Steve 'Flash' JuonIf I said “I put my hand upon your hip,” would you respond with “When I dip, you dip, we dip?” If so then you know Freak Nasty, a rapper and producer from New Orleans who scored his one and only chart topping single with “Da’ Dip” in the late 1990’s. The song has had a surprisingly long shelf life, going viral in 2024 as a TikTok dance meme, which means you may know the track without even knowing that Eric Henry Timmons was the man behind it. It’s really not surprising when you listen to it. It’s got all the right elements to go viral — it’s fun, infectious and has a hook that’s easy to remember.
Freak Nasty tried to capitalize on this success with his own imprint Hard Hood Records and the album “Hard Hood Records Presents Too Hard for the Radio, Pt. 1.” That’s a mouthful. For Mr. Timmons this wouldn’t be the end of his place in pop culture, but it was near the tail end of his label, as there is no indication he released anything from 2007 to the present day. This lends irony to both the album’s subtitle “Da Label That Runs Da Hood” and the hook of the opening track Mr. Bigg. It repeats ad nauseum: “Mr. Bigg, Mr. Bigg, whoa, Mr. Bigg. I wanted to be, Mr. Bigg, Mr. Bigg.” What you want and what you get in life are often very different things.
Annoying refrain aside the song is actually pretty good. Even though he hails from New Orleans the song sounds exactly like a T.I. track straight out the ATL from the same year. Owing to this album’s current obscurity the credits for it online are incomplete, but there’s a female rapper on “Mr. Bigg” who spits a supportive and seductive verse about doing anything to help her man achieve his dreams. I ain’t mad at it. If I was driving around town listening to Southern rap and this song came up on autoplay, I wouldn’t hit fast forward. The same goes for the Geto Boys influenced “Click Click” featuring Pikasso. They unapologetically rip off the style of “Scarface” and I love it.
It might be surprising how aggressive all of this is though. You might argue it shouldn’t be given the album is called “Too Hard for the Radio” and carries a parental advisory sticker, but this is as far removed from a radio friendly dance song like “Da’ Dip.” Just take the hook of “Say It In My Face” for example. It’s yet another example of the New Orleans based label imitating the sound of another hood, very clearly copying (or ripping off) the sound of Three 6 Mafia, with all the adrenaline and swagger of songs like “Tear Da Club Up” and the protestations to take out any haters on sight.
The bark of Freak Nasty’s cohorts is bigger than their bite though — culturally speaking. Not only was this album too hard for the radio, it was too hard for the streets, leaving things stuck on “Pt. 1” with no “Pt. 2” anywhere in sight. As fun as it is to hear all of his friends “Talk That Shit Na” somebody involved had to be aware this was burning money the label didn’t have to spend. With the royalties Mr. Timmons earned from renewed interest in “Da’ Dip” he’d have the funding to finally release that follow up, but I’d advise him to bank it and EARN interest instead. It’s really not necessary.