Amanda Blank: “Don’t Waste My Time Just Take Me Home”

Written by Ann-Kathrin Mittelstraß

Sunday, 16 August 2009 12:01

One half of the music world is freaking out about the 80s synth pop revival, represented by Lady Gaga, Ladyhawke, La Roux and Little Boots (notice the coincidence that they all start with “L”…). The other half is freaking out about the new Philly Sound, brought to us by Amanda Blank. Only slightly older than the above-mentioned ladies, the songs of the 26 year old are definitely meant for more adult ears.

Amanda Blank’s music has rather little to do with what is usually associated with the Philadelphia Sound. It’s not soul or funk that is hitting our dance floors, but hip hop embracing electro and bursting the boundaries of pop and basically anything else that’s in between. Last year, we saw what pop can do when Ms. Blank’s good friend, Santigold, released her debut (back then, still under the name Santogold). In a similar style, adding elements of M.I.A., as well as references and attitudes also seen and implied by artists like Peaches and Chicks On Speed & Co., Amanda Blank is currently causing music journalists to write more about sex than about music. Which is probably because her “Love Song,” featuring Santigold, is one of the few songs on her debut album with the innocent title, “I Love You,” that doesn’t deserve the parental advisory tag. There are several other female artists that have rapped or sung explicitly about sex before (e.g. Peaches, Lil’ Kim and Foxy Brown, also the group recently introduced in Matchless Magazine, Thunderheist). Still, Amanda Blank seems to go even one step further. Just picking one song, for example, in “Might Like You Better,” the lyrics finish the phrase with, “if we slept together.” The way she wants to have sex with the guy she’s addressing is described vividly in words that shall not be repeated here, for the sake of lewdness. But in the same song, the line, “don't waste my time just take me home,” sums up what this lady has to say. “I take what I want and what I need. I don’t care what you think about that. I wanna have fun!” On her record, she reverses the existing gender roles when it comes to how sex is seen and done by women in contrast to men - in general and, above all, in hip hop, where women typically are portrayed in a degrading way, as will-less objects of male sexual lust. If we were on Facebook right now, we’d click the “thumbs up” button. Women like!!

And men seem to like it as well. At least, that’s the tenor of the over-all male music journalists. But the fact that Amanda Blank has caused such an uproar with her first album only shows where we are standing in our debate about gender roles. Apparently, it’s still seen as exceptional and revolutionary when a woman is doing what usually men are credited with - or rather, if she’s talking about it.

Back to the music. What additionally contributed to the attention the Philadelphia singer is getting is the fact that some of the hippest and busiest producers at the moment have worked on this record: Spank Rock, Diplo and TV on the Radio’s, Dave Sitek. Not to mention featured artists, like the aforementioned Santigold, and the Swedish, Lyyke Li. For those not impressed by Amanda Blank’s sexual explicit lyrics, you can still find a really good, pop-influenced hip hop record with driving beats and distorted bass that, with its musical crossover, fits into any decent club around the world.

I Love You, by Amanda Blank (released August 7, 2009 on Downtown/Coop/Universal)