Last month we shared a video (filmed by Taylor Swift) of Lena Dunham dancing along to a song named after her by the all-girl Brooklyn rap trio Hand Job Academy. Although the song isn't actually about the GIRLS creator, it references her in the hook and on the line "finna let it all hang out, Lena Dunham." The video for the song also features a parody the text from Dunham's book cover for her biography Not That Kind Of Girl, switching out "a young women tells you want she's 'learned'" for "a bad b*tch tells you what she's 'learned." Music Times caught up with the women behind the Dunham-approved track, Clara Bizna$$, Uncle Meg, and Ash Wednesday. Here's what they had to say:
Music Times: For those who aren't familar with you guys, how did the group get started?
Clara Bizna$$: I met Ashley at a party at the end of 2011, and we bonded over hip-hop. When I met her I was like, "No way, you're like a blonde, Connecticut kindergarten teacher. How do you know about all this weird hip-hop?" And we just kinda started freestyling at this party, and it was magical. A couple weeks later we started writing stuff and actually taking it seriously. Then we met Meg when we worked on a film she was making for school. Then after that, we asked her to do a video for us. A little bit after that she sent us a rap she'd done, and it was so amazing that we were like, "Yes, we want you to rap with us." And hence Hand Job Academy was born.
MT: So how'd you come up with the name? Are you guys just really good at hand jobs?
CB: Haha, yeah we're valedictorians. So I was hooking up with this dude, and I was at his house in the morning. My phone wasn't working, I didn't have a computer, and I had to check something for work. So I got on his laptop, and I open Safari or whatever, and you know how the top sites pop up? There was a porn site called Hand Job Academy that popped up in his top sites, and I told Ashley - this was before we had really started to do anything - and it became this funny inside joke, and so that became the name. You know, I think it's just a placeholder, but we're registered in the Library of Congress with some of our songs, so it's really funny to get official mail sent to Hand Job Academy.
MT: You've been making headlines for your song "Lena Dunham" ever since Taylor Swift posted a video of Dunham dancing along to it. What's the story behind that song?
Uncle Meg: So basically we wrote the song a little while ago with one of our producers. A lot of times we write our verses first then we'll write the hook after. So we just wrote these random verses. The whole thing was pretty much like a random process. Then they put me on the mic just to spit some random stuff, and Lena Dunham's name was just kind of what came out and what stuck, and that's pretty much how that came about. I guess we were fortunate enough to put that video out right when her book came out and all the controversy around it. But really the song has nothing to do with the book or her and her sister or whatever.
MT: The line is "Finna let it all hang out, Lena Dunham," was that a reference to her nudity/confidence?
CB: Exactly. That is what I was talking about. And I had actually had recycled the line from another song. I put the word "punim" in a rap song, like who's done that? I'm not even Jewish, but living in New York you pick up the yiddish. It rhymed with Lena Dunham, and it was all kind of about getting naked and being emotionally open. Like Meg said, it was completely random. I think there are a lot of rap songs like that, like Kool A.D. from Das Racist has a song called "Manny Pacquiao," and it has nothing to do with Manny Pacquiao.
MT: Are you guys fans of Lena Dunham?
CB: I know Ashley read the book and really loved it.
UM: I'm a fan any strong female who's just like kicking ass in her industry. I don't hate on nobody, you know, and we're definitely all feminists. So if she's killing it in her respective field, and she's making the moves, I respect that.
MT: So obviously Lena has heard the song, but has she reached out to you all directly?
UM: Well her personal assistant emailed us and she said "Thank you Hand Job Academy. I appreciate it." It was a positive reaction.
CB: She actually tweeted at us, and it just said, "Thank you Hand Job Academy," which was a solid of her to like shout us out. I've actually been on GIRLS three times as background extra, so it was kind of random. You can't really see me, but it just one of those things that's cool to say you did.
MT: Throwing out that pop culture reference has given you some attention. Do you guys plan to utilize that as a tool going forward, throwing out some more celebrity names?
UM: I think we do a lot of pop culture references in our writing. When we get together to write, it always comes off in a light-hearted way. I think with the writing that pertains to this group, that's just what comes out. So I imagine that pattern to keep going for sure.
MT: Yeah. Hip-hop in general tends to be very in the moment. There's obviously timeless stuff, but referencing pop culture is pretty normal.
CB: That's kind of what I was going to say. I like Childish Gambino a lot, and he's always comes with the puns and the references, and like you said, hip-hop is about those inside jokes and figuring it out. That's why I love the site Rap Genius. I think people just love to decode what you're talking about. That's part of what people like about rap and hip-hop. But we want to keep growing, of course. Last year our sort of viral thing that took off was "Shark Week." People were like, "Novelty, novelty," and now with "Lena Dunham" people are like, "Novelty," and I just think that we have so much room to grow and show people that we're more than these things. Who knows, there might be something else next year, but time will tell what happens.
MT: Definitely. With how cut-throat the industry is, sometimes you need a few viral or novelty songs to get your name out there so people find your other work. But moving on to your music video. What was the concept behind that?
UM: Since the song was totally random, I wanted to make the video totally random as well but still include crazy visuals. I think what got people's attention the year before with "Shark Week" was that it was shocking and out-there, and I kind of wanted to show the same types of visuals. But the song is called "Lena Dunham," so I wanted to show a bunch of strong females doing what they do and doing their hobbies and different acts. There's a fire-breather and a burlesque dancer, and those women do those things in real life as well. It's not any acting or anything. So my take with the video was to make it wild and crazy and give people some interesting things to look at. And with the titles, Lena's book had come out, and I was like, "Hmm, what should I do for the titles on this?" So I basically thought it would be a funny parody idea.
MT: Do you have anything else in the works? Any mixtapes, tours, albums?
CB: At the end of August we put out our album #IKEAMONKEY, and it's selling a little bit on iTunes. I think that people bought "Lena Dunham." We're definitely going to make new music, always. We actually have a web series that's coming up that Meg's directing.
UM: Yeah, we have this web series that this media company from Florida is kind of funding and helping out with. It's just going to showcase who we are as people, our personalities, us doing what we do on a daily basis when we're together, and just showing how weird and wacky things can get. I kind of based it off these videos we made when we were on tour in April of us wild and out in the South and in these weird towns and just messing with people and having fun. The title of the web series is "Do What You Want, Always." That's kind of what we're doing. We're doing what we want, always.
MT: Is there anything else people should know about you guys?
CB: I want to tour. I mean that's what I want to do with my life. I think we are all on the same page with that. I want it to be my day job. If it's about comedy, and that's the thing that can keep us on the road, making music, getting funded... it's just so hard as an independent artist right now to afford anything, and it seems like people make their money off merch and playing shows because albums don't sell, so what you have to do is partner. It's so funny because it used to be not punk rock to sell out, but nowadays people have deals with clothing companies and stuff, and I think that's how you do you're shit now. You can still be independent and work with a fashion line or work with a product line, and I think that's what I'm looking to do. I'll just put that out there. I want free eyeliner. I want endorsements. I want a booking agent. I mean I want people to give us money to do what we love. Isn't that the American dream?
If you want to see the group live, they'll be playing a show on Jan. 17 at the DIY venue Shea Stadium in Brooklyn. Who knows, maybe Dunham herself will show up! Head to their Facebook page for more info.
