The Porning Report

Music Biz Allows What Film Biz Eschews

French electronica band Air's racy new video for "Cherry Blossom Girl," directed by porn auteur Kris Kramski (Models, Klimaxx, An American Girl in Paris), is the latest in a string of music videos that have recruited directors from the adult film world.

It's not too surprising pop stars would turn to porn directors to helm their MTV clips, as these folks represent one of the only remaining arms of underground or alternative cinema that have not been absorbed by mainstream movie studios. Porn is hip, chic and cutting edge these days. But it is a little surprising that these filmmakers are so shunned by the mainstream movies industry, yet so accepted by the mainstream music industry, two businesses that usually go hand in hand. Record labels have no qualms about employing pornographers, yet movie studios ain't handing Michael Raven or Paul Thomas (NSFW) a deal any time soon (despite the fact that these two gents in particular could likely make a better flick than most Hollywood directors).

It will be interesting to se the reaction from Hollywood when lauded "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" creator/star John Cameron Mitchell unleashes his promised mainstream porn film (mainstream in that he's going to try to get it released theatrically, porn in that it will feature hardcore sex and penetration). Will he be heralded as a visionary, taking chances and breaking barriers, or will he be edited out of the business?

Hip Hop Peepshow

Two more rappers have joined the ever-growing club of hip hop MCs branching out to the porn world with their marketing ... er ... tentacles.

Former 2 Live Crew leader Luther Campbell has teamed up with Exquisite Multimedia and adult director Justin Slayer for a new hip-hop meets porn series called "Peepshow XXX." Campbell, whose raunchy, sex-filled Miami bass tunes led to his arrest on obscenity charges in both Ohio and Florida, is threatening to go further sexually than any other rapper has in porn thus far. While Ice-T and Too Short have all hosted porn videos, Campbell has alluded that he might actually have sex in his (though he has not confirmed this).

"We're going to do this right," Campbell told AVN. "Slayer is going to concentrate on doing what he does and I'm going to concentrate on doing what I do. But if he needs me to get up in there, I'll do what I got to do."

"We're going to take them to a 'Luke party,'" Tony B., general manager for Exquisite Multimedia added. "We're going to throw a real party in Miami and show them how Luke does and how Exquisite Multimedia does it. We're going to stir it up right and videotape what goes on."

"I've been doing it for a minute, this sex thing," said Campbell. "What me and Justin are going to do is bring the two worlds of hip-hop and sex together in a way that no one else has done before. The series is going to be a lot like what my life is like on the road. All sorts of crazy shit goes down when I come into a town. Women get their booties shakin' and get freaky up on the stage when I play -- and it's even crazier in the back."

The first episode of "Peepshow XXX" will be filmed in Miami this March.

Another rapper turned porn auteur is Lil' Jon of Lil' Jon & the East Side Boyz, the self-proclaimed "original kings of crunk." Jon is the goblet-carrying, gold-teeth frontin' dreadlocked dude you see in just about every hip hop magazine or party photo op these days. He also happens to be a big porn fan and recently issued his "Lil' Jon's American Sex Series" through Video Team. The vid finds Jon crossing over from "hip hop to pop shot, " to quote the box cover. Like most rappers, he doesn't actually have sex in the vid, but simply presides over porn stars and amateurs as they do and provides the musical soundtrack.

"Snoop really opened the doors for all of us that are doing it now," Lil' Jon recently told The Porning Report at the Adult Entertainment Expo. "We're gonna be the first Southern group to put shit out the way we're gonna do it. We're gonna try to flip it and do soundtracks to the movies, our music is high energy as it is, so when we put that into the porn it's gonna be a whole new level of pornography. Rap and porn are already so intertwined as it is, with the groupies and what we talk about on the records."

And damn if Jon didn't hit the nail on the head. Rap and porn are indeed already intertwined, and the lyrics on many of the records are indeed laced with explicit tales of sexual accomplishments and atrocities, so the marriage of the two is a logical progression. But that ain't gonna prevent protests...

"Lil' Jon's American Sex Series" is available on February 20th.

50 Cent Diversifies His G-Unit

Gangsta rapper 50 Cent and his G-Unit crew have signed with video/DVD production company Digital Sin to release an "interactive" porno movie, according to AVN.com. Falling in line with rapper Snoop Dogg, Too Short, Ice-T and a cadre of others, 50 Cent will host a hip hop porno called "Groupie Luv" that will feature a glimpse into his XXX-rated lifestyle, filled with backstage exploits, dressing room sex and tour bus hijinks. No, 50 Cent will not appear nude or have sex in the release, but will presumably preside over the on-screen action.

"The viewer will be able to choose which girls have sex and where the sex will take place," Digital Sin director of marketing and media Jeff Mullen told AVN.com. "(50 Cent's) a marketing person and he understands this is another marketing outlet for him that will open him up to a bigger audience."

Those are telling words, my friends. He's a "marketing person" looking for a new audience. For 50 Cent, porn is a way to reach an untapped market. Assuming he has no moral qualms with the skin trade biz, it's a smart move. I mean, what's the worst that could happen? You go to hell? 50 Cent's been shot nine times. This is not someone who's too worried about what comes after....

Vince Neil Preps for Launch

Rock star Vince Neil is the latest mainstream celebrity to officially delve into the world of pornography. Neil recently launched a Web site (www.rocktails.net) to preview his upcoming video/DVD, "Vince Neil's Rock Tails." The vid finds the former (and maybe future, as bassist Nikki Sixx says he trying to cajole him into one last reunion tour) Motley Crue frontman searching for vixens with tales of rock 'n' roll debauchery to tell, and then having their stories, as well as his own, recreated with porn stars and hardcore sex. Neil will not be having partaking personally, but will serve as host, emcee and performer of some tunes.

This is not Neil's first time in front of the pornographer's lens, but it is the first time he's appeared consensually. Like bandmate Tommy Lee, "personal performances" of Neil's were made public when his Hawaiian vacation home movies with porn star Janine Lindemulder (which included them having sex in a hotel room and on the beach with another girl) were released on the net and in stores through I.E.G., the same folks responsible for releasing the Pamela Anderson and Lee footage.

Neil has a quite penchant for, er, adult behavior. After years of raunchy antics in Motely Crue (well documented in the band's autobiography "The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band"), one would think Neil would mellow out a bit with age. Nope! Neil recently enlisted superstar attorney Robert Shapiro to defend him against assault filed by Moonlight Bunnyranch prostitute TriXXXie Blue.

Damage Control

Former Dark Brothers porn director Gregory Dark (he of "New Wave Hookers" fame) has been helming music video productions for years for everyone from teen queen Britney Spears to rapper Xzibit, and has had many of his mini-epics in heavy rotation at MTV, VH1 and BET.

Now, according to official fan site DamagePlan.net, Pantera side-project Damage Plan (featuring Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul) has hired Red Ezra ("Serenity In Toyland," "Riders," and "Love Shack") to direct the clip for "Breathing New Life," the first single off their "New Found Power" album, due out through Elektra on Feb. 10. Ezra previously directed Pantera's "Drag The Waters" video.

This means Red Ezra is on the Elektra payroll for at least a couple days or so, which in turns means Warner Brothers is doing business with a pornographer. Hardly controversial... but it is just a tad ironic that the label who once booted Ice-T for singing "Cop Killer" is now paying a porn director to help image their artists.

Hey, all the power to Elektra/Warner Bros., Red and Damage Plan for their forward thinking. Too bad MTV will never play it. Not because it's directed by a porn director, but simply because they haven't played a real heavy metal band in years....

New Role for 'Oz' Actor / Bassist Seinfeld

According to sources quoted by AVN.com, Biohazard frontman and star of HBO's 'OZ' Evan Seinfeld will be turning his acting talents to pornography in 2004. The heavy metal singer/bassist is reported to be filming sex scenes with his porn star wife Tera Patrick for upcoming Vivid Entertainment Group videos.

Tera recently left Digital Playground, the company she rose to success with, and has since announced that she has become a Vivid Girl (short for Vivid contract performer). In fact, Seinfeld is joining in the fun as her sole male partner.

This move would make Seinfeld the first rock star and mainstream male actor of prominence to become a hardcore porn star. Willingly, that is -- we all know the Tommy Lee saga. Sure, as mentioned here, rappers like Snoop, Ice-T and Too Short have appeared in porno videos cavorting around with naked girls or even being present during sex acts, but always with their clothes on and never engaging in any mischief themselves. Maybe in the future, in a porn-friendly world, actors and rock stars will find new careers and fame by dropping trou and doing the wild thing on screen.

Virgin Sells Erotic Books

It seems Virgin ain't no virgin anymore. The British-based megastore chain has begun offering erotic books and DVDs, as well as hip urban clothing and cell phones according to www.nbc4.tv.Yes, folks, that's pornography to you and me!

Right now, you can already waltz on into a Tower Records or Wherehouse and buy a porn DVD. And now, falling in line with their Stateside music retail rival titans, Virgin is hoping to attract new customers by "beefing up" its vast selection of music and entertainment, in an attempt to stimulate sales amidst the bloody digital revolution (which Kazaa and Apple's iTunes are making all the more gory). So what better way to attract the hipsters, fringe-dwellers and adult entertainment sect than offering good, old fashioned pornography? Heck, at Wherehouse you can trade in your used porn and get cash or credit to buy new porn. Now that's showing the British the American way.

There hasn't been much recent debate about these stores' putting adult entertainment out in the open where kids have easy access. Granted, the stores usually place plastic end cards over the box covers so the T&A ain't spillin' out, but teenagers have gone to far greater lengths to catch a glimpse of forbidden flesh. One thing's certain: Selling bottoms will help the bottom line.

The Rock 'n' Porn Connection

Long-standing smut magazine Oui announced a deal this week with adult novelty manufacturers Ben Wa and the RAD Group to unleash a line of sex toys that follow the magazine's new"goth/heavy metal" demographic. This follows hot on the heels of Oui's announcement that they will skew their magazine towards the emerging rock 'n' porn market, much like similarly minded Hustler did in the mid-'80s when it started putting rock bands like Motley Crue on the cover (an image they seem to re-embracing as well). With the rise of popular rock 'n' porn Web sites such as SuicideGirls.com, Rock Confidential, MK-Magazine.com and Sleazegrinder, and everyone from Blink 182 to Bon Jovi to Kid Rock using porn stars in their videos, the union between porn and rock 'n' roll has never been stronger (or as overt).

And it's not just rock musicians. Rappers including Snoop Dogg, Ice T, Mystikal, Too Short and Lil' Jon are hosting their own porn videos (don't worry their clothes are on, it's just everyone else who's nekkid!) and recording exclusive music for porns.

What's next? It seems likely that an existing musical performer will go "all the way" into the world of porn; certainly more likely than that an existing porn star will cross over into the music world. And while the most crossover is being done by male stars, there's already a large pent-up demand for Madonna and Britney co-starring in a "Like a Virgin" video.