photo (c) Rachel White for offwhite photography
As an early critical supporter of the act Mad Rad, I often defended their lyrics as tongue-in-cheek, goofy fun, but there is no getting around the fact the word “Ho” frequently frequented their vocabularies. Fortunately, the ‘Gents grew-up golden and made a Beastie-esque turnaround. Few local groups can claim to have matured as well as the guys in the Mad Rad crew. Buffalo Madonna aka Nathan Quiroga makes groundbreaking music with Iska Dhaaf. PSmoov aka Peter Robinson aka TenHundred still raps with Fresh Espresso and has become a sought after mural artist and Radjaw aka Gregory John Smith is a designer, producer, promoter and half the brains behind the recent #LOVETHEHILL installation.
With their shady lady past in mind, I had no trouble asking the guy who once made all us chicks the tantalizing musical offer of “injecting our bellies with some Radjaw jelly” to take it all off and cover himself in creamy goodness to support our cause. Smith came ready to play and was extremely good natured as we painstakingly crafted his shaving cream “dress”. The result, expertly shot by Rachel White, is one of the strongest in our gender-flipped”Sexy or Sexist?” series.
On the experience and the classic record by Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass, Smith said, “Not sure when I first heard the record, must’ve been really young digging through my father’s old records. It’s definitely a record I’ve grown to love over the years and keep on repeat in the summer with a glass of rosé. Being covered in shaving cream was like being the marshmallow part of a s’more. It felt magical and strange at the same time, it was eerily soothing.”