QCA Music: Johnny Dangerous
Take Your Man is from Johnny's latest album, White Hote. It's good, raunchy fun.
According to Johnny Dangerous's website, the Minneapolis-born, Chicago-based rapper "could give two fucks what you think about him or his music." The techno in his songs features stripped-down basic drum machine grooves topped off with some old-fashioned moog-like analog synth drones. But the real pleasure comes from his bitchy foul-mouthed flows that are confrontational, comically crass, unapologetically outspoken, and empowering all at the same time.
Voted "Favorite Queer Rapper" in the NewNowNext Best of 2007 poll, Johnny has performed throughout North America and the UK and was nominated for two OutMusic awards including Outstanding Male debut and Outstanding Male Recording. He prefers to think of himself not as a hip-hop artist, but as an entertainer who happens to rap. Looking at his videos, one can see how he integrates his badboy, rap star persona and with a performance that's both cheeky and campy, yet still human.
Dirty is the New Black is less raunchy and more serious than Take Your Man but is still undeniably sexy and honest.
Dangerous' music is too triple-X for commercial airplay and some may find his shtick hateful, misogynist, or over-compensatory, but his music has an important place in gay entertainment. Hip-hop hasn't always been the gay-friendliest of places and while Dangerous' songs don't always take themselves too seriously, they do go after issues like life in the closet, censorship, gay media, and the Iraq invasion. A closer look at his lyrics from his track, Dirty is the New Black, reveal a more intelligent gay agenda than just "suckin' dicks and turnin' tricks":
"Have you ever been told
What you can't do
Because of all the shit
People hang on you?
Afraid to let it out
And let you be you
Seems a bit too much
So you repress that too
I'm here to let you know
That you ain't alone
We like the same type of things
Others won't condone ..."
For more videos, check out Johnny's YouTube page.
3
Reader Comments
Your 2¢, in chronological order — add your comment below.
Johnny is amazing, I got his cd the moment it dropped on itunes, awesome cd
He's definitely not "too triple-X for commercial play" if you've heard anything being played on "urban" radio stations these days. His stuff just doesn't fit in anywhere stylistically. It's the same reason that Aesop Rock and Atmosphere don't get played on radio. It's not the style that's popular right now, so radio producers don't know how to handle it. That said, "Dirty" is miles above "Take Your Man" in terms of quality. Keep working, Johnny.
I love this! I've heard about him from friends, but never seen him or personally heard his music. I checked out his stuff on I-Tunes and downloaded the album. It's really good. I'm honestly surprised he's still underground considering how catchy and good his music is.