Perhaps realizing that when you’ve been struck by the Hot Iron Of Internet Fame, you should flog it for as long as the embers burn, Spectacular “Sexy Spec” Smith has decided to make another video of him humpin’ around, although this time, instead of grinding into the air while sporting red silk, he’s decided to show off his technique on a poor, defenseless folding chair while donning some black boxer-briefs and going off on a semi-incoherent tirade about the gender of his antics’ target audience. (Note: If your workplace frowns on Awkward Boners, you may want to wait to watch this until later.) This would be somewhat less sad if Spec’s antics weren’t directly borrowed form his ex-protégés / fellow Internet memes Peer Pressure, who had a foursome with some folding chairs during a particularly randy, Pretty Ricky-soundtracked holiday a couple of years back. Compare and contrast, after the jump.



So I was going to do a sort of comparison of techniques here–because I mean the homage has to be intentional, right?–but my thought process was paralyzed by me muttering, over and over, “Won’t someone think of the furniture here?” Instead, I will just say, “Thank God The Benny Hillifier exists.”

Sexy Spec Pt. 2 [PrettyRicky.com]
Pretty Ricky: Up And Down (Peer Pressure) [YouTube]
Previously: Pretty Ricky: Ready To Take The “Humping The Air” Crown Back From Any And All Pretenders To The Throne

Pretty Ricky’s Spectacular speaks about his intentions behind that video of him grinding like an idiot that he posted the other day: “Them little tight man drawers … I bought ‘em to show off my cuts [in my stomach]. I wanted to show off my body. The underwear was for the ladies.” And here I thought it was to ensure maximum bloggability! [MTV]

American Idol smoothie Anoop Desai’s favorite song of right now is “Boyfriend #2,” the new single by former Pretty Ricky member Pleasure “Marcus Cooper” P. It’s a decent slice of salacious “I’m better than your man” R & B, but I really hope that the Tweet announcing this love isn’t a sign that Anoop is going to enter Pleasure’s ex-bandmate’s grinding contest. [Twitter / Pic via Rickey]

Did you know that there is such a thing as an “air sex” competition, in which one’s ability to hump around with imaginary objects is graded for the purpose of winning notoriety and not much else? It’s true! There are even going to be some World Series Of Fake Love in Canada next month. Judging by the clip after the jump, however, the news that there is a competitive League Of Grinding Against Nothing In Particular has not yet reached the members of overly horny R & B boy band Pretty Ricky, even though their whole aesthetic is tailor made for chucking any pretense of a music career and devoting all their time to entering contests like the Air Sex competitions. At least, that has to be why Pretty Ricky member Spectacular “Sexy Spec” Smith has thrust he is calling a grinding challenge in the direction of his contemporaries, who include Chris Brown, Bow Wow, the members of Day 26, and whoever else is more famous than his band these days. And by “thrust,” I mean “wiggle his pelvis around in ways that are probably not safe for work in 99.9% of cases while his band’s not-very-good new single about, sigh, being drunk in a club blares in the background.” Clip after the jump, if you dare!



Personally, I am waiting for Peer Pressure to respond:



SEXY SPEC from PRETTY RICKY Gets “TIPSY” to the new Single!! [YouTube; HT ONTD]

Yes, Pretty Ricky is an outfit that’s so far gone into its own brand of camp I don’t know whether its four members are trying to be funny or trying to be serious, or if they’re just wholly unsure whether they can even take a position either way at this point. But can I just say that the slow jam from their forthcoming album ’80s Babies, “Knockin’ The Boots ’08,” is not bad, as far as sex-dripping come-on songs go? It would slide into the playlist of Music Choice’s R & B Hits station somewhat effortlessly, and given that said station has served as my musical go-to this summer, I can’t knock any song that tries for nothing more than to hit that general sonic target.

