While comedic rap has been around since the Beastie Boys first
fought for our right to party in the mid-'80s, it seems as if we've entered
into a kind of golden age of "white-boy" rappers who rap it like they mean it,
even if their raps are more Beck than Big Daddy Kane. Enter
Jamie Kennedy. Best known for his role in the 1996 horror film
Scream, Kennedy is an actor and stand-up comic and, as his
2006 pseudo-reality MTV show Blowin' Up would have you believe, a serious rap
artist. Along with his musical partner Stu Stone, Kennedy spent
most of Blowin' Up doing just about everything except what the show's title
implied -- making it big in the rap world. Instead, the duo found themselves
in such embarrassingly comedic situations as attempting to surreptitiously give
rap icon-turned-actor Ice-T their demo tape while Kennedy
filmed a role on Law and Order: SVU as well as meeting with Joe Simpson -- father/manager
of Jessica and Ashlee -- where Kennedy
played him a song about how he really likes his ex-girlfriend's left breast.
Okay, so Kennedy is a not-so-serious rapper, but he does seem
to take the music seriously, as is evidenced by such guest artists on Blowin'
Up as Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall, E-40,
and the deliciously respectable Paul Wall who helps out with
what is perhaps the album's best moment, the commercial jingle for the mattress
superstore "Mattress Mack." Notably, in this episode, Kennedy
and Stone have to shoot the commercial wearing mattress customes. It's not anly
a funny cut, but a funky one that makes the most of Wall's
"sizzeruppy" Southern-style rap. Elsewhere, Kennedy and Stone
showcase their knack for picking out specific details that add a sense of truth
to their jokes as on the send-up of '80s style "1984" which features such cringe-inducing
lines as, "1984 lying in the grass first time I ever got some a*s. Pop Rock
in my mouth, wanna go down south, but the Whopper in my stomach really gave
me gas" and, "Listen crazy muthaf*cker, let's skip class. I got a fresh pack
of Hubba Bubba Berry Blast. I got money to kill and a*s to burn, Drakkar Noir
and a salon perm." What's so great about the track is that while the lines are
funny, Kennedy and Stone play it straight, which only serves
to make the joke funnier. In that sense, Blowin' Up is similar to "Lazy Sunday"
and the other SNL raps perpetrated by Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg. Admittedly,
while still humorous, some of the tracks here are a little to easy and juvenile,
as on "Crooked Stick" in which Kennedy expounds upon his deformed
appendage. Similarly, "Bologna" featuring Kennedy as the gay
rapper "Blane" is, while silly, stupidly offensive. However, tracks like "Rollin
w/Saget" in which milquetoast comedian Bob Saget raps about being a "blunt"
smoking badass, and "Knuckle Up" in which Kennedy and Stone
call out young-Hollywood hipsters like Ashton Kuther and Colin Farrell as "bitch-a*s
waiters" and viciously rap, "I need a coffee make it quick. I don't need to
see your headshot, you ain't legit. I don't need to read your screenplay it
reads like sh*t" are devastatingly funny and fall just shy of keen social satire.
Get the album with two bonus audio skits and an
exclusive booklet on iTunes today.
When Jamie Kennedy's television show appeared on MTV many people were
asking, "Is he really serious about rapping?" If you listen to his premier
album with Stu Stone, you get the idea that they are far along on "their
quest to become legit rap stars." Any gang-stars that roll with Bob Saget
are undeniably on their way to being the next best rappers. Kennedy and
Stone even have managed to have "beef" (something all true rappers have)
with Ashton Kutcher, because Kennedy was punk'd, and with Colin Farrell,
because he takes all the girls.
The entire album is non-stop comedic rap intermixed with skits. By starting
the entire album with a song entitled, "Circle Circle Dot Dot," (yes, about
cootie shots) Kennedy and Stone are sending the message that they are trying
to be the best rappers alive. Saget is referenced on several tracks, one
being a phone message while another is a whole song, "Rollin' with Saget."
An ambiguously gay character "Blaine," also has a skit about his rapping
then does his best song on the next track, the "Bologna" song. The album is
great to listen to for entertainment and maybe even to sing along to, these
guys are legit rap stars in my book.
Zeromag
Interview: Kickin' it old-school with "Blowin' Up"'s Jamie Kennedy
Entertainment Weekly - July 26, 2006
- 5 stars
"I have been waiting for this album to come out for a while and now it's finally here...buy it NOW!!!"
