Blowfly Unmasked!

If it weren't for the scandalous lyrics, "Cum" could pass for a vintage R&B hit. "I like to sing love songs," Reid comments, and this rapper can sing. His range peaks at a dog-calling falsetto, bends to a gritty growl, explodes into a roaring wave of power and beauty. It's melodic, infectious, charismatic, varied, often spectacular - and obscure. Weird worlds apart from his predecessors and those who followed him, Blowfly is the original superfreak. And the man in the glitter-gold tights can be twice as nasty as the 2 Live Crew (or anyone else) without ever being remotely mean or negative. As Reid likes to say, "I don't drink, smoke, use drugs, or curse. None of that shit."

Occasionally Blowfly has protruded far enough above the underground to be criticized by moralists. But Reid argues that Prince's "Kiss," which isn't full of obscenity and profanity but is said to be an ode to oral sex, is just as "bad" as any Blowfly creation. "When Frank Sinatra sings, `When you love somebody/It's no good unless he loves you/All the way,' what's he really saying?" Reid asks. "It's about sex. And sex is fucking. So I sing, `When somebody fucks you/It's no good unless he fucks you/All the way.'