p
with olid musicians nd vocali \S,
including keyboardist George Duke,
ba i t Victor Bailey, and two
veteran from Howard' touring
band, guitari t Kevin Chokan and
perc ioni t Munyungo J ckson.
All th tun etil.ove and Under-
tandin w re written or co-written
by Howard - with th exception of
"Baby Come To Me. " cho en out of
Howard' deep respect for the talent
and personality of inger Regina
Belle, and the lame Harri III
(Jimmy Jamj/Terry Lewi compo i­
tion "Everything I Miss At Home."
Thi haunting ballad - a tender mes­
sage to a fulfilling lover - was a #1
- - ---� �
)
)
y
expl i
0- rill n b
wh m th tu u children t
pi Y in hi old n ighborhood. "Only
Her For A Minute" i more
min h ly pie . "It w inspired
by the d th of good friend whom
I'd been planning to c lI, but ept
putting it off. Hi d th m de me
realize th t we h uldn't t e ny­
thing for grant d," How rd not .
"'Love Struc • i a tune which I
he rd being played in n adjoining
tudio by drummer Dou Gri by,
who wrote it. he pI yed the
rhythm, my mind just kept puttin a
m lody to it. And my re ction to it
w 0 powerful th t I couldn't rest
until h 'gav . m th tun !"
And lthough hi featured instru­
m nt i opran ax, Howard alw y
personally adds a little drum or per­
c ion input to the tun on hi al­
bums. Thi i mo t prominent in the
tune "Talk To The Drum. " "I'm real­
I y percussioni t in woodwind
player' clothing," oward reveals.
"I tudied percus ion, and I've
played conga and limb les. I can tell
when apercus iom t is chooled in .
African and Caribbean traditions. So
I enjoy playing rhythms on my in-
trument that percussionists can in­
terpret with me. 'Talk To The Drum'
is the free-e t thing I've ever done on
an album, and it' my favorite tune."
George Howard was born on Sep­
tember IS, 1956 in Phil delphia,
Pennsylvania. Hi w a musical
family: his mother, iter. and
cousins all played orne instrument
or other, uch a ba , cello, and
Rap dictionary will close
the communication gap
NORCROSS, Ga. (AP) - Yo, G.,
check this out. Richard McAlister of
Norero i putting out a rap diction­
ary designed to clo e today's com­
munication gap between parents
and teen-agers. .
The "Rappers' Handbook;"
which McAlister Is the world's
first rap <Hetio ry, is in its fourth
edition. He has sold more than
10,000 copies to chools, librarie
and businesses. "There's a com­
munication gap," said McAlister,
29. "I might say: 'Yo G., we genin'
ready to go get busy; let's kiek it.'
(Translation: Hey man, let's go
p rty.) . '
A lot of people wouldn't under­
stand what I was saying. With this
book, they can look up the terms."
More than 1,QOO expressions are in
the current 26-'page issue, which
ells for $4 by mail order. It does not
f •
contain profanity, and drug terms
and illicit acts are singled out as
"dangerous and illegal," he said.
Kay Troup, , of Decatur says
the book has helped her communi­
cate with her three children, age 21,
14 and 12.
McAlister said he watches Black
Entertainment Television, reads rap
magazines and listens to the radio to
discover new terms. "When you'
don't understand something, you
tend to have negative thoughts about
it," said McAlister.
Rap i a musical style that started
in inner-city neighborhoods but
today is in the mainstream, crossing
racial lines and influencing popular
culture. "Parents need a way to talk
to their children," Ms. Troup said.
"If they can't speak your language,
at least you know h0-W; to speak
theirs. "
courts,
Barnes is taking her case to NOW (the National
Organization for Women). The group plans to
target record executives at CEMA, the company
that distributes Ruthless product.
Pan the"
Becom
Th
cancer treatment So Latoya's more than likely
spending most of her time nursing him bac to
bealth.
contain
someoftbe
mo t anti­
woman
rhetoric of
any album
eve r
mar eted.
Barnes
(like many
others)
now feels
t there is
re thana
passing
relation­
ship be­
tween ex­
plicit/
misogy­
nistic
lyrics, and
the growth
in violent
crimes
again t
women.
Aside
fro m
By u oUiD
Behind-The-Scenes
Panthers - the Black Panthers, that is, have
apparently become the latest fad to surface in
development on the Hollywood scene. Five
uch projects are presently in development on
the HoJ1ywoood cene. Five uch projects are
pre enlly in development.
