The Gang's all there: Rap group responds to controversy

LOS ANGELES, May 24, 2000 (Daily Bruin, U-WIRE via COMTEX) -- While strolling through Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, you turn a corner and find him beating the crap out of the mailman. Then you wake one morning to find yourself wearing a wedding dress, bound and gagged, with a prison inmate as your best man, only after taking your mom to the prom and getting lucky.

It may be hard to stomach, but you have just entered the notoriously crass yet wickedly amusing world of The Bloodhound Gang. This surge of tasteless, juvenile, poopy talk is infecting our airwaves, offending some listeners but entertaining others.

With graphic, hardcore, sexually-explicit lyrics, this band is spreading like, well, you know what they'd say.

And they aren't apologizing.

In reference to Billboard Japan's objection to "Yellow Fever," a song so offensive that it was taken off the band's third album, "One Fierce Beer Coaster," bassist Evil Jared responded in a recent phone interview, "I want to tell them to go fuck themselves."

But songs like "I Wish I Was Queer So I Could Get Chicks" and "Kiss Me Where It Smells Funny" were deemed appropriate for distribution by the record label. The band has since distanced itself from "Yellow Fever," calling it "poorly-written" in a Rolling Stone interview.

UCLA's Pacific Ties magazine noted that students are uprising against the racially charged and sexually explicit lyrics. One group, the University of Maryland's Asian American Student Association, has been notifying college campuses nationwide of what they deem racist and homophobic overtones in their music.

The protests are in line with similar protests against shock-value programs like "South Park" and "The Howard Stern Show." In response, the band has included warning stickers on its albums, saying "If you find the content of these lyrics offensive, you're not cool." This tongue-in-cheek response has not satisfied those who take issue with the band's confrontational content.

Frontman Jimmy Pop Ali said in an interview with Rewind Magazine, "Well, that's my sense of humor, and it just so happens that some people find it offensive. I didn't set out to offend anyone, I just like poopy humor. That's the pinnacle for me. That's why we put that warning there.

Despite this wave of opposition, MTV and local radio stations continue to play Bloodhound's music.

With songs like "I Hope You Die" and "A Lap Dance Is So Much Better When The Stripper Is Crying" included on the new album "Hooray for Boobies," which has landed singles in the Top 40, this Philadelphia based band is ruder, sicker and more popular than ever.

And busy as hell.

At a recent shoot last week in a hangar at the Santa Monica Airport for the band's new video "Mope," Jimmy, Jared, guitarist Lüpüs Thünder, drummer Willie the New Guy and D.J.Q-Ball were running on empty, but still had time to answer questions.

"We haven't slept in 33 hours," said Jared between takes of lobbing purple balls at Ali. "I'm delirious and everything looks like spaghetti."

This delirium, though, didn't stop Jared and Lüpüs from mingling and signing autographs with fans who came to be extras in the video. Despite the quintet's bad boy reputation, in person these guys went to great lengths to make their fans know they appreciate their support.

Lupus meandered around videotaping fans with his Web cam. Ali and Q-Ball spent the afternoon sporting matching red Adidas running suits getting purple balls lobbed at them while go-go dancers wearing men's tighty-whities danced behind them.

This entire scene is a glaring contrast to their humble beginnings in Pennsylvania when the only gig they could get was at Jared's rented farmhouse.

Prior to joining the band, Jared recalls the first time he saw Ali perform, "I thought they sucked. It was, like, two guys and a tape recorder."

After floundering success in the early years, releasing homemade demos in 1990, Ali and Lüpüs (the two original members) recruited Jared, Q-Ball and Spanky G into the band (who has recently been replaced by Willie, hence his title of 'The New Guy'). They have since made two albums together and toured nonstop all over the world.

With all toilet talk aside, these guys sport college degrees. Ali and Jared both graduated from Temple University, with a degree in communications and business management, respectively.

"I wanted to be a Donald Trump-type guy. The way to that is going to school," said Jared. "But it basically leaves you prepared to sell Ritz crackers at Wal-Mart."

Now Jared is a polar opposite of those enlightened ambitions. "I have a 56K modem and it totally, 100 percent, blows," said Jared, "It takes me all day to download porn."

This attitude may be brash, but it nonetheless attracts dedicated fans, who will go to extremes for a glimpse at Jimmy Pop and his gang.

"We travel around on this big bus driving up to 10 hours a night," mused Jared. "After a month it's totally covered in road crap. We had this guy lick his name in the back of the bus. It was a most disturbing turn of events."

Fans have run naked down a street in 10 degree weather, eaten jars of mayonnaise, and downed a 12-pack case of warm Dr Pepper, all in the name of The Bloodhound Gang.

And that's just in America, where they are steadily gaining fame. In Europe they're considered bona fide rock stars, with "Boobies" going platinum in Austria and Germany and past albums also garnering sizable sales.

"If you don't understand our stupid lyrics you'll like it more," said Jared when asked why Europeans are so receptive to their music.

With all this overseas success, do these cornfed boys prefer foreign soil to their native land?

"Hell no," replied Jared, "America's so cool. They have Waffle House and Wal-Mart, and 800 channels on satellite TV, instead of four channels on British TV."

Finishing off the American leg of their tour in the next two weeks, what can one expect from a Bloodhound Gang show?

At a concert in Chicago last Saturday, with a mere half hour to play, the Gang invited no less than 50 screaming fans, two dancing monkeys, and one life size Pac-Man on stage, and closed the show with an *N Sync parody.

But even with all of their success, self-deprecation prevails. Regarding a typical Bloodhound Gang show, Jared had this to say.

"It's gonna suck. You can expect a lot of puerile behavior and stupid hijinks to make up for the fact that we're really poor musicians."

Apparently, in spite of all the controversy, that formula has worked thus far.

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Props to luvJONES and to 2tongues, The Pacifics, and offwhyte. My view on the subjekt? They're bullshit. Am I offended? Hell yeah. This bullshit incenses me to the utmost.

I'm half Japanese and half "white". While I find the lyriks to the song "Yellow Fever" humorous....and let me explain why. They're funny to me because they show just how ignorant people can be, and how close-minded society is.

Some people are posting that there really isn't anything wrong with the song, and that they should just let it go. When Ice Cube released his song he got maad flack for it from the media and the Asian population. So what makes it different when a white group releases a song and people get all pissed off about it?

The whole song is based on stereotypes and fallacies created by, mainly, the same group of people who released the song. Will anything happen to The Bloodhoung Gang because of this? Who knows. Although, standing by and just letting it happen won't solve anything either will it?

p.e.a.c.e.
Dramatik
m.w.s.