Gröûp X
Encyclopedia
Gröûp X is a faux Arabian rock
band
, claiming to be from the fictional village of Cramshananteen, Saudi Arabia
. They play a mix of rap
and rock
. They are known for using comically accented and mangled English and a vaguely hostile (yet satirical) attitude towards the United States and Americans. (They should not be confused with the early 1960s English instrumental band Group X, most famous for their number 'There Are 8 Million Cossack Melodies - And This Is One Of Them'.)
s:
The real names of the band members are unknown to most.
Post-Hashmeer period:
Hashmeer Shashmeer left the group after the release of Stepping on the Crowtche owf Your Americain Presidaint. However, according to the official Gröûp X mailing list, Hashmeer had left Gröûp X in 2001, but returned "aifter a two yeares in rezidence at L'ACADEMIE DE LA MUSIQUE."
Pending Hashmeer's departure from the band Blade has taken over Vocals (Talks/Shoutes)and Blade's alleged son "Rowbby the Sheeth" as he is known in the "Waffle house Crank Call" bonus track at the end of "Stepping on the Crowtche owf Your Americain Presidaint" album has taken over Bass guitar in Blade's place. This is made evident on the DVD: "Live from Cramshananteen" mid-performance by Blade himself.
, a small concert venue on the Georgia Institute of Technology
's campus
and rock
songs, together with prank call
s in the same manner of the Jerky Boys
. Guest vocalists on the albums include White Chocolate and Danny Advantage.
There is also a separate single, "Come Arabian" (a cover
of 311
song "Come Original
"), which references a morning show on the former WNNX
, an Atlanta
radio station
.
and sexist rhetoric on either sex of the audience on their DVD performance. Other gimmicks include the theme of their gigs, reportedly satirizing
children and faux-middle-eastern extremists. The set for example is often strewn with toys and sometimes, but not always, the band wears Middle Eastern attire.
The group also jokes, from time to time, about new releases exclusive to the band's official website. Such as "GROUP X Ladies owf Sumer Hotshit Calendar" and "Ladies of Cramshananteen 2008 Calendar". Furthermore, various celebrities' images have been placed on the official website of Gröûp X. The images are of Gene Siskel
, who quotes "Tight new shit", Bert Lowry, who quotes "Damn! Them kids is off the chain!", and O.J. Simpson, who adds "I'm gonna kill you two".
On August 2008, the Gröûp X website was converted into a Blogspot page with two posts, one promising future updates. The other detailed their ROFLCon
performance earlier in the year, featuring two YouTube
videos and insults directed at fellow ROFLCon performers Leslie and the Ly's
.
and various comedic bits including band members harassing employees at fast food drive-thrus, and a prank call to a Chinese buffet
, in which Blade attempts to get free food for his entire extended family.
and added some of their music on their profile. On November 19, 2006, they added two unreleased and rare material on MySpace
. It included a rare jingle by Gröûp X heard on radio station WNNX
and a song about the history of Gröûp X. The next day, Stepping on the Crowtche owf Your Americain Presidaint
was available on iTunes
.
In April 2007, Gröûp X posted an official announcement on MySpace
declaring their reunion and that a new album is in the works for late 2007. Their MySpace page reports August as the release date.
In September 2007, Gröûp X posted an official announcement regarding the release date. February 2008 is the new expected release date.
In April 2008, they headlined the finale concert at ROFLCon
with fellow internet stars Leslie Hall
, Lemon Demon, Trocadero
and Denny Blaze
. The group had Ben Romans (from the Click Five
) on keytar.
On April 15, 2009, Gröûp X created an account on Twitter
, or "Twetted", as they put it on their website.
In late 2010, flyers around the town of Athens, Georgia
, stated that the Reunion of Group X would be on January 6, 2011, at Caledonia Lounge
. After Fans waited through multiple opening acts, it was announced that the vocalist had fled the scene. The remaining members of the band then decided to give the fans their money back, along with free CDs and DVDs. Any other news of a reunion show has yet to be announced.
music video
s of their songs on the Internet
, such as "Bang Bang Bang" (created by Wesley), "Cheese" (created by my_name_is_tim), "Schfifty-Five" (created by backtothefuture), and "Mario Twins" (a rendition of the basic tune found in the video game Super Mario Bros.
