Mathmadix @ Martini Ranch

It’s not a new idea: Sex sells. Scottsdale-based hip-hop duo J Beam and Knawledg, known by their nom de rhyme Mathmadix, get it. The album cover of their long-awaited In a Class of Our Own, depicting the pair, a young lady in a short Catholic school skirt, and one foreboding-looking ruler, is a cheeky scene (pun most certainly intended), and the album’s lead-off single, “Freaky Girls,” takes the idea a few steps further. It’s sexy the same way Kill Bill is violent: an over-the-top display that would be pornographic if it wasn’t so funny and ridiculous. The disc also features up-and-comer “Rip-a-Cut,” a tune that celebrates the kind of ladies who are not afraid to get crazy, and the pro-looking video illustrates the point well, with police officer uniforms, sexy pillow fights, and some mirror photography illustrating the kind of insane party Mathmadix dreams of throwing. “It’s meant to be sexy but funny,” Knawledg says. “We didn’t want to do the typical ‘naked-girls-with-the-rapper’ thing, so we tried to have fun with it.” And fun is, indeed, the name of the game. The guys take a hard stance against the violence that has plagued Arizona’s hip-hop and rap reputation: “So everyone should come out; girls, put on your nicest dress, come out, and have fun with the Math. Make sure there’s no violence because we’re going to have a good time and give Arizona a good name.”