·7,
Entertainment
In Brief
r
pr
o
u
hi
of
ory
Bu hwic Bill, from the
Geto Boy ,i very up t
with the recent report
about hi girlfriend
hooting out hi right eye.
We id eventeen-ye r
old Tamika Nicole
R ndel ton bla ted him in
the f ce with a 22-caliber
Dillinger fter he in i ted
th t he wanted to die. But
Bushwick ay we got the
tory wrong.
I wick nd tired of
being ick and tired, and
my elf I tried three time .
My girl did not shoot me
because she wanted to. I
cocked the gun my elf.
According to report in
"The Source" magazine,
Bushw ick ' planning to
file uit against the alcohol
beverage company,
Everclear. '
Bushwick and, his
friends were drinking the
190 proof Everclear on the
night of the shooting.
Bu hwick cl im the drink
mind.
Bushwick will be sportin'
the new eye patch on "The
Ron Reagan Show" this
September.
Growln' Up
inthe hood
The audience cheered
the negativity involved in
the climax of this movie.
Unfortunately, they
missed the mes age of the
most profound movie that
this reviewer has ever
seen. Boyz N The Hood
was better than good,
better, than excellent, and
. best at showing what life
is like for inner-city
people of color.
The director, John
Singleton, fresh out of film
school, surely has the right
stuff for a successful
debut. Larry Fi hbourne
was great! Just the best
I've ever seen him. Boyz N
The Hood is a two fisted,
ten toes up kind of movie!
It's highly recommend.
Ma'rley family
fights for estate
The jury is still out on
whether or not the family
of the late Reggae
superstar Bob Marley, will
win their battle for control
of his estate. A decision
will be rendered on Oct. 28
in the Supreme Court of
Jamaica. The family is
one of three top bidders,
'including MCA Music &
Metro Management.
MCA Music bid $15.5
million, the Marley family
bid $12 million, but has
agreed to match any higher
offer ($15.3) and Metro
Management offered $13.5
million. The ui t ha been
pending for ten years now.
Whatever the outcome,
the money would go to
Rita Marley and her
children. along with other
children'Marley ired with
thre girlfriend. Or
what' left after legal f es,
'which are due to be
extraordinarily high. Rita
Marley, who pearhe d the
family fright control ha
promised to give each of
ihet t children at least $1
million if she wins.
inJe y City.you iOO
do 0 mo ter chemical pl , decay-
trip mall nd bodeg . Qu n Lati h, t age
in t rap orld, li in this poor, p wlin
ra with th oun of immigrant cul
Dr ed in bi horts d T- hirs Latifah IDS rei ed
mid th trappin of thi, temporary ho , not f r from Ea t
Orange, wh re be grew up. There i a televi ion et turned to
music video, tac of horror movie videocasset ome
rolled-up ru ,tap ,CD' and few tic of furniture. She
oon will move into recently purcha ed hom in a n w
developm nt in nearby Wayne. Spacious, with wood at th
ba ,it 100 our at t Kittatinny Mountains.
Queen Latifah - who tan for goodn , hard wor and
aying no to racism and exism - is an old-fa hioned
entrepreneur from the Horatio Alger chool, but with thoroughly
modem t cries. She wants to be big, and she' counting on her
new album, "Nature of a Sista', " due next week, to do it for her.
Latifah - who owns three expensive cars, on video tore and
Flavor Unit Management, a company that find and develop
new talent - remains one of the few women with credibility
a rapper, thinker and busin person. Male rappers, hardly
known for their generosity toward women, enlist her in their
videos; in rap be holds iconic power, and her very presence
indicate a kind of high-mindedness. Although her 1989 album,
"All Hail the Queen," old only 450,000 copies (not much for a
hit pop record, but good for a debut rap record), it w extremely
influential. The Queen became a spokesperson for a neglected
constituency - young Blac women - and for a media hungry
for omeon articulate, poli tical and avvy about feminism but
not confrontational.
Latifah has been at the center of a frenzy of activities. She
is currentl y on tour, opening for reggae stnger Ziggy Marley.
