The music of the 1990’s was multifaceted to say the least. Grunge began the decade, rap rivalries characterized the middle years, and boy bands serenaded us through the end of the millennium. Then there was the Bloodhound Gang.
With songs like “Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss” demonstrating sheer mastery of the English language that 2Pac and Biggie’s rhymes couldn’t rival and albums such as Hooray for Boobies epitomizing maturity in ways *NSYNC could only dream of, Jimmy Pop and the boys from Pennsylvania were true artists amongst a sea of mediocrity.
1999’s “The Bad Touch” exemplified the Gang’s talents, with its danceable, intricate beats backing up incredibly accessible lyrics rich with cultural references and illustrative similes. Jimmy Pop’s monotone vocals allow us to focus solely on the poetic lyrics, thus transporting us to a Utopian world of rampant, animalistic sex. We can perfectly visualize everything, from the “smothered.. covered like my Waffle House hashbrowns” to “Mr. Coffee with an automatic drip.”
Then came the music video and its excellent use of dramatic framing, intriguing slow motion, and incredibly realistic costumes. How the international film community ignored its artistic merits remains a mystery. The video presents a no-holds-barred political agenda, primarily in its social commentary about the inhumane treatment of animals. We see monkeys reversing the societal roles of master and pet, running around Paris, systematically kidnapping various people and holding them hostage in a large cage. This process, although shocking and offensive, fails to be discriminatory, capturing women, chefs, a gay couple, and a little person mime – accusing us as a society of being less humane than a gang of monkeys, who at least are equal opportunity kidnappers.
The sincerity of the acting is notable as well; the scene in which the boys eat meal worms is heart-wrenching, if not vomit-inducing. Jimmy Pop’s menacing eyes and delivery of his prose with such conviction is almost haunting.
And then you remember that he’s wearing a ridiculous monkey suit, occasionally practicing bestiality, rhyming “mammal” with “Discovery Channel”… and you remember exactly just how wonderfully awful the Bloodhound Gang is.
