Larry Lank Lank releases The Cam Newton LPWritten by Jeremy HendersonArts / Culture, FeaturedDec 29, 2010Worth it for the cover art alone.Owing mostly to the instant folk-hero status of Cam Newton, Auburn fans have recently enjoyed an explosion in musical tributes to their team – most of them hip-hop.Larry Lank Lank, one of the first to the game, says he’s about to drop a bomb.On Thursday, the Mountain Brook-based musician will host a release party at The Downtown Lounge in Birmingham not for another made-for-YouTube rap video, but an entire Auburn-themed album – The Cam Newton LP.The 13-song collection of Cam-centric rap, hip hop, R&B, and even techno, includes Lank Lank’s popular “6â€6, 250â€, which addresses the allegations surrounding Newton’s recruitment that dominated headlines for the latter half of Auburn’s season.“You can try to take away from what the man has accomplished or try to bring up wrongs from his past, but you can’t take away from his God-given natural ability,†says Lank Lank, a Montevallo graduate who’s real name is Dezerick Kirkland. “He’s 6â€6, 250.â€Not every song on the record is about No. 2.Track 6, “Bo Jacksonsâ€, is about Bo Jackson – or at least his shoes, the Nike Cross Trainer’s of 30-year-old Lank Lank’s youth.(In what has to be one of the best explanations of fandom ever, Lank Lank says he became an Auburn fan as a child because of Jackson and because Pat Dye reminded me of my grandmother.â€)Track 10, “The Belt†is about Nick Fairley – or at least uses Fairley’s championship belt shtick to illustrate the mode of manliness (and sense of fashion – wearing pants around the waist, rather than “bustin’ a sagâ€) that Lank Lank, an African-American, feels is on the decline in the Black community.Lank Lank traveled to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game, performing songs from the record at various Auburn tailgates. He’ll do the same in Glendale – if he can raise the cash.“Something happened to me down in Atlanta,†he says. “I used to be an introverted person, but man, now I love to go out in public. That Auburn Creed is a part of me.â€Lank Lank is hoping money from record sales and upcoming performances can finance not a ticket, but just a trip to the national championship game.“I want to work for it. I don’t care about the money, the money will come in time,†he says. “I just want to get the message out and support this team.â€The Cam Newton LP can be purchased for download at CD Baby. You can listen to the opening track, “Super CAMâ€, exclusively here at TWER – cause we’re cool like that: Contact Larry Lank Lank at larrylanklank@gmail.com.
“Something happened to me down in Atlanta,†he says. “I used to be an introverted person, but man, now I love to go out in public. That Auburn Creed is a part of me.â€