Punk rock and hip-hop collide in a new project which features Chris Constantinou from Adam Ant’s band.
The bass player has teamed up with Basement Jaxx rapper Jenna Dickens in Rude Grl & CC, and they have just released the title track from their debut EP, Like Wow, which drops on January 8.
It tackles subjects such as racial abuse, homophobia, personal struggles with addiction and sexual abuse, recovery and turning anger into positive energy.
The band have been gathering momentum since the summer, when they featured on Universal Music’s Re|Covered digital campaign, with a cover of Brand New Cadillac, a song made famous by The Clash on their classic album London Calling.
It was originally a 1959 B-side for leather-clad rock’n’roll maverick Vince Taylor, who was the original inspiration for Ziggy Stardust.
They have also covered The Clash’s Guns Of Brixton, and last month they were in Los Angeles, where their song Helen Keller won Best Hip Hop track at the PMA Mark awards 2020.
Now the pair are back with the four-track EP, which has a video featuring international twerker Bunni Morretto for its title track.
As Chris De Niro, Constantinou was being part of Adam Ant’s live band in the 1980s, and also worked with Bow Wow Wow‘s Annabella Lwin and The Slits.
He also formed post-punk outfit JackieOnAssid, joined another ex-Ant Marco Pirroni in The Wolfmen, and sang in punk supergroup The Mutants, which featured Rat Scabies from The Damned.
It’s fair to say Rude Grl & CC is something of a departure from what he’s done before, but it’s certainly worth a listen.