- 5 stars
"I love the show "blowin' up", I've seen and downloaded every episode so far. If you've seen the show and like it, this album has all the songs heard on the show and MORE! It's grrrrrrreat!
- 5 stars
"This album is awesome! The beats are great and the lyrics are funny as mess. Great buy. Big up to Jamie and Stu, you've finally made it.
- 5 stars
"Jamie Kennedy and Stu Stone got this rite, BUY IT"
- 5 stars
"This album is not only good. It's totally mind blowing. The songs are funny but very well produced and written...These guys are going to BLOW UP!"
5 stars - "This has got to be the funniest album to ever come out for hip-hop. Funniest $H*T that I;ve ever heard. Buy it, its not just good it'll make you laugh"
- 5 stars
"This is the funniest and best rap CD in the world. Jamie Kennedy & Stu Stone rules. You should really download this CD, you will have hours of enjoyment. Peace Out!"
5 stars - "this cd is awesome, the best songs are celebrity stalker and circle circle dot dot"
- 5 stars
"Jamie, man, you rule!!! Jamie Kennedy uses his charming comedy fused together with rap to create a totally funny and catchy album. In collaborations such as "Rollin' W/ Saget" feature guests that really spruce up the album. IT'S REALLY GOOD. TRUST ME. BUY IT!!!!"
- 5 stars
"Man this stuff is hilarious especially wit bob saget"
- 5 stars
"This cd is off the chain"
- 5 stars
"Wow what a refreshing album compared to everything that's been churning lately! This music is worth every penny."
- 5 stars
"This album is hilarious. All his stuff from the show is crazy good"
- 5 stars
"THIS IS THE BEST ALBUM OUT RIGHT NOW IN RAP IF YOU
WANT TO LAUGH! THEY MADE IT AS RAPPERS AND FINALLY GOT A RECORD DEAL WITH WARNER BROS. LISTEN TO THIS ALBUM!!!!"
5 stars - "[Blowin' Up] is a refreshed to the Hip-Hop/Rap genre. If I could compare Jamie and Stu to anyone in Hip-Hop, it would have to be the Beastie Boys because of their ggonzo style and approach...Both of these artists' flow makes even some black rappers sound pitiful, but above all this album is awesome."
- 5 stars
"This album is off the hook."
"Jamie and Stu are geniuses and really know what it takes to BLOW UP."
"It crosses across all audiences, which most music doesn't do today."
"[Blowin' Up] is a refreshment to the Hip-Hop/Rap genre"
- 5 stars
"This album is awesome!"
"Download this CD, you will have hours of enjoyment."
"A purchase you will not regret"
- 5 stars
"This is the funniest and best rap CD in the world."
"TRUST ME. BUY IT"
- 5 stars
"This cd is off the chain"
"BEST ALBUM OUT RIGHT NOW IN RAP "
- 5 stars
"Amazing, Hilarious, and Wonderful"
Blogs and reviews on the new album
Blowin' Up > Overview
Matt Collar - July 11, 2006
Jamie Kennedy & Stu Stone | Blowin’ Up
OSRB - July 17, 2006
Blowin’ Up by Jamie Kennedy And Stu Stone on Rhapsody
Sam Chennault - 2006
Catching Up (Yet Again)
Canadian BullBLOG - July 17, 2006
If you're bored and want to listen to some really fun new "rap,"...
Jayne Says - July 11, 2006
knuckle up, son!
gemlike_flame - July 11, 2006
Blowin' Up - Who's Rollin' With Saget?
DefCon Comedy Network - July 13, 2006
Last Comic Rapping
karaokefanboy - July 12, 2006
Comments from listeners
- 5 stars
"absolutely genius"
- 5 stars
"HOT AS HELL!!!!!YEAH I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE
REPRESENT. JAMIE REPRESENT!!!!!!!!!!!!"
- 5 stars
"A delightful mix of real music."
- 5 stars
"My favorite rapper"
- 5 stars
"It is good to hear someone have fun in hip-hop and actually make some good
music while doing it."
- 5 stars
"My summer anthem!!!!!!!!"
- 5 stars
"Every song on the CD is so sick"
- 5 stars
"The WHOLE album Rules!!!"
- 5 stars
"The album combines it all!"
