Stevie Slams Back With Another Hit
Stevie's a social activist. He's marched on
Washington to push for the King holiday, he' up- "Boy: N TM Hood," a powerful
ported various campaigns to fight apartheid and drama about coming of age in Black
The name Stevie Wonder has been synonymous hunger and he has a big oft spot when it comes 10 urban America, marks the feature
w,ith hitmaking music for nearly three decades, and a education. film writing and directing debut of
career decorated with countless gold and platinum , Additionally, Stevie wrote a song called "Keep 23-year-Old John Singleton. It tells
albwns, numerous music awards, and 60 charted hit Our Love Alive" for Nelson Mandela the day be was a poignant tory about the com-
Singles. released fro prison. In honor of his work in South munity where Singleton w raised:
After a four year break, Africa, he was recently of three friends growing up in a
Stevie's put together a presented with the pres- South Central 1..0 Angeles neigh-
slammin' soundtrack for tigious Nelson Mandela borhood, and of street life where
Spike Lee's "Jungle Fever". Courage Award t a friend hip, pain, danger and love
1be firstsingle'''GottaHalle benefit dinner by the combined to Conn reality.
You", is quickly making it's TransAfrica nti-apart- The film caused considerable tir
way up the charts. held movement, and t the Cannes Film Festiv lthis May,
. The ubjectofinten:acial bile be' recetved where it debuted ail official fe - ,
romance is what really numerous accolades and-'''-lva1 election and became one of the
sparked Stevie's interest in honors, this one w par_ standouts of the two-week event. It
the film. He pent a month ticularly pecial. is produced by Steve Nicolaides
isolated in his studio, and As to his music, if ("Misery," "When Harry Met
even postponed the release "JungleFever" does well Sally ... ")
of his own album "Conver- in stores, "Conversation Starring in the roles of the three
sation Piece" in order to Piece" might not hit the friends are rap recording artist Ice
complete the eleven track scene until sometime Cube ("Am�riKKKa's Most
album. Although he was ex- next . year. In the mean- Wanted,,), who makes his acting
cited about working on a time, Stevie's keeping debut as Doughboy; Cuba Gooding,
project with such a con- Stevie Wonder himself busy with Jr., who play Tre: and Morris
ttoversial topic, Stevie feels people should be more various projects. He. just wrote two new tune for Chestn�t, who plays Ricky. Larry
tolerant towards couples of mixed races. With all the Diana Ross' upcoming release and he's also thinking Fishburne ("King 01 New York,"
predudice that accompanies interracial unions,' about writing a musical, but when that will happen, "School Daze") stars as Furious
Stevie's glad he can't see all the hate. not even Stevie knows. Styles, Tre' .father.
It's well known that outside of the musical arena, The film's tiUe is taken from a cut
written by Ice Cube on the first
Prom Bawy Broadcasting Services
Via S.rra Syndication
to y ithin trend. ere
trying to b
tre "
ette."
ext top Detroit, where di c
joe ey named Mojo" d real wild
how, t night e ew he bad
connectio and wanted him to hear
our tape." Camped out in the dio
station lobby, Re dy For The orId
managed to comer Mojo. "He told
us, 'Hey, I don't do this ," remem­
bers Gerald, "then put [the pel
on anyway. After minute, he'd,
'Damn. I haven't heard anything
I�e this ince the TIme. I'm going
to do whatever I can to try to get you
guys signed."
True to his word, Mojo "got the
ball rolling" and the band ultimately
igned recording contract with
MCA Record. Their elf-titled
debut released in 1987 and went
pI tinum thanks to several powerful
R&B ball . "We got known for
our low on nd captured the
female mar t right off the bat," ys
Melvin." e also crossed over from
the Bl ck market to the pop market."
LONG TIME COMING,
released in 1 continued Ready
OYZ
For The World' popular rise and
went gold. e t came Rough flNl
ReDdy in 1989. "On the third album
e tired to 0 tree 1, " ys Ore •
" e got in sampling and all that
kind of jazz. It w 'growth
record.'" .
When Ready For The World ub­
sequently decided to take a break,
"we left the mar et on a high note,"
ys Melvin. "Then we cleaued our
late, got new man gement and
J obn Singleton
dee ded to take more of.
, ith our m Ic, But e're not
messin' ilb poll It'. musical
tbin& lib one of our De
'World Party.' Our tyle is •
global style, aDd diffae countD
wUl probably pi up. di1femlt
tbinp. ED8Iancl ukl for our
house stuff. FraDce will probably JO
for the baIlada. Everybody F ,a
piece of us this time aroUDd."
HOO
We first meetthe three friends in
"Boyz N 'I"M Hood" when they are
young boys, but the story fOCUlCl
largely on their .late teenage yean,
with Cuba Gooding, Jr., as TIe Styl
at age ,17. His friends, two brotbel'l
from the DCIJhboring Baker family,
are Doughboy (played by Ice Cube)
and Ricky (played by Morria
Chestnut).
"Tbe film bas a lot of in
11," Singleton ya, "but my maln
m ge is tbat African..AmerI
'men have to tate more rcIpOIIIIbIlity
or ....... UI ...... u dIIlldllll ... J ..... .uy
their boys.' Fatbcll to teac:h
their boys to be men. Tbe DOe
will be able to tbe dlredioDi tllit
the ebaractera take when there an
absence or • presence of lathe in
their lives." I
",
PRINCIPALpOOtography bep'n
on "Boyz N The Hood" on Oct. 1,
1990, with considerable care taken U)
maximize realism in the picturt.
