apollo'' (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) *

- " The Bike Song" from '' Record Collection'' (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 Unite ...

- "7PM Woke Up an Hour Ago" from ''Michel Poiccard'' (2011) * Addison Groove - "Bad Things" from ''Transistor Rhythm'' (2012) * Le1f - "Star Alliance" (2013) * Cakes da Killa - "I Run This Club (Remix)" (2014) * Trippy Turtle - "Trippy's Theme (TWRK Remix)" (2014) *

- "Birthday" from ''

Mayday Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications. It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organiz ...

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

Compilation appearances

* "Hoodie (Spank Rock Remix)" on '' Chocolate Swim'' (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 20th-century American male rappers Rappers from Philadelphia Rappers from Baltimore East Coast hip-hop musicians Downtown Records artists Big Dada artists 21st-century African-American musicians