Preview
STINK MITT
Thursday, October 16
Night Gallery
Hailing from the dirty ’burb of Surrey, B.C., mistress of funk MC Jenni Craige is ecstatic about the meteoric rise of her erotic ensemble Stink Mitt. Rushing in to fill the gaping hole left in the Teenage USA record’s roster after the departure of Peaches, Stink Mitt has produced a raunchy debut LP, Scratch ’n’ Sniff.
With the capable hands of Dr. Do This (formerly of Tom Cochrane and Red Rider) on keyboards, and the production expertise of Organized Rhyme alumnus Bigstuff, Stink Mitt is on a runaway soul train to funky town.
"Our new album looks so good," says Betti Forde, beaming, "It’s got a big close-up Jenni Craige’s camel-toe right on the cover. People look at the Web site (www.stinkmitt.com) and think it’s her fuckin’ ass. It doesn’t even look real! It’s pretty phenomenal."
Exploring taboo subjects and rubbing them up against your leg is par for the course, and no innuendo or euphemisms need apply. Combining the power of their feminista esthetic with their mutual passion for ’80s hip-hop and rap, PMS MCs Forde and Craige turn the tables on the macho bravado of their male counterparts and bust a move at the same time.
"I don’t know why we get compared to Peaches so much. Why – because we’re both white females with dirty mouths? I’m shocked that we’re not compared to sexy female rappers like Lil’ Kim and Missy Elliott more often."
Dirty or not their music is born out of a love of making music and having fun. Forde is also a funk DJ, Craige has been a free-style funk singer for years and Bigstuff used to be in Organized Rhyme with Tom Green. In the year and a half they’ve been togther Forde says they have been able to record about one track a month.
"Bigstuff produced everything in his studio – it cost nothing. Yet, I’ve heard people say, ‘It’s over-produced.’ Which I think is hilarious. People freak out at our live shows. They can’t believe their eyes. There’s always something going on, on stage or in the audience. We’ve never played a bad gig. I’m just worried about it going too far – not the audience, but I’m afraid of what we’re going to do next!"
Getting tits-up drunk onstage while pushing tracks like "Tubes Tied," "Golden Showers" and "Petting Zoo" may not come naturally to some, but to Forde and Craige getting down and dirty comes as easily as breathing.
Trumping up their slut-diva image, Stink Mitt is chronically incorrigible when it comes to performing for a crowd. Blowing off steam and blowing audiences away, the trashy twosome bump and grind through red-hot electro-rap dance numbers that drip with raw sexuality and often, bodily fluids. Not exactly something that screams daytime TV, but Stink Mitt has already had success recording videos for a couple of their less profane tunes – "Biker Shorts" and "Keep Me Fat," both of which were once again produced on a beggar’s budget.
"People have volunteered to help us do our videos," says Forde. "We just did the shoot for "Biker Shorts," and it looks like it cost $35,000 to make. The video for "Keep Me Fat" is great, too. Jenni and I cover each other in mayo and doughnuts and drum on each other. It’s totally crazy. Those songs are our most ‘radio friendly’, ’cause there’s no swears in them. We don’t have to swear or talk about sex to write a great funny song. But we don’t worry about that. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, like Fred Durst: ‘Oh, they won’t play my white male ranting on the radio! I’m being censored.’ We don’t care. We’re not out there to sell records. Whatever happened to having fun and helping out the human race?"
With successful tours of Ontario and Quebec behind them, as well as appearances at New Music West and a write-up in Hustler Canada, Stink Mitt is poised to straddle the world. |
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