Subgenre of the Month - Booty House
By: Laurie McGregor
February 10, 2010
You're on the packed dance floor at a sweaty club. The crowd is going apeshit to the raw, up-tempo 808 (or 909) beats blasting through the speakers. Girls are shaking their asses and titties in your face as you look around and begin to make out the lyrics: "If you a freaky-dancin' ho, keep shakin' that shit/ Let's see how you shake it on top of my dick/ And you'll say 'Assault, I'm cuming. Assault, I'm cuming'/ 'Assault, I'm cuming. Assault, I'm cuming.'"
You're either in a super-amazing dream, or you've landed face down into a Booty house party, whether you like it or not—and since I've never met anyone who doesn't like it, even when they're unsuspecting, chances are, you're totally loving it.
Let's start with the basics. Booty house—sometimes referred to as ghettotech, ghetto house or accelerated funk—is a subgenre of house music that began its popularity in the early 1990s, pioneered by a variety of DJs, most notably DJ Funk, DJ Assault & DJ Godfather (hailing from Chicago, Detroit, and Detroit, respectively). It draws heavily from Chicago House and Detroit Techno, and also takes elements from electro, hip hop, R&B and Miami Bass in order to create its style. It's generally very fast, raw, dirty, gritty, and extremely repetitive, with tight beats and lyrics so poetically clever and dirty that they'd probably make ee cummings blush jealously.
Lyrically, this is not a subgenre for the prudish, easily offended, faint hearted, or anyone with hardcore feminist inclinations. Booty house blatantly raps about sex in all its stripped down, naked glory. While other songs pussy foot around the subject of sex with vague euphemisms, booty house DJs make it perfectly clear what they're thinking about.
With song titles like "Nipples-N-Clits", "Face Down, Ass Up", "Ass N Titties", and "Suck My M.F. Dick", it's a subgenre that some might think that is sexist, offensive and derogatory to women. Instead, I like to think of it as a genre that celebrates women and filthy, exciting sex—sex that most people are probably too ashamed or shy to admit they might actually enjoy.
Take, for example, the song "Love the Pussy". Its opening lines ask the question: "Do you wanna rub the pussy/ Touch the pussy/ Fuck the pussy?" This is a question that most heterosexual men would answer with a resounding yes. Yes they want to touch that pussy! Do you even have to ask?! And there's nothing wrong with singing about that. That's what women want you to do to them—so why not sing about it?
If you really wanted to argue that booty house is derogatory and sexist, there are examples that might also illustrate your point (see: 2 Live Crew's "Face Down, Ass Up", or DJ Assault's "Nut In Your Eye") but the main themes of these songs are still about how great it is to have sex with a lady. And I'm not sure anyone can argue with that.
Besides, the lyrics to booty house tracks are so over the top and hilarious that it's almost impossible to take them seriously. It's really not a genre that is meant to be over analyzed. In an interview in 2002 with the Montreal Mirror, DJ Assault (a.k.a Craig Adams) pretty much admits as much. "DJ Assault and Craig Adams are similar in that they both like material things like money and cars, but Assault is more of a flamboyant personality. I created the character 'cause it would allow me to do and say things that I couldn't as Craig Adams. It's not that I necessarily mean the things that I say, but that's what makes me laugh." Even the DJs admit that the music is not meant to make you think too hard.
What booty house is supposed to do is make everyone hit the dancefloor, asses jiggling and titties wiggling, working themselves up into a sweaty, sexual frenzy. It's fun, simple, technically solid and lyrically well written.
But really, no matter what I say about booty house will convince you of its awesomeness unless you listen to it on your own... or in a crowd. It's better in a crowd. Just make sure of two things: 1. Listening to it at work is great, if you can keep a straight face. Just try explaining to your coworkers why you're guffawing and getting a sexual flush on your cheeks while you're working on the most boring spreadsheet ever. 2. Do not, under any circumstances, play it anywhere near your grandma or grandpa, unless they are completely hard of hearing and you are 100% sure that they don't own a Whisper 2000.
If you promise to follow those rules, then I can recommend some of these albums to check out for further enjoyment of booty house, my favorite genre of music, next to folk rock:
DJ Assault: Jefferson Avenue
DJ Assault: Mr. Motherfucker E.P.
DJ Funk: Booty House Anthems (both 1 & 2)
Disco D: A Night at the Booty Bar
Splack Pack: Big Booty Hits
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