Their beats are cleaner than their mouths

Sex sells, and Menya knows it.

The pop/hip-hop group is comprised of Tisch juniors Richard Rusincovitch and Angie Stipe and senior Nicky DeMauro, all students of the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music. They combine techno beats with relentless rap, weaving in some pop vocals to round out the sound. Richard (“Good Goose”) creates the background beats, Angie (“Angie Ripe”) sings backup vocals and Nicky (“Coco Dame”) combines rapping and singing to make the lead vocals her own. But it is their raunchy lyrics about girl-on-girl action and a few choice body parts that really get the crowd going. On the track "DTF" Menya sings, "Girl, I am down to fuck tonight," while the band’s new song, "Philly Gurls," goes "Hey Philly girls I want to eat your cheesesteak." The three members of Menya write, produce and record this wholly original genre of music.

"Right now, since we don't have a big budget, we're doing everything ourselves," DeMauro said.

The trio has been acquainted for three years but has only been together as a band since 2007. DeMauro and Rusincovitch left a country band and joined forces with Stipe, who provided support on one of the first tracks. She sang backup vocals, and then she started playing shows.

"We didn't want someone else to steal her from us," Rusincovitch said.

Menya started playing shows around the city in April of this year and produced its first EP in May.

The six-song debut album entitled "The Ol’ Reacharound" features crowd hits such as "Ripe" and "DTF" and was recorded in Carlyle residence hall. In fact, Rusincovitch said, the members still record the majority of their music in the dorms.

"The first EP was very spontaneous. We basically recorded the first six songs that came to us impulsively," DeMauro said.

After Menya released "The Ol’ Reacharound," the members ramped up the amount of shows on their schedule, performing at least once every two weeks over the summer. Aside from the constant stream of gigs, the threesome also began writing songs for the next extended play.

"Richard had a basket of beats left over from the first EP, so we had a bunch of songs we could turn into something," DeMauro said. "We basically said, 'Let's take the summer to do all we can.' "

And hustle the band did — Stipe said it had everything done by the end of August.

The second EP, titled "Puss-Coital," will be released Dec. 4. Menya is scheduled to perform at the Bowery Poetry Club that evening with fellow Clive Davis students Nyle and Taylor Barns in honor of the CD release. The group also plans on drastically changing its live performances by bringing instruments on stage, instead of just depending on prerecorded beats. For now, the members are excited about the new direction "Puss-Coital" is taking them.

"The way we treated the whole sex aspect was silly on the first EP. We are more upfront on the second [one]," Rusincovitch said.

The EP features upbeat songs like "Diana (I Heart U)" in which lead vocalist DeMauro raps about an ex who needs to retrieve her belongings ("Bitch, come and get it, bitch, bitch come and get it!"). DeMauro, who is openly gay, said she chooses to reveal her personal thoughts about past relationships through her lyrics.

"I tried to find ways to say things I didn't get to say, like a second chance," she said.


Sara Gates is a staff writer. E-mail her at music@nyunews.com.

Comments

1 comments

Wed Nov 12 2008 21:53

Menya is amazing!

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