3OH!3 WTF?

If you ever wondered where music videos went, they’re on in the middle of the night. Having recently reverted back to my nearly nocturnal natural state, I’m now privileged enough to see them again. Occasionally, something comes on and I’m not entirely sure if I like it or not.

This was the case with 3OH!3’s Don’t Trust Me. If you give it a listen, it’s a pretty run of the mill pop song more or less about sex. It reminds me a bit of the Bloodhound Gang, which I’ve been known to enjoy. After hearing it again, I found the tune running through my head. It was official: I like this.

Like any normal person, I looked into their other work. Would it be more of the same? Disposable sex pop? Or would this enjoyable little song be completely unlike anything else they did?

Well, Don’t Trust Me is unlike anything else they do, but I had no idea what I was in store for. As it turns out, 3OH!3 is a crunk band…but they’re white and from Boulder, Colorado and met in physics class.

WTF?

I’m no fuddy duddy. I know what crunk is. Lil Jon wants me to get crunk in this bitch and drink booze out of a jewel encrusted gold goblet. I get it. Its southern hip hop party music. So just what are two white boys from Boulder (and I mean white) doing making crunk?

I’ve been to Boulder. Crunk isn’t what comes to mind. Hiking, pot, and rotting away in a large lecture hall listening to Ward Chruchill come to mind. I suppose you can say something for filling a void. Before 3OH!3, I’m going to guess there was a dearth of crunk in Colorado. How exactly would you find such an obscure void to fill though? Another post for another day…

Back to the music. Unable to stop myself, I picked up their CD Want. Again, I’m absolutely floored, but I like it. It’s catchy, and in spite of the fact that it’s very clearly white boy crunk (the lyrics suggest these kids didn’t exactly struggle for money growing up), it never devolves into being pure novelty. I own it, I like it, but I don’t know if I’ll ever fully understand its purpose on this planet.