In what just may be the freak-nastiest Yuletide-themed track ever, Holidelic takes Tchaikovsky’s delicately ornate “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies” on a grave-spinningly fonky ride.
That’s best experienced on the New York City-based group’s just-released video, which could be rechristened “Miracle on 134th Street.” In it, ex-porn art director and painter Mark DeMaio outlines the mythical birth of frontman Everett Bradley’s on-stage alter-ego Papadelic — with the gift of an illuminated fro wig, of course. All of the sudden, an uptight Christmas party turns completely out-of-sight as Bradley and Co. begin bumping and grinding in celebration not just of sugary holiday delights, but of big ol’ back sides.
Written by Everett and Mike “Mikiodo” Chiodo, “Sugar Rump Fairies” was originally part of a fan-financed 14-song seasonal collection from 2010 that brings back all of the joys of Sly Stone, Prince and, of course, P-Funk — the wacked-out retro-futuristic amalgam of ass-shakers with whom Bradley and Co. compare most favorably. Holidelic, now appearing in New York City as well as other regional spots, has since its 2002 inception worked with Living Colour’s Vernon Reid, the B-52s’ Fred Schneider, hip hop star John Forte, pop chanteuse Lucy Woodward, trombonist Jonathan Arons, and others.
This, however, may just be Holidelic’s tour-de-force of crazy-funking Yuletide weirdness. From its deep-fried groove to its slinky background singers to its gigolo-suave house guests to its terrifically naughty subject matter, “Sugar Rump Fairies” manages to stir in every rap-era cliche even as it celebrates a deliciously uninhibited ghetto cool. You’ll never think of Tchaikovsky — nor sugar plums, for that matter — quite the same way again.
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