Three members of a South Central
Los Angelea gang) amona them' �
.. young man consultants to SiDJIetoo
and the actora on all facets of
film, with particular input on
wardrobe, vocal empbali. and
dialogue changes to most accurately
refleet current reality.
And although lOme crew mcd)­
bers were at first concerned about
safety on location, their fears were
allayed by a security team that In­
cluded Los Angelea police officel'l
and members of the Fruit of Ialam,
ano�tionRS�byallpuu
of the Black community (in lUJe
part because of the group's religio
devotion and self discipline).
The districtly upbea, mood on the
set can be attributed to the
predominant! y African-American
crew' trong belief in the projeCt
and to the fact that producer SteVe
Nicolaides grandfathered 12
African-Americans into the Interna­
tional Alliance of Theatrical Sta
Employees.
SOUTH CENTRAL Los An- The majority of ex in the plc-
geles has a reputation _ fueled con- ture are from South Central I..os.Aa­
siderably by media coverage _ that .geles, oftentimes plucked by
precedes itself. And while the day- Singleton from among the CUriOUI
-d d Ii ed bv l ·d spectators woo gathe� around the
to ay rama v y Its resr ents set on location. Singleton. who the
serves as the backdrop for thi pic- crew took to caUina by his lifelong
ture, the film i principally "about nickname (John Johl)),.110 makcI'a
boy turning into men," Singleton , . cameo appearance in the film as a
say . mailman. '
Shot entirely on location in South' "It's rare to have a chance to work
Central L.A., the film aims to give
the first true picture of what life . on a project that II 11 •• _,.-., __
like in the "L.A. Hood." It w not something to say about society,
uncommon during production for Nicolaidea. "The Itrenath of the
police helicopters to circle above Black cqmmUDity II what mBa
nearby houses, for gang members to film ItroD&. Tbe ICI'lpt hare and
Object that actors w re wearing an - more Important - timely. 1bII
opposing gang's colors or for police story is about our IOCiety today, and
cars to peed past the set in hot pur- it' important for ewryone to C a
uit look at bat our lOCiety II doina to
But in the midst of these distrac- i If."
tions, another side of reality w Say. Singleton: "'Boyz N 1M
filmed - the 11 of the poep in Hootl' about lue from
, the community who don't m te , •
news. It is that real-life drama that PriDCI IpbotopapbyOllCbetllm
Singleton decided to explore and re- w comple Nov. 28, �990.
create on film. One scene among
many that capture the ironic mix of
commonplace and macabre two
kids battling over a football jUit •
few feet away from a dead body.
'Black Actresses Speak' Out
Hard times for Black
actresses in Hollywood
Actress and guest writer Robin
, Givens interview some of film's
hottest stars, including Lynn Whit­
field, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Kimberly
Russell, Janet Hubert-Whitten, and
Vane a Bell Calloway, and asks
, "Why Are Black Actresses Having
: Such A Hard'Iime In Hollywood?" in
( the June Ebony.
Ms. Givens, who stars in the new
movie "A Rage In Harlem," writes
: candidly about her experiences of
· trying to find work in an industry
· obsessed with the "Barbie Doll star­
let." Also candid in their, descrip-
· tions of Hollywood are Ms.
Whitfield, who landed the title role
in HBO's "TM Josephine Balcer
• Story." She tells why her plum role
, tiught her thtngs about racism that
, she hadn't known before, and
describes the realization which
caused her to admit that he is a
"goddess."
Ms. Ralph, one of Broadway's
· and film' mo t successful actre es,
, s� proudly that there is no mista -
ing she is a Black woman, while
Kimberly, who tars in 1V' "Head
0/1M Class," ays she feel Black
actresses are "being raped or robbed
· of our craft because we are so limi ted
· in our opportunities."
M . Whitten, who co- tars in
TV's "F�h Prince of Bel-Air, " ex­
plains hy Hollywood once made
her feel "old, ugly, BlaCk," and
· worthl . Ms. Calloway, who ap­
pears in the film "Comin To
America" aoo in 1V' "Equal Jus­
: tice;" admits that while he is one of
Hotlywood' mo t con istently
Act Rob Give
from front left) Vi D
R I� on why Blac
rt) Inte"le me of HoUywood' top Bl ck female Includ (doc
BeD CaDoway, J et Hubert- Whitten, Lynn Whltfteld, Sberyl Lee Ralph. d Kmberly
re "Having Such A Hard TIme In Hollywood.
Ice Cube
album from best-selling Compton
rap group N.W.A. Ice Cube bas
since gained worldwide attention
through his platinum-selling solo
album, "AmeriKKKa's Most
Wanted" A streetwise motion pic­
ture soundtrack for "Boyz N 1be
Hood" featuring a number of urban
contemporary musical artists is
being released on Qwest Records.
working Black actresses he has not
been able to build on what he'
done. ,
AI, 0, Academy Award-winner
describes herself a . "the ethnic
warm-up fot many of today' leading
male tars."
Whoopi Goldberg tells Ms. Givens
why "I'm going after' evcrbody's
role ," while actress Rae Dawn
Chong of "The Color Purple: