ENTERTAINMENT
IN BRIEF
Hollywood bid
fond f rewell
howbiz legend nd
friend bid a fond farewell to
Redd Foxx, CBS executive
were vowing to do all they
could 0 eep the how going.
of pres , no decision had
beenm de to whether or not
Foxx would be replaced or his
character wri tten out of the
erie. The eries, "Royal
Family" (which also tarred
Della Ree e his wife) at
tracted better numbers in the
Wednesday night time slot
than CBS has exp rienced in
everal years.
Foxx, who was 69, died of
a heart attack hours after col
lap ing on the set of the how.
(Personally, I can't imagine
who could fill his shoe ).
A Sequel for
Shaharazad Ali?
This time last year,
Shaharazad Al i had the
African-American com
munity in an uproar. Her
book, "The Blackman's Guide
To Understanding the Black
woman," pointed th finger t
- the Black women and offered
up a philosophy of female sub
servience. She got a ton of
publicity, sold a lot of booles,
and ended up making people
either love her or hate her.
Looking back, Ali says she.
was surprised by the negative
response her book got. The
main point of contention was
it advocated slapping Black
women. •
Ali denies ever advocating
any such thing. But on page
_ 169 of her book, she writes
"there is never an excuse for'
� hi tting. a Blackwoman
anywhere but in the mouth.
Beca use it is from the
: whole ... that all her. rebellion
culminates into words. Her
unbridled tongue i the main
4 reasooshe can't get along with
the Blackman. She often
needs a reminder".
In the past year, Ali has
changed her tune.
Meanwhile" next on her agen
d a is "The B lackwoman 's
Guide To Understanding the
Blackman", due next year.
Strength and
spirituality of
Reggae music
Through the hands of Bob
Marley, reggae music was
created and shaped into a
wellspring of strength and
spiri tuality. These same
talents were passed down to
children Ziggy, Stephen,
Cedella, and Sharon, who
together form Ziggy Marley
and The Melody Makers.
They have succeeded with this
new blend of art without· hift
ing from the traditional
piritual roots of reggae
music.
Jahmekya is their third
album on the Virgin Records
label. The LP represents the
artistic prowess and the com
ing of age of a group of young
musicians.
Forbe reveal
Nation' riche t
New Kids on the Block
have proven they've got the
right stuff to Forbes
Magazw's Ii t of the 40
highe t paid entertainers in
the U.S. )he group' $115
million gr earning beat out
comedian Bill Co by' S113
milion. Oprah Winfrey came
in third t 80 million.
c
If the recent ucce of the la
bl eman Robert Johnson' n in
dication, thin going well for the
blue . "The Complete Recordin ,"
boxed et of John on' entire
recorded output, pent week fter
week on the Billboard album ch rt
over th p t year, hanging in there
next to 11 modern. ynUre ized
m ic h to offer. Not b d for
recordings made in the 19305 by one
man and his guitar.
AI though Johnson i not around
to ba k in his belated recognition (he
was poisoned by a jealous husband
in 1939 when he was 27), hi legacy
live on boldly in the blues. And,
while blue mu ic and blues
musicians finally may be receiving
the re pect and uccess they deserve, .
the road has not been easy.
The blue was born of what tum
of-the-century Blacks knew best:
hard times, racism and findingjoy in
life despite adversity. Built on a
musical framework that sprang from
gospel mu ic and the call-arid
response "field hollers" of the cotton
rows, the blues grew as a popular
form of musical expression among
rural Blacks. '
The most' fertile ground for the
blue was Mississippi's Delta
region, the plain to the ease of the
Mi issippi River. Robert Johnson
w j t one of the many musicians
who grew up there and knew the
back roads that led to the Delta'
IMny "juke joints" and house partie
where a bluesman could earn a few
dollars.
THE OWNER OF one such
. "hole in the wall" was McKinley
Morganfield, better known .by his
nickname, "Muddy Waters." In ad-
c
around the country, which hosted
blues concerts and events as part of
the Benson & Hedges Blues Festival.
the 4-year-old festival, which
opened thi year in Los Angeles and
traveled to Houston, Dallas, Atlanta,
New York and Chicago, featured
some of the bigge t name in the
blue , including B.B. King, Buddy
Guy and John Lee Hooker.
Hooker, 74, is Originally from the
Mississippi Delta town of Clarksdale
and cored his first hit in 1948 with'
"Boogie Chilum." He remains an
active performer and recording art
ist, with a recently released album
entitled "Mr. Lucky" that features
guest appearance ,by such well
known artists as Keith Richards, Van
Morrison and current bluesman
Robert Cray.
HOOKER POINTS TO the
barebones honesty of the blues as the
rea on it has maintained las impor
tance through the years.
"Every ong I ing something
that happened to my life or some
body else's life in the world," h has
said. "If it ain't hitting me, it' hit
ting omeone else."
e
rim nd
find-ng joy
I Ii de pi
adv r i y.
Public Enemy Strikes Black
Redlo.cop .• Th Column
From &lIey Bro.dc."'ng SemeN
VI. Serra Syndlc.tlon
"Apocalypse 91: The Enemy
Strikes Black" rna kes Pub lie
Enemy's foruth time out of the
box. Still hard-to-the-core, Public
Enemy has turned it's Black
Nationalist eye on the African-
, American community. Starting
with their first album, "Yo Bum
Rush The Show", the group has
pushed it's agenda forward with
each successive and successful
album.
Public Enemy
takes dead alm
at Black radio
and it's refusal
to play any kind
of hard core rap.