Plus, the video being out gives us an excuse to repost this, which is an oldie, but a goodie (and probably not safe for work if your office has a sexual-harassment policy regarding furniture):

Pretty Ricky – Knockin’ The Boots ’08 [YouTube via Crunk + Disorderly]
Pretty Ricky – Late Night Special [YouTube]

Fans of New Jack Swing will either flip or reel in horror when they see Pretty Ricky’s “Cuddle Up,” in which our favorite horndogs pay earnest tribute to the era. PR ladyfriends Butta Creame wear outfits from “Push It” and “Real Love.” Bandleader Baby Blue not only rocks a high-top fade and a shoulder-padded suit with no shirt underneath, he holds one of those portable phones that Gordon Gekko would whip out. Lyrics flash across the screen in big bold letters, gold chains glow in the dark, 4Play gives us a solo dance over a breakbeat and the group is surrounded by animated Dayglo outlines worthy of In Living Color. Dope!

As always, the best analysis of the track comes from Pretty Ricky themselves.

Slick’ Em:”Most men, you know, they fall in love after the sex. But you know, it ain’t supposed to be like that. You’re supposed to fall in love by cuddling up. Because that person’s there for you. Your right hand chick, she on your side. 24/7. 365. 52 weeks in a year.”

Baby Blue: “We did ‘Cuddle Up’ for all the ladies out there who wanted to have a record that they could put on when they do… if all he wanna do is bang bang bang bang bang bang bang, nah, bro! You got to spend time with your lady. You got to treat your lady like a lady.”

So true, Baby Blue. But what people really want to know is: Where did you get that giant portable phone?

Pretty Ricky – Double Up [WSHH via Rock The Dub]
Pretty Ricky – What Does “Cuddle Up” Mean To You? [YouTube]

The guy playing the keyboard? His name is Diamond Blue. The one eating off of a paper plate? He’s Spectacular. The fellow running a lint roller on his pecs? Goes by the handle of Slick’Em. And the chappy rocking the falsetto as Blue shouts off the various potential birthdates of their “’80s Babies?” His name is 4Play and he’s the newest member of Pretty Ricky, an R&B quartet so horny they make Jodeci look like the Statler Brothers. “21 Days Of 4Play,” the group’s ongoing YouTube miniseries that actually appears to have been filmed in one day, is a goldmine of new jack Spinal Tap.

4Play, ladies, 4Play. Gentlemen, take it outside.

Diamond Blue is happy to list the qualities that made 4Play worthy of joining Pretty Ricky. “You gotta have that sex appeal… check! You gotta be in mint condition physically… check, check! He got that… plus another check!” Also, the ladies feel Pretty Ricky because “Pretty Ricky is something to be felt.” “Everybody trying to hate on or stop Pretty Ricky, you can’t stop us! Cuz we are undeniable.”

“What does it take to be a member of Pretty Ricky? Mmmhmm! You damn sure gotta be spontaneous, and full of vigor…also you gotta be…freak nasty, cuz you know Pretty Ricky is very…nasty but a very sexual, sexual…and classical.. yeah…and you gotta have your grown man on…also, you gotta be very, very, very intelligent…you gotta be a beast in the bedroom…” And so on.

“One time, I was in the fifth grade, my teacher told me ‘Slick’Em, Slick’Em, what do you want to be when you grow up?’ I already told her, I wanted to be a pimp…”

“I want y’all to feel when you put a Pretty Ricky CD in, y’all in the studio with Ricky butt ass motherfucking naked. When y’all hear that riff I want y’all to say, ‘I wonder if he was naked when he did that?’ And you know what you’re going to say? ‘Yeah.’”

And there are still seven days to go.

21 Days Of 4Play (Day 13) [YouTube]
21 Days Of 4Play (Day 8) [YouTube]
21 Days Of 4Play (Day 3) [YouTube]
21 Days Of 4Play (Day 4) [YouTube]
21 Days Of 4Play (Day 10) [YouTube]
21 Days Of 4Play (Day 14) [YouTube]

What’s up with the lewd singing group who kept the Shins from the album chart’s top spot last year and inspired young men to put the “sex” in “sectional?” Well, their new album, ’80s Babies, comes out this August; they’ve found a new member to replace the departed Pleasure, and he is named (I swear) 4Play; and, well, I’ll just let this quote from Slick ‘Em say the rest: “This time around Pretty Ricky growed up because of where we been… we done traveled the world, we done been to places we never thought we woulda been, Mars and back. We done even went to Pluto.” [SOHH]

