Get Ready to Make “Love” in the Club
Sexy beats and dirty lyrics come together on Amanda Blank’s debut.
Amanda Blank
I Love You
Released on Aug 04, 2009
It’s hard out there for a (lady) pimp. While it’s great to see talented female rappers/singers like Kid Sister, Santigold, and M.I.A. (along with plenty others) finally getting their praises sung, standing out in that same crowd can be quite difficult. However, if you’ve heard Spank Rock’s infectious track “Bump,” you’ll realize that the bawdy broad rapping through the final two minutes about Kelly Bundy, her pussy, and Chanel heels was made to stand out in that sea of talent.
Amanda Blank appears on plenty of albums as a supporting voice, but it’s on her debut album I Love You that she is able to demonstrate the full extent of her talent to listeners. While she experiments with different sounds on the album, it’s obvious that her strengths lie in her fast-talking flow and belief in club-friendly dance beats.
Blank starts off with a bang thanks to the “I just took a lil’ bit of speed” feel of “Make It, Take It” — it’s a relatively simple track lyrically speaking, but it will have you singing along in a matter of seconds. This is another one of Blank’s strengths — her sped-up rhythms and rhymes get you excited, without fail. I brought her along on my morning commute, and the first track had me dancing while driving on the highway at 6 am.
She continues her dance rampage into the second track, which is arguably her strongest. The cocked gun sounds that punctuate “Something Bigger, Something Better” borrow from the M.I.A. school of thought (see, you knew there would be a comparison in here somewhere!), but this is no “Paper Planes.” Even though Blank’s rapping isn’t running on its normal showoff speed, the slightly slower tempo has Blank’s delivery drip with attitude — when she raps about her “ladies that know how to swing they hips fast,” you know she’s strutting around doing the exact same thing. Blank isn’t lacking confidence on her debut, and that cockiness holds her in good stead throughout most of the album.
However, there are several instances where her swagger can’t save her. This occurs most notably when she ditches the danceable beats and gets a little sentimental. Granted, the album is called I Love You, implying some sort of tenderness; but Blank’s subject matter has solicited comparisons to fellow dirty rapper Peaches. If you know Amanda Blank, you know her as a female rapper who is unafraid to objectify men and pen unapologetic lyrics about sex.
I mean, the first single “Might Like You Better” is based on this premise: “might like you better/if we slept together.” As a result, it’s a little bit of a stretch to see Blank as sentimental — which is why when she presents listeners with “A Love Song,” it seems awkward and out-of-place. Perhaps her softer side will develop and improve with time, but for now, this track does not showcase her talent as a lyricist.
Too often female rappers are seen as a kind of novelty relegated to the occasional appearance on tracks written by their male contemporaries. Due to a strong debut that combines danceable beats with sexually charged, straightforward lyrics (no ridiculous metaphors about milkshakes to be found here), Amanda Blank has avoided that classification. Check her out for yourself live when she joins Matt & Kim on their fall tour.
High Point
I played “Bump” for a friend of mine a couple of months ago, and all she could say was: “Damn, that bitch can flow!” There’s really no better way to describe Blank and this album.
Low Point
“A Love Song” and “Make-Up” don’t make me dance or want to frantically rap along, so I’m not a huge fan. While these tracks aren’t awful, they certainly don’t stand out in a positive way.
Posted by Alyssa Vincent on Aug 18, 2009 @ 6:00 am