- 5 stars
"Proves that the pair can keep up with today's hip hop game."
- 5 stars
"Genius? I think so."
- 5 stars
"It deserves it's 10."
- 5 stars
"Crosses across all audiences"
- 5 stars
"Jamie and Stu are genius"
- 5 stars
"Best purchase of '06. Period."
- 5 stars
"This album is not only good, Its totally mind blowing."
- 5 stars
"worth every penny. I turned a hard rock and metal fan into a person who can truly enjoy this rap album."
- 5 stars
"These people can spit!"
- 5 stars
"Damn hilarious."
- 5 stars
"Funniest song I've ever heard!!!!!!!!!!!!"
- 5 stars
"probably the best song ever in the world."
- 5 stars
"hits you with a million surprises that makes you laugh until your
ribs hurt."
- 5 stars
"Hot dog, this song has all that and bag of potato chips."
- 5 stars
"Best rapper alive."
- 5 stars
"Listen for it in the clubs."
- 5 stars
"Jamie Kennedy and Stu Stone killed it. I love their album and I
> suggest it to anyone who likes Jamie Kennedy"
- 5 stars
"Jamie Kennedy and Stu Stone killed it. I love their album and I
> suggest it to anyone who likes Jamie Kennedy"
Jamie Kenndy / Stu Stone
Blowin' UP
While comedic rap has been around since the Beastie Boys first fought for our right to party in the mid-'80s, it seems as if we've entered into a kind of golden age of "white-boy" rappers who rap it like they mean it, even if their raps are more Beck than Big Daddy Kane. Enter Jamie Kennedy. Best known for his role in the 1996 horror film Scream, Kennedy is an actor and stand-up comic and, as his 2006 pseudo-reality MTV show Blowin' Up would have you believe, a serious rap artist. Along with his musical partner Stu Stone, Kennedy spent most of Blowin' Up doing just about everything except what the show's title implied -- making it big in the rap world. Instead, the duo found themselves in such embarrassingly comedic situations as attempting to surreptitiously give rap icon-turned-actor Ice-T their demo tape while Kennedy filmed a role on Law and Order: SVU as well as meeting with Joe Simpson -- father/manager of Jessica and Ashlee -- where Kennedy played him a song about how he really likes his ex-girlfriend's left breast. Okay, so Kennedy is a not-so-serious rapper, but he does seem to take the music seriously, as is evidenced by such guest artists on Blowin' Up as Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall, E-40, and the deliciously respectable Paul Wall who helps out with what is perhaps the album's best moment, the commercial jingle for the mattress superstore "Mattress Mack." Notably, in this episode, Kennedy and Stone have to shoot the commercial wearing mattress costumes. It's not only a funny cut, but a funky one that makes the most of Wall's "sizzeruppy" Southern-style rap. Elsewhere, Kennedy and Stone showcase their knack for picking out specific details that add a sense of truth to their jokes as on the send-up of '80s style "1984" which features such cringe-inducing lines as, "1984 lying in the grass first time I ever got some ass. Pop Rock in my mouth, wanna go down south, but the Whopper in my stomach really gave me gas" and, "Listen crazy muthaf*cker, let's skip class. I got a fresh pack of Hubba Bubba Berry Blast. I got money to kill and ass to burn, Drakkar Noir and a salon perm." What's so great about the track is that while the lines are funny, Kennedy and Stone play it straight, which only serves to make the joke funnier. In that sense, Blowin' Up is similar to "Lazy Sunday" and the other SNL raps perpetrated by Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg. Admittedly, while still humorous, some of the tracks here are a little too easy and juvenile, as on "Crooked Stick" in which Kennedy expounds upon his deformed appendage. Similarly, "Bologna" featuring Kennedy as the gay rapper "Blane" is, while silly, stupidly offensive. However, tracks like "Rollin' w/Saget" in which milquetoast comedian Bob Saget raps about being a "blunt" smoking badass, and "Knuckle Up" in which Kennedy and Stone call out young-Hollywood hipsters like Ashton Kutcher and Colin Farrell as "bitch-ass waiters" and viciously rap, "I need a coffee make it quick. I don't need to see your headshot, you ain't legit. I don't need to read your screenplay it reads like sh*t" are devastatingly funny and fall just shy of keen social satire.
- Matt Collar, All Music Guide
-