7-
ENTERTAINMENT
BRIEFS
cunten In Concert
Detroit funk legend
George Clinton will be ap
pearing in concert for one
night only on Friday, May 22,
1992, t 8pm at The State
Theater (2115 Woodward
Ave) next to The Fox (961-
5451).
What' on
Everyone' Mind?
t,o Angeles eems to be
on everyone's mind. For a
while. things were pretty
tense. A friend of mine (Lisa
Collins), had gotten into a
long line to get gas, when a
white man frustrated by the
long ga line. called out.
"It·8 bcca e of you niggers."
A Bl ma ho had 't
known my friend) had to be
restrained.
Fortunately, thing re
now getting back to normal
(no more lines), and in some
spots better than normal with
the ma ive clean upl"Heal
L.A. " campaign in full swing.
Everyone seems to be pulling
together for a common cause
and healing, in a spirit of
giving.
Again. LA's celebrity
community is taking a lead
I'91e in the efforts. I, (Usa
Collins), bumped into Dionne
Warwick and former Bionic
woman Undsay Wagner, as I
(Lisa Collins) volunteered to
help re�ove graffiti (decry
ing "kill all whites" and "f--k
the police").
"This is for Rodney'" was
sprawled in graffiti on one
burned and looted store.
r?
to Whitn y
Ho ton' much publicized
upcoming edding to Bobby
Bro n, why are people 0
concerned with the children
he' f thered by two different
women. While the d te for
r wedding i yet unset, the
date of her film debut i .
The film, entitled "T�
Bodyguard", nd teaming her
with Kevin Co tner, i due
thi week.
- Elsewhere on lover'
lane, rumor ha it that Ice
Cube is all et to take the
plunge with hi long-time
girlfriend.
Effort to help
Magic and Arsenio
pledged to support the
rebuilding efforts even if they
have to buy and build them
selves. So too, has former
boxing champ George' For
man. Actor Taurean Blacque
("Hill Street Blues," "Genera
tions") was particularly hard
hit - with four businesses
burned.
- 100 celebrities par
ticipated in the taping of
"City 01 Fallen Angeles",
with proceeds going to the
relief fund. Jesse Jackson
and Arsenio Hall are among
those taking part in the single,
featuring R&B, pop and rap.
Carol Burnett is set to tap
video footage.
- Proceeds from a dinner
honoring Quincy Jones with
the "Spirit of Uberty Award",
will benefit the
organization' Racial
Tolerance Mentoring Project.
The project, a part of the
People for the American
Way' ongoing Race Rela-
. tions Program, is de igned to
fo ter racial acceptance and
will now be implemented in
Los Angeles area chools on
an accelerated basis.
- complied by K B rk
- peel I contrIbutor: Lisa
Collins (Behlnd-The-Soenes)
Keith E., . . . The Guru, G n
Starr' lyrici t and rapper, recall
that hi grandf ther ed to tell him,
"If you don't know which fruit to
queeze, you can't get ny juice."
their brand new lbum for
Chry li,"A Daily Operation",
amply ill trates, Gang Starr know
which fruit to queeze-although
th two-man crew from Brooklyn
(Keith' partner i OJ Premier) h ve
carcely had a chance to take a ip
since the rele e of their econd
album (and their first for Chry alis),
"Step In T� Arena, " in January of
last year.
That album would eventually
launch four Ingle - "Just To Get
a Rep," "Who's Gonna Take the
Weight," "Lovesick," and the title
track - into the Top 5 -on
Billboard's Hot Rap Singles chart.
(The Fab 5 Freddy-directed video
for "Just to Get a Rep" ended up
being named one of the Top 10 of
1991 by "Yo! MTV Raps.") Gang
Starr toured solidly through the
spring and summer, beginning with
a month-long tour of Europe in the
company of the Dream Warriors,
continuing as a featured attraction
on EPMD's "Business As Usual"
tour of America, and then teaming
up again with the Dream Warriors
for a tour in Japan.
In truth, the Gang had been on
the run from the moment Columbia
Records released IIJ azz Thing" in
September of 1990. One of the
seminal tracks of the "jazz-rap"
movement, "Jazz Thing" was co
written by Branford Marsalis, who
- also performed on the track, which
ran under the credits of Spike Lee's
"Mo' Better Blues." Spike also
directed the "Jan Thing" video.
("Jazz Thing" was inspired by a
song called "Jazz Music," from "No
More Mr. Nice Guy", Gang Starr's
Wild Pitch debut, released in May
KEY CUTS include a uperb
anti-rap violence piece called
"Soliloquy 01 Chaos," a cathing
re ponse to th treachery of friends
(and the first single) called "Tak« it
Personal;" a no-crossover credo
called "Hardcore Composer, II a
Brooklyn pride anthem called "The
Place W�re We Dwell; " remorse
less and funky tale of the treet
("No Shame in My GtJIM" and "The
Illest Brother,,), and a big EPMD-
tyled brag called "BYS (Bust Your
Shit)." For variety' ake, A Daily
Operation boa ts tracks like "Ex
Girl to Next Girl," a mellow, jazzy
kiss-off song, and "Take 2 and
Pass," an affectionate ode to
marijuana (from a crew who claims
to have outsmoked Cypress Hill).
Born and raised the son of a Bos
ton municipal court judge (and then
superior court judge) in Roxbury,
Mas ., the former Keith Elam
called Brooklyn home ever inee
his graduation wit� a degree in busl
ne administration from Atlanta'
Morehouse College some nine
years ago.
