| Pimp
Core, Rapcore, Urban Metal, Rap Metal and Cracker Rap are terms that have
all been used to describe the sound of Gangsta Bitch Barbie. If you add
together everything that comes between The Beastie Boys and Slayer, then
sprinkle a little Korn over the top and bake awhile, you get 5 pissed off
guys from Boston with phat beats, phat riffs, and an ax to grind. In 2
very short years, GBB has become one of the top drawing bands in Boston,
a city not typically known for its support of the heavy stuff.
History
in a nutshell:
In
the summer of ’97 Chris Fitzgerald and Todd Nickulous quit their punk band
and started jamming with Jim Shippey and Danny Marques, who had quit their
metal bands. Songs came quickly, but they were sorely in need of a singer,
since not one of them could carry a tune. Ken Smith, fresh from getting
the boot as the drummer of the band that was rehearsing down the hall,
wandered in one night, beer in hand, and gave it a go on the microphone.
All jaws hit the floor when this dude opened his mouth: he couldn’t carry
a tune either, but he sure could wail.
GBB
started gigging immediately, the audiences grew, and within one year Gangsta
Bitch Barbie had won first place in a Battle Of The Bands contest. They
used the prize money from that contest to record their indie release “This
Is Not A Test”. Shortly after the release of “Test”, Todd Nickulous exited
GBB and was replaced by Jim Foster who had produced the CD. Various tracks
from “This Is Not A Test” have received airplay on WAAF, WBCN, WFNX, WCYY,
and KXTE. GBB performed in 1999’s WBCN Rumble and the 1999 WBCN Xmas Rave,
sharing the stage with Primus.
The
band website: http://listen.to/gbb receives
over 1500 hits per month and has racked up over 12,000 visitors since it
went online in January of ’99. Since April of ‘99, well over 2,000 MP3
files have been tracked as downloads from sites like rollingstone.com,
riffage.com, Boston.com, and IUMA.
GBB
is currently preparing material for a Spring of 2000 release.
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