Pretty Ricky–the hormone-charged R & B outfit who some of you may remember as “those dudes who kept the Shins from hitting No. 1 earlier this year”–is looking for a new member after Pleasure (née Marcus Ramone Cooper) announced his plans for a solo career on the BET Awards’ red carpet a few months back. Like other bands looking for new blood, the remaining Rickys have hit the Web to find their new member, and they’re also hoping to wrangle a reality series out of some writers’-strike-starved network. But it may actually make compelling TV, since the Miami-based now-threesome isn’t looking for someone who can sing as much as it’s looking for someone who can uphold the Pretty Ricky-approved standards of classy interactions with ladies:

“We want to stay true to the sound,” Baby Blue explained. “We’re a hip-hop and R&B group. The three of us rap, and the fourth member has to be a singer just to keep the music consistent.”

If the downsized trio’s plans come to life, their search for a replacement will hit the small screen via a reality series. The group is pitching the plot to several networks. According to Baby Blue, the focus will be on the fit of a new member more than anything.

“It’s more about [whether a new member can] be another brother and just cope with all our family issues or whatever,” Baby Blue said. “And they got to be a woman magnet. They got to know how to deal with these ladies, ’cause that’s one thing we got to do. That’s why the music is all about women, because Pretty Ricky loves the ladies and the ladies love Pretty Ricky.”

Hmm, dealing with the ladies? Well, that probably counts out the furniture-loving boys in Peer Pressure, since they seem to be more into showering their affections on inanimate objects. Although if Pretty Ricky’s “Search For The Next Rick” does get picked up, I’d recommend that they be included in the cast, especially since, with some creative editing, they can provide some go-to comic relief. Witness:

Pretty Ricky’s Only Requirement For A New Member? ‘They Got To Be A Woman Magnet’ [MTV]
Re: Pretty Ricky – Late Night Special [YouTube]
[Photo: Getty]

You might think it difficult to get hot and bothered by the dry proceedings of a breach-of-contract lawsuit, but like King Midas (if he was all about bald metaphors for getting to third base), everything Pretty Ricky rubs turns sexy. As the other Rickys scramble to find a replacement for departed crooner Pleasure, the thrusting crotch born Marcus Cooper has now filed a (sexy) complaint against his former manager “[decieving] the singer by first acting as a surrogate father” and then “exploiting” him. Who knew the inner workings of a softcore teen R&B foursome would be so sordid?

Pleasure, according to the information filed earlier this week, is seeking a release from his contract with Bluestar and back pay owed to him. The suit claims that the former Pretty Ricky star has not been properly compensated for his contributions to the group, whose two albums have both been certified gold, pushing more than 500, 000 copies each.

The suit also alleges that Smith used physical intimidation. According to the complaint, when Pleasure began to distance himself from the group and sought out the friendship of others, in one instance, Smith attacked a friend of the singer’s as a means of coercion.

In addition to his other transgressions (his legal team is mum so far on Pleasure’s accusations), Smith is the dad of two of the Rickys, and I sincerely hope he wasn’t also in charge of coaching the group on how to grind on everything in sight. (On the other hand, that would be the kind of hands-on parenting that’s rare in an era of latchkey homes.) Also, how happy am I that we’ve had occasion to post two Pretty Ricky stories today? Maura’s right, Pretty Ricky really is better than Santa Claus!

Former Pretty Ricky Singer Sues For Back Pay, Contract Release [MTV]

In an eye-gouging monochromatic color scheme straight out of a 1998 Hype Williams clip, everything about the video for Pretty Ricky’s third single “Love Like Honey,” from the shiny overalls to the laser zap beat, could have been released to BET a decade ago without anyone blinking, while the boys continue to impress the poet in me with their mackadocious middle school come-ons: “Lick your nose/ Your neck/ Down to your bellybutton.” Who could resist? (Also are they saying “you gotta make the sex crunk”? I pray they are.) Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s first-ever music video is a little more, how do you say, restrained than Pretty Ricky’s gold experience. A religious ode to staying on the straight and narrow, “Malak Ghair Allah” nonetheless features the protagonist racing motorcycles like it was a Ruff Ryders video and hitting up fly Muslim honeys for their digits:

I guess this sort of “show the sinfulness to the audience so they’ll know what to avoid” is in the grand tradition of Christian comic books depicting gory zombies and full-color beheadings to hook their teeange readership. Despite being down with the anti-smoking message, I’m not so sure about the western commercial prospects for such a square video, especially in a country where kids film themselves humping the floor to, uh, Pretty Ricky songs. On the other hand, it might be just what our hypersexualized society requires to turn itself around. Maybe Pretty Ricky needs a little Allah in their life to stifle those urges.

Pretty Ricky – “Love Like Honey” [YouTube via Blender]
Saudi Music Video Strikes Devout Note [The Telegraph]

This clip of Pretty Ricky’s performance on 106 & Park yesterday has transfixed us for the past 10 minutes or so; it’s a jumble of signifiers, from Phantom Of The Opera to “The Hokey Pokey” to Kris Kross. (Sadly, there are no ottomans on stage.) But things don’t really become truly sublime until the post-show interview, when one of the Rickys notes that “The Lord Jesus Christ put us on this earth to please these beautiful ladies.” And populate the earth as well, right, guys?

Pretty Ricky On 106 And Park (05-16-07) [OnSmash]

Normally, the AIM interviews on AOL Music are pretty staid affairs; the answers often seem filtered through press-release lingo, or at least typed by some poor intern who’s crouched over a phone, trying to make out what, exactly, Justin Timberlake is going on about. But we’re pretty sure that this interview with Pretty Ricky, the sexed-out group made up of four often-shirtless men known as Slick’Em, Baby Blue, Spectacular, and Pleasure, is one thousand percent real. A taste:

SlickEmPrettyR: I’m lookin for 3 babymommas
CannonInMusic: lol
CannonInMusic: Well you have the dough to support all of the kids, so more power to ya
SlickEmPrettyR: with a pretty Ricky tatto
CannonInMusic: Oh yeah, of course I’ve got the album
CannonInMusic: It’s fire
SlickEmPrettyR: naw I’m not goin to take care of em
BabyBluePrettyR: a slick, i hit that pretty ricky tat last night
SlickEmPrettyR: put me on child support

This segment came early on in the interview, before someone turned the caps-lock key on each Pretty Ricky member’s computer; be sure to read all the way through for each band member’s thoughts on their upcoming clothing line, which will only be available in “super sexy sizes”; why their music is “tasteful, not nasty”; and, of course, their pure, undying love for the ladies. (Although we’re pretty sure that their “love” doesn’t extend to any post-one-night-stand economic needs those ladies might have.)

AIM Interview: Pretty Ricky – They can’t get enough of “the ladies” [AOL Music]
Earlier: Pretty Ricky Is Neither Pretty, Nor A Guy Named Ricky

What more can be said about Pretty Ricky, the lascivious Miami quartet who took the top spot on the chart this week? Their latest album, Late Night Special, sold 132,000 copies last week, and that probably still won’t be enough to make them wear shirts under their marching-band jackets. (Guys, it’s winter! You’ll catch your death!)

Biggest Debuts: The Shins’ Wincing The Night Away wound up selling 118,000 copies and notching a No. 2 debut–the highest ever for its label, Sub Pop. (The previous record for the label had been set by The Afghan Whigs’ Black Love, which entered the chart at No. 79.) A hefty 30% of the Shins’ sales came from digital retailers. We’re suspecting that wasn’t the case for the No. 4 album, 2007 Grammy Nominees, a ragtag collection of 2006 songs (“Bad Day,” “You’re Beautiful”) that are up for awards at next Sunday night’s big ceremony. Finally, John Mellencamp managed to enter the chart at No. 5, despite the world being against him.

Biggest Slides: It was a bad week to be a movie-associated album: Fresh off its Best Picture shutout, the Dreamgirls soundtrack suffered a 14.6% sales decline and a dip to No. 6, while the soundtrack for the Disney Channel boxing/jump-rope flick Jump In! slid 23%, landing at No. 9.

