C(NI YOTSUBA HIp (Hop) To BE SQUARE from page 49 Japanese Restaurant & Bar of West Bloomfield • One of Ann Arbor's finest Japanese restaurants conies to Oakland County night I got a mic for my raps" — it's safe to say that the 30-something G has never truly felt comfortable anywhere except behind the mic on a stage. "I love rapping and performing and will continue to do it until I am physi- cally unable," he recently told the online magazine Jewsweek. Not that he plans on toiling away in obscurity. To that end, G took his No Opportunity Wasted appearance quite lit- erally. "I was doing a concert in London," he says. "And I got a call from a friend of mine who was working at No Opportunity Wasted The point of the show is you have $3,000 and three days to fulfill a dream. I wanted to make a music video for one of my songs. So we decided to have my Jewish mother come • Unique dining experience • Tatami room • Private party room 248/737-8282 HOURS: MON-THURS 1 1 :30 — 10:00 • FRI & SAT 11:30 — 11:00 • SUN 12 — 9:30 7365 ORCHARD LAKE ROAD IN ROBIN'S NEST • WEST BLOOMFIELD SPOSITA'S 1 , 1 0% OFF RISTORANTE 1 I TOTAL FOOD BILL Fine Italian Dining in a Casual Atmosphere 1 IMON-THURS. ONLY) 1 I PLEASE PRESENT THIS COUPON I TO RECEIVE DISCOUNT! OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK! candy (the rapper has several radio appearances with Howard Stern under his belt). "We're going to be marketing Etan G — not necessarily 'the Jewish Rapper,"' he says, though his Web site remains vvww.jewishrapper.com for the time being, at least. "It just takes too much time to change people's minds. They hear about an Orthodox Jew rapping and they immediately think, 'Bagels and lox.' It's schticky, and it takes too much time and effort to change their perceptions. So we're just going to market the music. We'll let them hear it, and when they do the research, they'll see who I am. It'll be like, 'This guy's Jewish? And Orthodox? Whoa! "I'd kind of like to be the white Will Etan G: "I'd kind of like to be the white Will Smith." I ONE COUPON PER CUSTOMER • EXPIRES 12/31/04 I 116 MOM NMEM MIMS OM OM VIM UM VIM MEI MON OM OUR NEW HOURS Monday-Thursday 4pm- I Opm Friday 4pm- 11 pm S 33210 W.14 Mile Road Saturday 4pm-11 pm Sunday 4pm-9pm In Simsbury Plaza Just East of Farmington Road West Bloomfield RISTORANTE (248) 538-8954 913590 ; Now offers some of the O most favorfte items for 30 years. Available anytime sfi r its for your carry out needs. - Lox $22.50 Corned Beef $10.00 lb. '11.00 lb. Extra Lean Corned Beef Fresh Roasted Turkey Breast $10.00 Swiss Cheese lb. 3;. lb. fre 5 6.25 lb. Chicken Salad Tuna Salad ...... . . . ...... $9.00 $9.00 ... . "The best tuna ish in North America." lb. •3 lb. D ETROIT FREE PRESS ‘\ Bloomfield Plaza 6638 Telegraph & Maple • Bio4 eld 248.851.0313 A 'ml 14 '!"' OKIE . 1ENTIRIPIE GIFT SEcoN10 '11ENTRIIEJE. 1/2 OFF 11/26 2004 50 Ex Tres 12/31/04 AM, 4 AW...N. FA, E4 rAr r r e • 1r7 r—, . "You'll like the I prices at Ole Ole... and the food • even better." I - Danny Raskin of 14 Mile Rd 1103 East Lake Drive approx. corner 1 1/2 miles west of Novi Rd. Novi 248.668.9005 913020 out, sit next to a major record executive, screen the video and have the execs tell my mother my chances of making it big. At the same time, my wife is going into the hospital to get induced into labor. I have to make a music video, get my mom out here, and be back and forth while my wife is giving birth over the three days they're filming. Its great footage." G's parents haven't always been thrilled over his career choice, but he says the show did help convince his mom that what he does is indeed a "real job." With his NOW appearance, G not only scored a music video out of the deal, he also parlayed the experience into a record contract. With more money to support production, publicity, touring and distribution for his second CD, to be released at the end of January on the Virtu label, his chances to reach a wider audience have been upped signifi- Smith. My next album is going to have lyrics that come from the soul of the Jew — but you're not going to hear any direct words addressing Judaism. They'll just be good, clean rap songs. Could superstardom be around the corner? It would certainly be a first to have an Orthodox Jew busting rhymes about the importance of education and believing in one's self at the top of the record charts. But you have to dare to be great. And stranger things have hap- pened. Just ask Tiger Woods, Eminem and Yao Ming. I I " Etan G's appearance on the reality show No Opportunity Wasted airs 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 27, on the Discovery Channel. The episode is downloadable from his Web site, vvww.jevvishrapper.com, as is order- ing information for Etan G's record- ings.