; created by Keith McKnight), "Sehventain Year-es" by Greg Pugh, and BlitzIISnake's "Bang Bang Bang" Machinima. Gröûp X did not participate in making any of these videos; they only wrote and performed the songs.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
, claiming to be from the fictional village of Cramshananteen, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
. They play a mix of rap
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
and rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
. They are known for using comically accented and mangled English and a vaguely hostile (yet satirical) attitude towards the United States and Americans. (They should not be confused with the early 1960s English instrumental band Group X, most famous for their number 'There Are 8 Million Cossack Melodies - And This Is One Of Them'.)
Members
Mentioning their true identities or nationalities is generally frowned upon by fans and band alike. In Gröûp X, the individual performers are known only by their pseudonymPseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
s:
- Hashmeer Shashmeer: Rifleman
- Blade Razorr: weapons specialist explosives expert.
- Rex Wif Da Machine: heavy machine gunner
- White Chocolate: Guest rapper, beatboxer and backing vocals (The only one claiming to be a "white/American" character)
The real names of the band members are unknown to most.
Post-Hashmeer period:
- Blade Razorr: Lead vocals, prank calls.
- Rowbby the Sheeth: BassBass (instrument)Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
- Rex Wif Da Machine: drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, backing vocals - Flat-Eyed Tony: KeyboardElectronic keyboardAn electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...
Hashmeer Shashmeer left the group after the release of Stepping on the Crowtche owf Your Americain Presidaint. However, according to the official Gröûp X mailing list, Hashmeer had left Gröûp X in 2001, but returned "aifter a two yeares in rezidence at L'ACADEMIE DE LA MUSIQUE."
Pending Hashmeer's departure from the band Blade has taken over Vocals (Talks/Shoutes)and Blade's alleged son "Rowbby the Sheeth" as he is known in the "Waffle house Crank Call" bonus track at the end of "Stepping on the Crowtche owf Your Americain Presidaint" album has taken over Bass guitar in Blade's place. This is made evident on the DVD: "Live from Cramshananteen" mid-performance by Blade himself.
Common venues
Occasionally Gröûp X played live shows at Swayze's Venue in Marietta, Georgia (they have not attended the venue for some time), and also recently once or twice a year at Under the CouchUnder the Couch
]Under the Couch is a live music venue located at Georgia Tech, USA, in the Student Center; however, it was previously located underneath the Couch building on West Campus. It is run by the Musician's Network , a Georgia Tech student organization. UTC was established by the Musician's Network in...
, a small concert venue on the Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
's campus
Elements in works
Their albums contain humorous rapHip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
and rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
songs, together with prank call
Prank call
A prank call is a form of practical joke committed over the telephone. Prank phone calls began to gain an America-wide following over a period of many years, as they gradually became a staple of the obscure and amusing cassette tapes traded amongst musicians, sound engineers, and media traders...
s in the same manner of the Jerky Boys
Jerky Boys
The Jerky Boys are an American comedy duo from Queens, New York, whose routine consists of prank telephone calls and other related skits. Formed in 1989, The Jerky Boys were made up of childhood friends Johnny Brennan and Kamal Ahmed...
. Guest vocalists on the albums include White Chocolate and Danny Advantage.
There is also a separate single, "Come Arabian" (a cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of 311
311 (band)
311 is an American rock band from Omaha, Nebraska. The band was formed in 1988 by vocalist/rhythm guitarist Nick Hexum, lead guitarist Jim Watson , bassist Aaron "P-Nut" Wills and drummer Chad Sexton...
song "Come Original
Come Original
Come Original is a single by 311, first released on their 1999 album Soundsystem. It was later released on the compilation album Greatest Hits '93-'03.-Music video:...
"), which references a morning show on the former WNNX
WNNX (99X)
W255CJ FM 98.9 is a radio station in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, airing a modern rock radio format branded as 99X, which originally began on full-power station WNNX FM 99.7 in 1992. Its city of license was previously Tallapoosa , which is now far beyond its current broadcast range, nearly in Alabama...