New York Woman magazin elected her along with Jane Pauley
and other women, for its" life of the city" award, and magazines
from British' Vogue to Elle have plans to feature her in future
issues. She was host of MTV's recent special on racism and a
judge for this year's charity Love Ball in Manhattan. She has
appeared on the television sene "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" and
"In Living Color," played waitress at Sylvia' restaurant in
Spike Lee' 1 test film, "Jun It! Fever," petfon:ncd on Arsenio
Hall's show imd is featured as lora, a campus activist, in the
forthcoming movie "House Party 2, ". ,
Her new album is one of the more anticipated rap events oT
the year, Because of who she is and what she represents, Latifah
eems poised for the kind of celebrity status that has little to do
wi th how she entertains people.
S be i a smart, verbaJ woman with a hyperabundance ?f
charm (avail Ie on command) who took courses m
communications at Borough of Manhattan Community College
and quickly figured out that she was a better rapper than student.
At once coolly calculating and giddy about fame and success,
he is ambivalent about her role as a sage and certain of her role.
as a money-m�ng performer ,(according to her manager she
tatus.
ot to
****
born Dana Owens and given her name,
which mea delica and se ilive in Arabic, by a
Muslim cousin t ge 8. "Queen" came ith the recording
contract. "Sh i culturally oriented, and there are lot of
kings and queens from Africa," said her mother, Rita Owe .'
East Orange, where Latifah grew up, is a run-down, in­
dustrial city near Newar Her paren divorced, and the family,
headed by Mrs. Owens, moved into a project "It w n't so bad
as you might im gine," aid Latifah. "But a project can only
get 0 good, beca e you're dealing with people with a different
will do 250 to 300 sho a year, at around $15,000 each). "I mentality who may not care much you might about here
could do a lot more," she said. "I can get Coke endorsements. . you live." Yet, he said, there were people wbo worked to m e
I could get movie roles a lot easier. 1 want money, but 1 only life easier for one another. "You get your troop leaders in the
want to endorse things I like. I love Mountain Dew Soda. It' projects; you get a lot of bonding you don't get in a normal
my coffee. I would love to do a Mountain Dew commercial. neighborhood. I'm used to coming from a neigh rhood where
Selling cars, that would be kind of cool." we know everybody, and everybody wan to t rid of drug
Because she been presented a rapper with political dealers, and to keep the neigh�rbood clean. ..
, i occasionally c 0 By second grade, Latifah h d been identifed fted, _�� _..._.-_
"Sometimes I feel ressure because I don't feel 1 should be skipped a grade. Though her motber w going to college �
responsible for people' kids," said Latifah. "I don't feel I holding down a job, Latifah and her brother never felt like
should be forced to speak or dress or act a certain way. 1 don't 'latchkey kids. Mrs. Owens (who taught an at Irvington High
use music for politics. I do not preach. 1 don't really take on School near Newark) took her children to college with ber; they
sem m - but raci m, yeah, I do. 1 experience racis� every, quickly moved out of the projects and into a house.
day." She made it clear sbe did not want to be corsidered a Latifah started rapping in high chool _ she had already
message rapper. "I don't talk about catching dolphins in nets," been inging at the nearby Shiloh Baptist Church - in a group
she said. "I jus� want to speak common sense. called Ladies Fresh that performed at talent how and hip-hop
**** parties. In 1988, when she w , 17, he was igned by Tommy
For Latifah, common sense is translated into political axioms Boy Records, a sub idiary of Warner Brothers. The discovery
sprinkeled amid the requisite rap boasting - "As a Black came about through her mother. .
woman me want equality/Equality and the freedom to be me," "Being a high chool teacher, it wasmy responsibility to get
she raps on "Huff of the Ruff Stuff," from the new album. It QUEEN, a.e
Miles Jaye: The. music
man mekes e Stronq return
Vandro
Mile Jaye Davis is named after the legendary
trumpeter Mile Davi and like his namesake, he
dares to be different. Thi quality has made Miles a
standout talent from the moment he began recording.
Speaking of his last album, Irresistible; the L.A.
Weekly's Leonard Pitts, Jr. noted: "This is the music
of a grown-up, a man who's unwilling to be the aural
equivalent of 'Police Academy 12' in, order to, sell a
few more discs. He lets you come to him, certain that ,
you'll find the trip worth the effort. Chances are good
you will."
