Criticizing The n.i.G-SPOT by Nig-Unit is a bit like trying to review Weird Al; it wouldn't be fair to judge either solely on musicianship because humor plays such a large part of the music.
Nig-Unit is comprised of Ohio University juniors Josh Crafter, who studies audio production, and Sunil Iyer, who is studying premedicine. The two friends from Columbus have a penchant for hip-hop and raunchy humor. The n.i.G-SPOT is the third release after I Love Lesbians!!! and Nigapalooza, and it promises much of the same gross-out, misogynistic sex songs.
The two admit on the band's Myspace page that they don't take themselves too seriously, and this fact is essential knowledge for enjoyment of the album.
The best comparison for potential listeners is that Nig-Unit is Athens' 21st century reincarnation of 2 Live Crew: full of explicit sexual descriptions, blatant objectification of women and, of course, a whole lot of boasting about the size of the artists' anatomy. It's been 20 years since As Nasty As They Wanna Be came out, and many would argue the shock value has since faded. Nig-Unit still has some funny moments, but only if your mind is deep enough in the gutter.
The n.i.G-SPOT is essentially one long celebration of vice. Although I don't believe in censorship, it's raunchy enough that there should at least be an STD warning sticker on the cover. Violence, alcoholism, drug abuse, emotionless sexual encounters - it's all in the CD's 25 colorful songs. The majority of the track titles are unprintable, and that's not even mentioning the lyrical content.
Every song on the album, in some way, is linked back to sexual perversion. From Party in My Pants
to the three song trilogy of The Shocker The Spock and The Showstopper The n.i.G-SPOT is Tipper Gore's worst nightmare. But if you can take a joke and keep listening, there's some great lines like, I don't love you
your name's not Raymond
and a charming account of one girl using uncomfortable stiletto heels as a dangerous weapon. But 25 tracks is awfully long to keep a running joke, so it might be best to limit listening to a few songs at a time.
Musically, the beats are pretty entertaining. There's some old school electro influence on I'm Really
Really Ridiculously Good-Looking!
and a few songs dabble in drum and bass and tribal drum breaks. Nig-Unit samples from Franz Ferdinand, Daft Punk and Lupe Fiasco, and although some of it has been done before, the important part of the CD is the humor.
It's certainly not for everyone, and, in fact, it's not for most. Yet for all the depravity spewed on this album, you get the feeling there were a lot of laughs in the recording studio.
3
Culture
Aaron Krumheuer
