ENTERTAINMENT
IN BRIEF
d
ould h P
J m b t y-
Bl c man? Wh t do you
thin th ubj ctofBI irUn
d rwood first hort ilm,
"The econd Coming".
Sportin dreadloc
rd, Und rwood
"Je u in the 30-minut
hort h lso direc ed and
inanced for his ilm com
pany,-Qui t Fury Produc-
tion. Ca t member
includ d -R lind Ca h
Mary. Jam Earl Jon
rate.
In Und rwood' pr nt
day version, Chri t is nt to
a mental institution iter
claiming to be the M iah.
The central theme in
Und rwood's hort i that a
human beings, w under
stand that our pirituality is
colorless. "
Underwood, who thi
y ar celebrates his sixth
eason on "LA. Law", al 0
just wrapped production on
"Father & Son", an NBC-
1V movie special. In it, h
stars opposite Lou Gossett.
On' the
home front
Vanessa' Williams and
her husband Ramone Her
vey have packed up their two
daughters and moved back
to upstate New York, where
he grew up. Williams' isn't
the only celebrity moving
back east. So too, is Eddie
Murphy, who is moving his
operations to the east coast.
Of course, if you're inter
ested in buying his Beverly
Hills estate, it s available for
S7 _
... N wlyweds 8 by
Brown and Whitney Hous
ton recently returned from
their honeymoon to more
good news. Seems she's
pregnant. (Houston suf
fered a miscarriage earlier in
the year while on the set of
the new movie, the
Bodyguard). The movie,
which also stars Kevin
Costner is due out later this
year.
Prince teams
with Kristie
Prince has, paired with
"Cheers" star Kristie Alley
for his upcoming CD. She'll
playa fictional reporter who
nabs Prince for an interview.
The' footage wilf be used to
fill dead space on the release.
Prince has teamed up
with British rap star, Monie
Love. He contributed three
tracks to her upcoming Oc
tober release. In other news
from the paisley palace,
Prince has licensed a cloth
ing line in Britain. The line
features "New Power
G neration" garb and lots of
tight, rubber outfits.
8yth way
Weseley Snipes recently
turned 30. The exclusive
Morton'S Restaurant was the
site for an intimate birthday
party thrown by manager,
Delores Robinson, who
daughter Holly Robinson
was also on hand. It was
there that Diana Ross repor
tedly came over from her
table to congratulate Holly
Robinson on her portrayal of
herself (Ro ) in the upcom
ing Jackson's "American
Dream" mini-series.
- complied by K.Barks
- special contrIbutors:
Lisa Collins (Behlnd- The
Scenes) & Radio
Scope ... The Column
. The M�ck concept, 'To�n1e� > /�'<
it's a positive it's not really ut
degar9ing women, it's. aoout. ...
the Black man ... This· Mack·' .' ..
thing is about keeping your
.. �IjI'inQ correct. It is a self-esteem
thing if you ask me."
'" '.� - Too Short
th n 1 year old entrepreneur
w nt ah ad and ormed hi own
label with friend and manger
Randy Au tin and appropriately
called it, Dangerous Music.
Th un y at ba lin you
hear boornin' from t We t
Coast can b trac d to Oakland's
mo t rambun tiou n' n west
mast rwork, horty The Pimp.
With hi raw rhyme and low
Ma tyl, T 0 hort - b rn
Todd h w - ha one of th
large t, most consi tent foil w
ing in rap hi try.
A disciple hip that can't g t
enough of hi hard-cor (yet
hum rou ) lyric, oulful b ats
and laid back! ometimes volatile
delivery. This true Mack pirit i
the driving force behind his suc
cess, enabling Short to secure
crossover sales figures without
actuall y cro sing over and putting
Oakland ra p on the map forever
more.
80 T ELEASED Born
To Mack, which old 20,000
copies around the Bay area, and
caught th attention of many of
the major record labels. Short
opted to sign with Jive, reasoning
"that Jive was the only label that
di not mind me expressing
myself. " oon after being nation
ally distributed, Born To Mack
went gold.
His next release was the
platinum Life IS ... Too Short.
which took him over the top,
entrenched on. Billboard's Top
TOO SHORT
Ever since he was fifteen and
'seiling homemade tapes with his
friend Freddie a on the streets of
Oakland, Too Short has been
working to achieve his goals and
take control of. his own destiny.
After building. up a strong local
fan base, Short signed to an inde
pendent label through which he
released three albums - and was
never pard a dime.
In 19 7, rap was beginning to
make a dent in the mainstream
and the wily rappcrwas not about
to be left out of the action. The
Pop Album chart for 78 weeks
with virtually no radio play. His
last LP, Short Dog's. In The
House, sold millions, and
received critical acclaim espe
cially for his reworking of the
Donny Hathaway classic "the
Ghetto."
The Mack, a classic blaxploita
tion film about young urban
entrepreneurs (pimps), has
rema ined a constant theme
. throughout the 26 year old
rapper's career. When asked of
the Mack concept, Short ex-
plains:
"To me, it's a positive, it's not
really about degrading wome�,
it's about the Black Man ... This
Mack thing is about keeping your
mind correct. It is a self esteem
thing if you ask me. II •
One thing is for sure, Too
Short is a Black man in the music
industry who: with his o�n
production company and studio,
is entirely in control of his career.
If "a pimp is only as good as
his product," as Goldie is advised
in The Mack, the Oakland
native's newest LP Shor.ty The
Pimp will make Too Short the
Mack of the Year. The new LP,
which gives more attitude than
sex, wa produced and mixed by
Too Short and label mate Ant
Banks at the Dangerous Music
tudios.
own business
Why the police want to send me
to prison
They see a brother making
major cash
They knock a patch out his
Black ass and that's the truth ...
D'Wayne Wiggins of Tony!
Toni! Tone!, as they swing into a
smooth dance groove asking the
groupies back stage, hey baby
why you wanna sleep with a
brother just because he raps."
I ain't mad -I'm just Black"
From "1 Wanna Be Free
(That'S The Truth)
In" tep Daddy" Short breaks
out the P Funk and couples it with
his classic humor as the M ck
finds himself playing step father
to a neglected brotha's baby.
On "Th runk," Short
rhymes about tho e who slam his
direct down .home Oakland rap
style, while pumping out some
hard-core funk with a erious
backbeat that will leave his critic
peechle s.
Throughout the roadways of
America, every driver will be
able, to hear "Something To Ride
To". In this, the dopest of all
mobile beats, one can hear Short
along with his. pose, Ant Banks,
Pooh Man, and Mhisani, on ten
minutes of pure unadulterated
pleasure that will make anyone's
driv a fly one.
"No Love In Oakland" lays
down the fatte t back-beat rap has
een in a long ti me, as the
frustrated Oaktowner con
templates on why homies will
smoke each other out and not give
a damn. H rhym ,"1 sec my
people all filled wi th joy, the next
day they re kill in ' homeboys,"
coming to the conclusion that
there is no love in the inner city.
Shorty The Pimp takes the li -
tener into the hard-cor universe
of a 26 year old hip hop
aficionado. A world dominated
by funkadellic soul beats coupled
with raw lyrics delivered with an
honest style. Soon nough the
boom' bass lines from Short's
new collection will echo across
the c untry reminding everyone
that the Mack is back!
SHORT CO TI U his
observations of life's harsh
realities with "1·Want To Be Free
(That's Th Truth)." The first
single, inspired by his perso�al
experience , paints a bleak PIC
ture of the routine hara ment
Black m n f ce at the hand of the
police:
"I'm a Black man and I run my
On "1100 hi " the r� pper
h ks up with fellow aktowner