Premier, who studied computer'
science for three years at Prairie
View A&M University in Tex ,is
a lifelong resident of Brooklyn'
East New York neighborhood.
"Brooklyn builds character," ac
cording to Keith. "It' the illest part
of New York, but it inspire me as
a writer. A lot of rappers write
about stuff, but they don't know. I
live it because I need to know
what's going on."
'Of course, Keith's success as a and funky beats."
writer has a lot to do with his treat- Funky beats, of course, are the
ment of his subject matter, as well direct responsibility of OJ Premier
as with the subject matter itself. It (Chris Martin), whose various styles
was while working as a counselor in of cutting-and-scratching are rated
a maximum detention home in Bos- ., second to none, and who was
ton and later in various Brooklyn praised in The Source for his ability
foster care homes that Keith learned as a producer to weave together
how to 'reach young kids. "elements of jazz, fusion, blues,
"I know what I would tell my' funk and �phop to create a com-
younger brother if he was fuckin' pletely uruque sound and style."
up, and that's the tone I use in my .,.
music," Keith told Paper's Steve
Blush. "I'm not gonna say ome-,
thing goofy like, 'Let's all join
'hands.'" Gang Starr's approach, he
says, is more about "philosophy and
reporting than it is about preach
ing." It is also about great writing,
as the attached excerpt from "No
Shame In My Game" and "Soliloquy
01 Chaos" attest. Summing up,
Keith says, "I'm into skills. Skills
1 9.)
"Our m ic combine treet
knowledge, intellect, nd piritual
ity, ay Keith."Th e three thin
re what people need to urvive in
an urb n environment." Accord
ingly,ADailyOperation i bri tltng
with the winning qualitie - 1-
though Keith note that thi time
"there' even more of my per-
onality in the lyrics, I'm more in
your face and there' more curse
'cause I'm angrier thi time."
Gang Starr - Keith Elam ( Guru) and Chris Martm' (DJ Premier).
says.
Keith means the title of Gang
Starr's new album to suggest the
devotion of his crew to the music.
"Hiphop i bow we livin' and what
we manifest," he ays. "People
don't know, but religion was my
best subject in college. The e days
rap i my religion, and I find myself
being delivered through the music."
Stupid gangs still bangin'
Stickup kids still stickin
Nasty hookers still trickin'
All the pimps still pimpin'
And all the crackheads trippin'
While the dealers still sellin'
So I'll refrainfrom the yellin'
And the preach in , 'cause who the
fuck would I reach, man?
Niggers don't want to stop that
They want to live fat .
Who'd want to clean up their act
�� the papers come in stacks?
Tbeylive lor � minute
And they're all wrapped up in it
If's an enforcement stat
For many it's too late
Now death stalks the stre t
'And it's right at your front gat
So bug, lose your mind
But I ain't go in , insane
I'll kick the fly lyric
'Cause ain't no hame in my game.
AS SUZANNE McElfresh
noted in Creem: "This kind of
sound-collage -ereates quite a dif
f�rent slab of vinyl than a hip-pop
hit slapped together [rom an iam
bic-pentameter rhyme scheme and
a two-bar riff taken verbatim from
somebody else's record." Though
Premier's techniques are complex,
his strategy is simple. "I like to get
people to sink into the song," he
.. Funky Wi dom,"
A Dally Operation
From "No Shame In My Game" -
I try keep in , my sanity
by thinkin' of better time.
If I write clever rhymes
Then maybe /,11 climb
What the hell's success
lIthe mess ain't changin'?
Five-O's still corrupt
Jackson."
People just don't cern to want 'nice' from
Millie. "Basically, my albums were all clean,
and they bad one song on them that everyone
rushed to. I'd be saying 'but here's a great
ballad, listen to it' Right now, the same thing
i happening, -" Young Man, Older
Woman" is the single and it' doing good, but
people that have the album are skipping
straight to "WhenAre You Going To Tell Your
Woman About Me", and that's the one with
the bleep." At any rate, Millie till has a large
following and works constantly, playing
club across the country.
She finds that her audience keeps getting
younger. These day , compared to what
ome artists are putting on records, Millie
Jackson looks tame. However you look at it,
Millie Jackson did it first and he did it better.
Jack on'
RadloScope ••• Th Column
From s.l1., 8roIId0lltltlng
S.,.,.. Syndication
totally clean albums, but nobody really
played them. They said, that' not Millie
MILLIE JACKSON
out a risque comedy album. It got little
airplay. Says Jackson, "it was called "Back
To The S_t". I was sitting on the toilet on the
. cover. It sold well, but alot of people didn't
know it was out there. Prior to that I bad two
____ -_--'------------1...--.- ... -
The "Queen of Sass and Class". "The
Queen ofRaunch & Soul". These are just two
of the label attached to Millie Jackson during
her career. Beacuse of her early success with
songs featuring X-rated sex talk, Millie's
gained a reputation as "the diva of raunch"
instead of that of a inger.
With her current "Young Man, Older
Woman" album, she's showing her talent
goes a lot �r than talkin' that talk. Fact
is, behind Millie Jackson's di tinctive rasp
hid the voice of a real singer. But her mo t
well-known songs are those featupng her
talking trash. '
Since the 70's, Millie's been fighting an
uphill battle to be'taken seriously as a singer.
Tired of fighting that image, last-year she put