Among them is "Chains", a screenplay com­
missioned by Columbia, detailing the life of
pri on revolutionary/ex-Panther Johnny Spain,
and exec-produced by Oliver Stone. And one­
time Panther higher up, Elaine Brown, bas sold
the rights to her tory to Suzanne de Passe.
Filmmaker Charles Burriett ("To Sleep WUh
Anger") will direct another, while Melvin Van
Peeble is al 0 cripting a "Panther" project.
More than Iikel y his son Mario would be his
first choice to tar, and' perhap even co-direct.
RivaUing Fi�n? Matty Rick and
Spike Lee h ve recently have bad their own
share of controversy, first butting heads on the
relea e dates of their respective films. (Rich
later moved his up 0 as not to clash with the
release of Lee's Jungle Fever).
However, in so doing, the medi had a field
day with talk of a feud between the two, and
Rich making Some pretty lofty tatements.
tements Lee later credited to the di tributors
of the film, who he charged were �g ad­
vantage of Rich while looking for controversy
to build publicity surrounding the film.
Indeed, it looks like the two may be more
ike than different as Rich has just recently
announced that he has launched his own line- of
clothing (designer overalls and T-shirts) called
"Matty Rich Wear", and that he intends to open
at outlet near guess who's (Spike' Joint).
On the home from: No one I know of bas
been able to confirm it, but reports are that Janet
Jackson and Rene Elizondo have tied the knot,
and that Janet gifted him with a brand new
Mercedes .... On to more speculation ... don't be
surprised if n d �ther pic-
torial sp i P�ybQy.
According to "Jackson, displaying her body
nude is no big thing and certainly nothing.to be
ashamed of. In fact, strutting her stuff is just the
thing that 'has landed Latoya her latest record
deal. .
Meanwhile, her manger-husband-Jack
Gordon was released from the hospital for lung
All Pumped Up: "Pump It Up" TV hostess
De¢ . ee Barnes) has taken the recent law:
. filed against N.W.A. members (par-
ticularly Q(. Dre.(Andre Young) to heart and is
making a campaign of it against violent and
explicit lyrics. NWA's latest release is full of
graphic lyrics about beating, raping � murder­
ing women, who group members feel fit only
into one of two categories, -bitches and "stank
ho's".
Some critics say the album, "E/i14mggin"
African Fa
During'AW
A spectacular fashion ex­
travaganza will be featured during
the Museum of African American
History's ninth African World Fes­
tival, scheduled foiAugust 16-18 on
Hart Plaza. "Fashions: The African
lnOuence" will highlight fashions
which reflect both traditional and
contemporary clothing of Africans,
African Americana and Caribbean
people on Hart Plaza' main stage
Sunday, Aug t 18 from 4:15-6p.m.
In addition to ho ca ing the
authentic fabrics, textiles, colo�.
and creative designs and styles from
the African World, "F hions: The
African Influence" will explore the
historic I significance of African
hiona and demo trate ty
from the African orld have in­
f1uenc� typical European and
American fashio in the past and
present.
Many f; bion trends in the United
Sta find their origins in Africa.
-M.e. Hammer" pan cwreDtly the
e for African American youth. are
derived from "schou ," loose fit­
ting, balloon shaped pan , primarily
om by the Mandin of W t
Africa. The loose fitti top known
u
• 17.
Dr. Dre
hion
'91
d
Featur
in the tates as the Dashiki originated
in Africa, well as the practice of
ye-dying. Kente cloth, which
originates from Ghana and w wom
by Ashanti royalty, is ometimca
used to give Western-American
clothing an African flavor.
According to Jametta Lilly,
fashion how coordinator and presi­
dent of Sierra! Fashion DesigDI and
Art Wares, "Contemporary and
traditional African- fashions can be
mixed, matched nd f cd into In
array of sty I appropria forprofi -
ional office attire, c:asualand formal
wear. 'The result i colorful, pl'lCti­
cal and comfortable clothina for all
occaaio ."
Sierra I fashion Design An
W , Inc.' a Detroit- com-
pany offering a fusion of con m­
porary West African and, American
styles in women' and men', Ip­
parel. Drawing from manufacturing
ba e in Sierra Leone, Ohlnl,
Sene and Detroit, the company
integrates the talents of Africln
de ianers with th9 e of ACr.lcln
Americans to ere te I unique variety
of high quality clothing.