Brokencyde’s Phat J: Death Hoax Was Funnier Than Arrest Hoax

Say whatever you'd like about crunkcorists Brokencyde. If you hate their music, great. Villify them on a message board or boycott their shows. Or better yet, start your own awesome metal band that will make people burst into flames, go deaf and copulate with strangers on one listen, leaving Brokencyde without fans.

That said, there is such a thing as going too far when it comes to hatin' on a band, and it's gone too far with Brokencyde. Yesterday, various websites and blogs posted news that the band was arrested on drug, rape and child pornography charges. Pretty serious stuff, right? The source of the news was a fabricated, TMZ-style site, www.tmznews.tk. Even though a Canadian student started the media melee, it was reported as fact. So much for fact checking in an age when bloggers and web editors want to be the first with the scoop and the ensuing traffic.

This is the second time in a month that Brokencyde were the victims of a web-created hoax. Last month, news spread like an STD that the band had died in a Colorado bus accident. Being called dead is one thing and can elicit a chuckle here or there. Being associated with terms like 'child porn' and 'rape' is another.

"Honestly, we are sort of appalled by it, but we are used to it," Phat J told Noisecreep yesterday. "People just want to try and throw dirt on our name and they have to make things up to make us seem like bad people so people won't like us. I would never do that to someone, so I can't relate to someone who would do it to us." Phat J and Mikl said the news was a jarring alarm clock that woke them up yesterday morning. "We were like ,'Wow, again?'" Phat J said.

The hoaxes beg the question: Are Brokencyde flattered by or tired of these Internet pranks? Phat J commented, "There is no such thing as bad publicity, so this is how people keep our name alive, so I suppose we can't be that mad!" As for the alarming lack of fact checking? J said, "I don't understand how you can be in that position and post something without verifying it. It makes you look stupid! Why post something without understanding what you are posting. It's really silly."

Brokencyde can only speculate as to why they inspire this type of reaction from people, with J saying, "I guess if they hate the music that much, they will do anything they can to try to make us miserable. They can make fun of my nose or whatever they can do to hurt us or our feelings."

One thing is for sure, though. These rumors and hoaxes won't hurl the band headfirst into fear-driven obscurity. "We're not going to disappear," J said. "That will never happen. These people are stupid, why would that effect us? We will always keep doing music."

And in a nod to their sense of humor despite the not-so-funny fake-usations, Brokencyde rated the two hoaxes on a creativity scale, with Phat J saying, "I think us dying was the funnier hoax! They had like little pictures and a really good dialogue in the article and tried to make it professional. They put us in a tour bus with luxury items, when we tour with a van that is not even working; it's a broken down van, not a tour bus. We don't even have sound people with us, but that story said we had bodyguards. That's cool, but we don't have that."

To the perpetrators? Brokencyde said, "It was a good effort, but sorry, we're staying around."

Mikl also said, "We love our fans and our new record will be amazing."