Nickelback Award For Inexplicable Durability: America will never run out of people who want, but don’t own, Daughtry: The Nickelbackian American Idol castoff dropped from No. 1 to No. 3 on the chart, but his album’s overall sales increased by 23%.

Pretty Ricky’s ‘Special’ Delivery Tops Chart [Billboard.biz]

It’s looking like the Shins’ Wincing The Night Away will debut at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 this week–the highest-placing first week for an album on an indie label since Thom Yorke’s The Eraser entered the chart at No. 2 in mid-July. Both were highly anticipated releases that experienced pre-release leaks; Yorke’s album scanned 90,000 copies in its first week, while some estimates have Wincing brushing the 100,000-sold mark. That number would have given the Shins an easy No. 1 on last week’s chart, which was led by the 65,000-copy moving Daughtry. Whether or not the album will stick around the top 10 for another week is up in the air, although Sub Pop is betting on continued strong sales, having shipped about 230,000 copies of Wincing to stores. If anything, there’s one important lesson for any labels with lofty ambitions: Even though sales have been soft and the teenpop trend has officially passed, ignoring the whims of sexually frustrated 15-year-old girls isn’t a solid strategy if you’re looking to have an album land at No. 1.

Building Album Sales Chart [Hits]

According to Hits, Sub Pop’s dreams of having the Shins’ Wincing The Night Away debut at No. 1 on next week’s Billboard chart have been dashed by Pretty Ricky, a sex-obsessed Miami foursome that’s been entrenched in the 106 & Park top ten for a while; their latest album, Late Night Special, is on pace to sell more than 100,000 copies. In case you’re behind on your midday MTV viewing, we’ve included the video for the ode to phone sex “On The Hotline” above; here are a few other facts about the group:

- In an apparent nod to the many types of condoms out there, Pretty Ricky’s members are known as Slick’Em, Baby Blue, Spectacular, and Pleasure.
- Each Rickster has very well-defined abs.
- Late Night Special‘s best, yet absolute worst, come-on: “Let me do you after school like some homework.”
- The runner-up: “I’m in my room, nothin’ but a towel on / Take them granny panties off, put a thong on”
- The group apparently counts My Chemical Romance among its sartorial influences.
- They really, really like doin’ it, and talking about doin’ it–so much that they bite the hook for Salt N’ Pepa’s “Let’s Talk About Sex” in their current single. There’s one catch, though: the word “sex” is bleeped out by BET’s censors.

Pretty Ricky, The Shins Get New Year Started [hitsdailydouble.com]
Pretty Ricky On The Hotline [YouTube]

Welcome to On The Shelf, Idolator’s weekly look at new releases hitting your local record shops and digital-download outposts on Tuesday. The roster of new releases this week is more robust than in past weeks, although the number of big-ticket releases is pretty slim. After the jump, we look at new albums by Pretty Ricky, The Good The Bad And The Queen, Saliva, and The Shins.

Pretty Ricky, Late Night Special
The artist: Four dudes, four sets of six-pack abs, thousands of screaming girls.
The sound: What happens if you feed four boys a diet consisting solely of R. Kelly records. Also, there’s a song called “Personal Trainer.”
The first in line: Well, someone‘s been keeping them in the 106 & Park top 10 all these weeks.

The Good, The Bad, and The Queen
The artist: Damon Albarn’s collection of NME-approved Superfriends.
The sound: World-weary laments that evoke “Help The Aged.”
The first in line: Select readers of yesteryear.

Saliva, Blood Stained Love Story
The artist: Nu-metal holdovers who have somehow stuck around.
The sound: All you need to know: “The outfit has been finding inspiration from contemporary groups such as the Foo Fighters, My Chemical Romance and Jet.”
The first in line: People who are still bitter about being made fun of in high school.

The Shins, Wincing The Night Away
The artist: Sub Pop’s shining beacon of hope.
The sound: Shimmering pop with a definite Morrissey fetish–and without those transcoded scratches.
The first in line: About half of the people reading this sentence.

On The CD Front [Pause & Play]