About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 2011)
BAR Upcoming Events: Watch the Braves on 4 big screen TVs. $1 High Life drafts during the games vs Chicago Cubs - Wed. 8/24 at 8:05 pm Thurs. 8/25 at 2:20 pm vs New York Mets * Fri. 8/26 at 7:10 pm Sat. 8/27 at 4:10 pm MONDAYS: ADULT TRIVIA 9 to 11pm $20 tab for winning team $10 tab for 2nd place TUES: MOVIE NIGHT Aug 23 at 8 pm vs The Big Lebowski $2 White Russians Movie Drink Special: NOW SERVING: Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs Polish & Italian Sausages Miss Vickie’s Chips We have a dog-friendly, outdoor, covered patio %tf * with large screen TV! 254 W. Clayton Street Athens, GA 30601 • 912-604-8560 ^ Body piercing < * & AMPLE PARKING AVAILABLE 10% OFF Tattoo or Body Piercing WWW.AMERICANCLASSICTATT00.NET 1035a Baxter St. U 706-543-7628 J /;/ cniMincrHxiiLnifHiEZi Blind Pig Tavern ■< ; " : v 30PM 1 \\ U Li MONDAYS AT WEDNESDAYS! ■aubroadTst! ■■■ . . 40 WEST BROAD ST. - (706) 208 7979 48S BALDWIN ST. * (706) 548 3442 WWW.BLINDPIGTAVERN.COM LOUNGE 2455 Jefferson Road in Homewood Hills 706.546.0840 Open 2pm M-F 12pm Sat Wednesday 9pm KRRROK£ S DRinK SPECIALS Thursday 8:30pm BLU£S RIGHT uuifh THC SHRDOUJ £X£CUT!U£S Friday, August 26 9:30pm TH£ TRnG£RTS Saturday, August 27 9:30pm the BIG Don BnnD ftiendly neighborhood Bar • Pool • Free Popcorn • Jukebox Keep the Jeep Riding reActtme rueetuoiee mbp bbcobpg T he mysterious men behind Turquoise Jeep Records are funny. Very funny. Seemingly coming from nowhere about a year ago, the label/crew has released popular online music videos like "Fried or Fertilized," "Sex Syrup" and "Lemme Smang It Girl": their most popular video, with 5.5 million views on YouTube. And with Beyonce caught doing the "Smang It" in her "Runs the World" video, big ups from heavy weights like Diplo, opening slots for Big Boi and a new record out. Turquoise Jeep has the momentum to cross over from Internet curio to mainstream obsession. Comprised of rappers Flynt Flossy and Yung Humma, singers Pretty Raheem and Slick Mahoney, and producers Tummiscratch and Whatchyamacallit, Turquoise Jeep is a universe unto itself. Like Die Antwoord's "Zef" style, Turquoise Jeep is a lifestyle: the label has its own dances, its own memes, its own aesthetic and its own slang. Turquoise Jeep even has its ow.. genre. In an email exchange with Flagpole, the fake-mustachioed Flynt Flossy advised us to call their music EMB (Existing Musical Beings). For Turquoise Jeep, kitsch is king. Particularly in its decidedly low-rent style, Turquoise Jeep heralds the possibilities afforded by the combination of cheap music and video software, infused with sharp wit. Visually, their music videos take cues from "Tim and Eric"'s Eric Wareheim, with its goofy green-screen wizardry. Musically, we get cheesy synthesizers, tiny drum machines, stock music software patterns and plug-ins— and best of all—occasional raps that are clearly out-of-sync with beats. Still, the music is nothing less than earworm. And the mes sage is occasionally brilliant. To really understand Turquoise Jeep, you have to get the mechanics of satire. While Turquoise Jeep insists they are not a "joke" or "parody" collective, the group's body of work is as relentlessly funny as it is copied in online fan videos. Turquoise Jeep Records makes music that is both a biting deconstruc tion and a spot-on send-up of contempo rary pop music. Pretty Raheem's "Can Your Boyfriend Move It Like This?" is hard to see as anything but a hilarious spoof on the '90s R&B music video: Raheem's dyed hair changes color in every new shot, touching on Sisqo's famed 'do, while the choreographed dancers in bright suits are very Heavy D and the Boyz. And, of course, the song itself is straight Jodeci. And while, admittedly, to explain a joke is to kill it, it must be noted that the "magic" of Turquoise Jeep is that the music and melodies are so strong, the delivery so straight-faced, that for many in the audience, there is no joke to "get." Turquoise Jeep is performance art. Let me get out of the way. I'm sure you just want to know where "Smang It" came from. From Flossy himself: "I thought of the word 'smang' in particu lar, one night while I was chattin' naughty with one of my lady friends that shall remain nameless. She was talking a lot of trash like she was invincible in the sheets, feel me. So, I told her straight forward, as soon as she gets to the crib, 'I'm not only gonna smash them draws but I'm 'a bang them, too; so let's say I'm 'a SMANG them!' I knew instantly I was onto something. Only ONE WORD could have represented my indescribable desire, my passion, the immense effort I was gonna put fourth into my love-making that night; that word was SMANG. So, after we finished smangin', I called the fam Yung Humma and told him about making the word 'smang' into a song; he loved the idea. So, I came up with the hook, we went to Tummiscratch for the beat, as usual, and the rest is history. I knew only Yung Humma's genius style could really execute the song like I envisioned it; he a straight up beast with it. He actually came up with his verses at the studio on the spot; dude is a brilliant lyricist." Beyond smashing and banging. Turquoise Jeep just wants to show you a good time and maybe cook you some eggs afterwards. So, how do you like your eggs, "Fried or Fertilized?" Christopher Joshua Benton \ WHAT: Turquoise Jeep Records Showcase WHERE: 40 Watt Club WHEN: Friday, Aug. 26,9 p.m. HOW MUCH: $10 a J 16 FLAGPOLE.COM AUGUST 24, 2011