True to his past form, Mile Jaye has refi!sed to
play it safe on Strong, his third album for Island
Records. Mile not only delivers the lyrics, he is the
chief ongwriter, producer and instrume!ltali 1..
Recording the majority of thi album at hi New
Jersey-based studio, Silver Strin� ,Miles put h�mself
"in the nor eat," balancing creative freedom With the
challenge of making bottom-line decisions. The
remainder of the album was recorded on the' We t
Coast with George Duke. Characteri tically, Miles
credits George' contribution as the highlight of the
project. . • .
Unsurprisingly, Strong IS an explosive album of
considerable range. We are drawn into the first Single, touring band, Mil was playing violtn, Oute, and
"Sensuous, " by Mil 'violin, complemented wit� a keybo rds, well inging b ckground vocals and
track that i mmicaland lyrics that are playful. WIth duets with the popular loser.
his oulful vocal tyle, we move to the gut-wrenching He had also begun to write son and make demos,
drama of "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" and several of which caught the ear of the one and only
"Strong For You." In line with the BRE's as essment Teddy Penderg . A very tough critic of other
. II' I tu r singers, Teddy w immedi tely knocked out by
of Miles' lyrics - "so lOte igent y wn en, rea u - Mile' writing and inging and engaged him to write
ingly warm and sensual" - are "Touch;" "Mal«! It eJ"
Last" and "Is It Time For A Kiss" - the song of a and produce two titles and co-produce four with
b ll�eer. From the gospel-edged "Write You a Let- Pend rgra for his gold album "Joy," including tbe
ter" to the funky "Just Be Good To Me" and the jazzy top five hit ingle"2 a.m."
M' d I The Strong album follows Mile ' eponymo
keyboard-hooked "Capice,", lie repeate y .1987 debut, which included the Top Ten R&B
demonstrate that he will not follow the crowd.
After a childhooddevoted to the violin, Mile Jaye Ingles, "Lei's Startl.ove Over" and "l'veBun aFool
went on to study at the Brooklyn Conservatory of For You," and 1989's Irresistible, which boasted
Music the Saratoga School of Orchestral Studies and another brace of mashe : "Objective" (featuring ax-
, . h A' man Grover W hington, Jr.) and "HetIVeII._"
Brook} yn College. He spent five years I.n t e., rr No doubt this album i a roller ter ride of m Ic
Force, a tint which gave him the opportumty to sing and lyric but Blue and Soul recently noted, "the
in the military'S Top 40 Band. Upon his return �o ..,
civilian life, Miles, who had by then mastered electric overriding feature i .undoubtedly the Jaye voice." In
theclas ictraditionofthegreat oulvocalis itcomes
violin, hooked up with jazz guitarist Eric Gale. to us warm ... it come to STRONG.
Two years later, a member of Phylli Hyman' ,
LutherVand
on tour
Mil Jaye
The "Power of Love Tour" fea­
tures Grammy Award-winner Luther
Vandro that begins in September
and continu through 1992.
Vandro will perform in more
than 40 citie in 1991 playing multi­
ple concerts in many of the tour'
markets. The "Power 0/ Love Tour"
will help raise funds and incre e
awarene of the Thurgood Marshall
Scholarship Fund which awards
cholarship to tudents attending 36
historicall y Black public college
and universities.
The "Po r of Love Tour" will
come to Detroit. Information on the
1991-92 tour chedule will be
released at a later a teo
"Vandro ' current Ingle, "Power
of Love/Love Power, "r e to No. 1
on Bill board' R&B cha and is cur-
rently No. 7 on the pop charts. His
album, "Power of Love, " debuted in
the top 10 on Billboard' pop chart.
In addition to the advertising
campaign, a number of programs are
being developed to help raise aware­
ne and funds for the Thurgood
Marshall Scholarship Fund, includ­
ing the availability of n offical tour
jacket.
"The fund a ists students attend­
ing chools educating more th n
165,000 tudents, representing 76-
percent of the tuden enrolled in
four-year historical Bl ck COllege
and universitie in the U.S.," id Dr.
Joyce Payne, director for the Advan­
cement of Public Black College and
executive director of the Thurgood
rshall Scholarship Fund.