, an Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
.
Stage antics
Gröûp X's performances often contain a wide variety of gimmicks and audience-involvement. Blade Razorr can be viewed on the DVD antagonizing show patrons and insulting them. A key difference is that Blade is depicted using purposefully ignorant ChauvinisticChauvinism
Chauvinism, in its original and primary meaning, is an exaggerated, bellicose patriotism and a belief in national superiority and glory. It is an eponym of a possibly fictional French soldier Nicolas Chauvin who was credited with many superhuman feats in the Napoleonic wars.By extension it has come...
and sexist rhetoric on either sex of the audience on their DVD performance. Other gimmicks include the theme of their gigs, reportedly satirizing
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
children and faux-middle-eastern extremists. The set for example is often strewn with toys and sometimes, but not always, the band wears Middle Eastern attire.
Website
Late in 2004, their website was updated, saying that there was a new phone call album to be released on January 18, 2005, but this hasn't been released yet, despite another site update earlier in the year. In June 2005, the site was updated once again, saying the release date has been shifted to August 2005. To this day, it has not been released.The group also jokes, from time to time, about new releases exclusive to the band's official website. Such as "GROUP X Ladies owf Sumer Hotshit Calendar" and "Ladies of Cramshananteen 2008 Calendar". Furthermore, various celebrities' images have been placed on the official website of Gröûp X. The images are of Gene Siskel
Gene Siskel
Eugene Kal "Gene" Siskel was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted the popular review show Siskel & Ebert At the Movies from 1975 until his death....
, who quotes "Tight new shit", Bert Lowry, who quotes "Damn! Them kids is off the chain!", and O.J. Simpson, who adds "I'm gonna kill you two".
On August 2008, the Gröûp X website was converted into a Blogspot page with two posts, one promising future updates. The other detailed their ROFLCon
ROFLCon
ROFLCon is a biennial convention of Internet memes that first took place April 25–26, 2008, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The meeting was first announced in late 2007....
performance earlier in the year, featuring two YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
videos and insults directed at fellow ROFLCon performers Leslie and the Ly's
Leslie and the Ly's
Leslie & the LY's is a pop music band from Ames, Iowa that began as an open mike trio in 2004.Leslie & the LY's is made up of front-woman Leslie Hall, also known as Mother Gem, who composes all of the music herself generally using the Apple Computer program GarageBand. Other past and present...
.
DVD and controversy
A live Gröûp X DVD, Live from Cramshananteen, was scheduled to be released in July 2005, but due to offensive content, the DVD pressing company refused to take their order. The DVD was released in early 2006. It includes a live show filmed on the campus of Georgia TechGeorgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
and various comedic bits including band members harassing employees at fast food drive-thrus, and a prank call to a Chinese buffet
Buffet
A buffet is a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners generally serve themselves. Buffets are offered at various places including hotels and many social events...
, in which Blade attempts to get free food for his entire extended family.
2006 onwards
In October, 2006, they signed on MySpaceMySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
and added some of their music on their profile. On November 19, 2006, they added two unreleased and rare material on MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
. It included a rare jingle by Gröûp X heard on radio station WNNX
WNNX (99X)
W255CJ FM 98.9 is a radio station in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, airing a modern rock radio format branded as 99X, which originally began on full-power station WNNX FM 99.7 in 1992. Its city of license was previously Tallapoosa , which is now far beyond its current broadcast range, nearly in Alabama...
and a song about the history of Gröûp X. The next day, Stepping on the Crowtche owf Your Americain Presidaint
Stepping on the Crowtche owf Your Americain Presidaint
Gröûp X released Stepping on the Crowtche owf Your Americain Presidaint in 2000 as a follow up to 40 oz. Slushie and features new recordings of songs from the first together with some new songs. In this album, Hashmeer, the lead vocalist, has a thicker accent and a more gruff-sounding voice than in...
was available on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
.
In April 2007, Gröûp X posted an official announcement on MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
declaring their reunion and that a new album is in the works for late 2007. Their MySpace page reports August as the release date.