With "Apocalypse 91: The
Enemy Strikes Black", group
leader Chuck D. says it was time to
look inward at what ails .us. Not
only are we the subject of PE's
close scrutiny but so too IS Black
radio, the State of Arizona and The
New York Post, among others. In
the cut "How To KillA Radio Con
sultant", Public Enemy take's
dead aim at Black radio and it's
refusal to play any kind of hard
rap.
Then too, Chuck D.'s waging
his own private war �ith the
dltion to running his bar busin
Waters played guitar and ang.
In 1947, Waters decided that he
had had enough of rural Missi ippi
and followed the huge po t- World
Waf II 'migration of Southern Blacks
to the North. •
Waters found a better life in
Chicago. Amplifying his Delta
blues style to suit the rowdy taverns
of the city's South Side, Waters
helped create a tough, new electric
tyle of music that would come to be
known as "Chicago Blues."
Recording 'for the Chess Records
Corp., Water and artists like
Howlin' wolf, Little Walter and Wil
lie Dixon forged orne of the greatest
and most important American music
ever. Rock 'n' roll still w years
away when Waters was cutting
powerhouse recordings like '!Ro
Stone," a song that later would in
spire the name of the famous British
rock band. Chicago became the
country' blue mecca and, today,
maintains a vital blues performing
and recording scene .
The blues tradition has been
celebrated this year in various cities
CONFUSED? We are. Why was Rap star Ice Cube - shown here
with Prince Akeem - at the Nation of! lam's Savior's Day Tribute
to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Ice Cube pushe St. Ides, a
powerful malt liquor marketed to young Black males. The Mu lim
preach ab tlnance from alcohol. Maybe no- more t. Ide
commercials for Ice Cube?
powers behind St. Ides Malt Liq
uor. 'In August he filed a S5 million
dollar' law uit agains the Me
Kenzie River Corporation, the
marketing company behind S1.
Ides. They used Chuck D.'s voice
in a radio commercial without his
permission. Even if they had asked
they wouldn't have gotten it. Now,
he says "I'm suing the hell out of
them".
In the meantime.Public Bnerny
maintains its position as a trendset
ter in rap music. Recognizing that
the next wave in rap may be it's
combination with rock music,
Public Enemy has re-recorded
their 1988 single "Bring The
Noize" with the rock group
Anthrax.
. This past summer, they did
orne tour dates with Sisters of
Mercy and the punk rock Gang of
Four. (Ice-T and EPMD are two
other rap acts that toured this sum
mer with rock bands. And of
course Run DMC did it with
Aerosmith on "Walk This Way"
back in 1986). Churck D. says the
connection is a natural one. All in
all, the point Public Enemy lead
Chuck D. keeps making on
"Apocalypse 91" is that the Black
community has run out of excuses
and is running out of time. It's time
to get on it, before it really is
"Apocalypse. 91. "
(f yo are a local entert iner would
Ii to b featured on our Ent rtainm nt
pag end in phot s along wi hi 'tory
behind your gr u or ac. - nd to:
Michiga . izen P.O. Box 03 �O,
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Not if the membe of the
loc 1 AACP Beverly
Hill /Hollywood chapter fol
low through on their vow to
take the national office to
court, eeking an injunction to
top the ceremony, 1 ed for
January 11th at the Wiltern
Theatre in Lost Angel .
The di pute between the
two chapters cente on con
trol of th how, which w
organized nd nurtured by the
Hollywood chapter.
The wards gala h m d
tremendou gain in
popul ri ty and is teLevi ed
yearly. It is hoped that serie
of both chapters will olve
the dispute. In the meantime.
nomin tions for thi ye r'
ceremonies were recently an
nounced, and this year unlike
many others, was reflective of
a bumper crop in Hollywood
film ctivity.
Up for best motion picture
were "Boyz N' The Hood", "
"The Five Heartbeats",
"Jungle Fever", "New Jack
City", and "To Sleep WiCh
Anger". Best motion picture
acting nominations went to
We ley Snipe ("New Jack
City"), Danny Olover ("To
S�ep WithAnger"), and Larry
Fishburne, Cuba Gooding Ir.,
and Ice Cube: aU for thell\Parts
in "Boyz N' The Hod".
In music, among the top
vote getters were Natalie Cole,
new Motown Sensation "Boyz
II Men",and Luther Vandross.
'The First Ladies of Rap'
for her rapid, but clear poetic lyrics,
and M.C. Lyte, the 20-year-Old diva
who w the first rap tar to perform
at Carnegie Hall, are also earning
rave review for their unique, and.
sometimes political approaches to:
rap. .
However, "Naughty Girl" Nikki
D, the only female on the Def Jam
Label, expresses frustration at fans
who "listen and watch your videos,
but won't come ee you"; and rap's
first successful diva, Roxanne
Shante, who is 1984 hit the airwaves
running with her cl lc "Roxanne
Roxanne, " explains ho'Y sbc was not
taken seriously when she first ex
pressed intere t in the ne music ..
Superstar M.C. Lyte adds that the,
heavily male-populated field is final
ly beginning to open up to women,
"slowly, but surely.'"
With versatile performers such as
SaH-N-Pepa's spirited members,
Queen Latifah, Monie Love, and
M.C. Lyte leading- the pack, Ebony
explores the triumphs and struggles
of "The First Ladies of Rap", in this
month's issue.
Rap's new wave of female rap
pers are fresh, young and adding new
dimension to urban music's newest
genre. The sassy three-member
team ofSalt-N-Pepa, the first female
.. group to earn platinum success in rap
music, are proving that they are
legitimate forces to be reckoned with
by rap notables, M.C. Hammer, Big
Daddy Kane, L.L. Cool J and others.
The regal Queen Latifah, the 21-
year-old phenomenon whose singles
feature screaming horns and har
monious vocals, and London-born
Monie Love, also 21, who's known
YoYoh