Baltimore, Maryland bred/Los Angeles-based rapper Naeem, formerly under the moniker Spank Rock, released his latest single “Woo Woo Woo” featuring Amanda Blank and Micah James this past Thursday, May 14. Naeem is gearing up to release his forthcoming album Startisha on June 12, via 37d03d. The lead single off Naheem’s latest musical offering was released April 16, the hypnotically entrancing “Simulation” featuring Swamp Dogg and Justin Vernon.
According to a press release, “Studio work on Startisha started four years ago after Naeem linked up with producers Sam Green and Grave Goods in Philadelphia. After sessions in Philadelphia and New York, he decamped to Minneapolis and holed up in Vernon’s home studio, where Startisha continued to come together with contributions from Vernon, Ryan Olson (Gayngs, Polica), Swamp Dogg, Velvet Negroni, Francis and the Lights, and regular collaborators Amanda Blank and Micah James.”
The latest song “Woo Woo Woo”, along with its accompanying music video, is a tongue in cheek raunchy banger that is aptly set in the backdrop of the current stay at home ordinances. The minimal instrumentation approach to the track makes it a straightforward listen that recalls house music vibes with a hip hop infused kick percussion, giving it a bubbly kitschy appeal. The three artists featured on the track is depicted in the music video lounging at home contacting one another via various forms of virtual platforms life a FaceTime or Zoom.
According to aforementioned press release, “Woo Woo Woo” was directed by Bobby Whigham who played with the video’s space in the respective artists’ bedrooms saying:
“I loved to be able to create and collaborate during this time with friends,” says Whigham. “The internet played such a huge part in this from online shopping for set design items, to the facetimes, zoom meetings and text messages of this whole process. We really took a tongue and cheek approach to what’s happening with staying at home right now.”
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based singer/rapper Amanda Blank is a frequent collaborator with Naeem dating back to Spank Rock’s 2006 debut album YoYoYoYoYo on the track “Bump.” Blank released her debut 2009 album I Love You, via Downtown Records. Speaking on her recent contribution to Naeem’s “Woo Woo Woo” she says:
“We wrote and recorded [“Woo Woo Woo”] all in this really fragmented way. Initially, I think we were all really psyched to make a video together, but then when this happened and we were forced to make this in isolation, the video ended up being made in the same untraditional and pieced together way as well so it all kind of came full circle which feels very preordained in some strange way. I never really believed in all that but now maybe I do.”
Naeem spoke of the genesis of the track and what state he was in when he wrote his first verse for his latest track, “Woo Woo Woo” saying:
“I wrote the first verse of this song in a weed coma in a warehouse in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia, with producers Sam Green, and Grave Goods. Amanda and Micah heard the demo and demanded to be on it, the bars they added made it better than I could’ve ever imagined, and Amanda, once again, shows up everyone on the track.”
To listen to “Woo Woo Woo” stream below, via YouTube.
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