In September 2007, Gröûp X posted an official announcement regarding the release date. February 2008 is the new expected release date.
In April 2008, they headlined the finale concert at ROFLCon
ROFLCon
ROFLCon is a biennial convention of Internet memes that first took place April 25–26, 2008, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The meeting was first announced in late 2007....
with fellow internet stars Leslie Hall
Leslie Hall
Leslie Merritt Hall is an American satirical rap artist and front-woman for the band Leslie and the LY's and the operator of a "gem sweater museum"....
, Lemon Demon, Trocadero
Trocadero (band)
Trocadero is an experimental rock band based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They are best recognized for providing several songs to the popular machinima series Red vs. Blue, including "Blood Gulch Blues", its theme song...
and Denny Blaze
Denny Blaze
Denny Hazen, commonly known by his stage name Denny Blaze, The Average Homeboy and Blazin' Hazen, is an American rapper made famous for a demo tape produced in the late 1980s featuring his single "The Average Homeboy"...
. The group had Ben Romans (from the Click Five
The Click Five
The Click Five is an American power pop band from Boston, Massachusetts. The original members, most of them students at Berklee College of Music, started on January 1, 2003 and played in various local venues. They then quickly got the attention of talent scout Wayne Sharp...
) on keytar.
On April 15, 2009, Gröûp X created an account on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
, or "Twetted", as they put it on their website.
In late 2010, flyers around the town of Athens, Georgia
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
, stated that the Reunion of Group X would be on January 6, 2011, at Caledonia Lounge
Music of Athens, Georgia
The music of Athens, Georgia, includes a wide variety of popular music and was an important part of the early evolution of alternative rock and New Wave. The city is well known as the home of chart-topping bands like R.E.M. and The B-52s, and several long-time indie rock groups...
. After Fans waited through multiple opening acts, it was announced that the vocalist had fled the scene. The remaining members of the band then decided to give the fans their money back, along with free CDs and DVDs. Any other news of a reunion show has yet to be announced.
Discography
- 40 oz. Slushie40 oz. Slushie-Reception:40 oz. Slushie is an album by Gröûp X. Most songs are the original recordings which would later be re-recorded in Stepping on the Crowtche owf Your Americain Presidaint. One of the rarer albums, it was only pressed in limited edition copies and is no longer made. The name of the album is...
(19991999 in music-Events:*January 7**After eight years of marriage, Rod Stewart and supermodel wife Rachel Hunter announce their separation.**Paul McCartney attends the first of his stepdaughter Heather's first housewares collection in Georgia....
) - Stepping on the Crowtche owf Your Americain PresidaintStepping on the Crowtche owf Your Americain PresidaintGröûp X released Stepping on the Crowtche owf Your Americain Presidaint in 2000 as a follow up to 40 oz. Slushie and features new recordings of songs from the first together with some new songs. In this album, Hashmeer, the lead vocalist, has a thicker accent and a more gruff-sounding voice than in...
(20002000 in musicSee also:* 2000 in music Record labels established in 2000-Events:*January – Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for sexual offences ends.*January 1**John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List....
)
Flash videos
Gröûp X are known for the Flash animationAnimation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s of their songs on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, such as "Bang Bang Bang" (created by Wesley), "Cheese" (created by my_name_is_tim), "Schfifty-Five" (created by backtothefuture), and "Mario Twins" (a rendition of the basic tune found in the video game Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros.
is a 1985 platform video game developed by Nintendo, published for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a sequel to the 1983 game Mario Bros. In Super Mario Bros., the player controls Mario as he travels through the Mushroom Kingdom in order to rescue Princess Toadstool from the antagonist...
; created by Keith McKnight), "Sehventain Year-es" by Greg Pugh, and BlitzIISnake's "Bang Bang Bang" Machinima. Gröûp X did not participate in making any of these videos; they only wrote and performed the songs.
External links
- Official site
- Group X flash videos
- Technique Entertainment article
- Official Gröûp X Forum
- Live from ROFLCon Part 2 Review of the Group X show at ROFLCon.