With trunklo d of brutal
bea and rocking rhyme in tow,
poet-playboy Po itive K tepped
up to a bold-bl ck canvas et up
in his Harlem tudio, Creative
Control (located in the arne
125th Str et loft wher guerilla
speakicians The Last Poets
formed during the '60 ). He
proceeded to paint the arresting
sonic portraits of inner-city street
games and urban exual politics
that comprise The Skills Dat Pay
Da Bills, his Island/PLG debut
album. '
"I'm just expressing myself
musically to the best of my
ability," he ays of the amazing
set. "I flex a lot of styles, and I
rap on what's real. I didn't follow
any trends. My motto is: as long
as you're different, there will al­
ways be a spot for you. "
From viewing seminal rap ar­
chitects in action to becoming an
active participant in the music,
,working in various capacities
with Grand Puba, Professor X,
C iol,n.ddy
Daddy Kane and othc, illv
K is an ambitious performer
whose involvement with rap runs
deep. It's surprising that The
Slcills Dat Pay Da Bills (whose
first single, "1 Got A Man," fol­
lows the smash mack-track
"Nightshi/t") is only his first
. album.
Born Darryl Gibson in da
Bronx, 24-year-old Positive K
was a hip-hop junkie from first
megablast. He's full of vivid
recollections of watching the new
Nubian noize (rap) take shape as
he stared out from the window of
an 11th floor apartment overlook- \ HE BECAME Baby Breed
ing Echo Park when he was 10; of 0 and practiced religiously. After
observing Grandmaster Flash, moving to Queens in 1978, he
Afrika Bambaataa, OJ Hol- sustained a ritual of worshiping
Iywood nd Gr nd Wizard
Theodore run the wh I of t I;
of eeing Melle Mel, Eddie
Cheeb and Busy Bee drop "lime­
to-the-Iemon/lemon-to-the-lim
/type" rhyme. "Th t stuff ju t
tum d me on," Positive recall ,
"It wa like drugs - I got
hooked."
Following these early b at
bumps, the young microphone
fiend started buying $2.00 tape
recordings of Flash's mixes from
streetcomer dealers. He used 10
b up "till all hours of the night"
rocking in front of a box. Then
the inspiration came to form his
first crew, called The Disco
Cousins, with hi cousin Corey
Car. "We were 12 and laugh­
able," he remebers, "but I knew
what I wanted to do and that one
day I was gonna get good. "
th early hip-hop dieti from the
Boo ie Down. I ju t did my
hom wor nd I pt thorn ," h
recall "If I wanted to have fun I
went to the Bronx. "When hi
mom didn't want him to go there
anymore, the visit to hi
borntown eventually came to a
halt. And th n a r vel tion: hip­
hop cui ture was spreading into hi
neatly-trimmed uburban
domain. "Thi guy n med
Sweetie 0, who was the No.1
solo sensation in the borough at
the time, was bringing all the
groups people heard on tape to
neighborhood high schools and
clubs."
As this scene grew, Positive
relocated to South Carolina with
his family. "I was havin' my
cousins mail me tapes all the time.
When I entered this Schlitz Malt
Liquor rap conte t I won the
third-place prize, which was
$300.
Then it was back to New York
in 1982, where the rap rhookc4
•• • t ,
dopt the mol v
Knowledge Allah. He formed
the short-lived Almighty Ood
Crew with two simil rly­
righteous friends.
"One day 1 ran into Sweetie G,
and, after borrowing $500 from
my mom, we went into a 24 track
studio and recored the song,
"Gettin' Paid." It got signed onto
a compilation album titled Fast
Money, that Mike & Dave
Records put out. That was it."
Seven months later, Positive
left Mike & Dave to become
fledging manager Lumumba
Carson's first client (Professor X
of the raptivist crew XCLAN).
S e POSITIVE K, B10
It's a rare and unexpected treat
when two new artists like Brie
Benet Jordan and his si ter Lisa
Marie Jordan - better known as
Benet - reach a mainstream
audience with an album as richly
rewarding and satisfying as
Benet, their EMI Records debut.
It's said that music wa hes
away from the soul the dust of
everyday life, and in Bric and
Usa's beautiful vocal blend there
is a genuine feeling of love and
emotion, warmth and spirituality.
Qualitie that ripple and float on
"Only Want To e With You," a
seductive first single that, in its
own quietly exquisite way,
recall our favori1e ingera and
songwriters: Roberta Flack and
Donny Hathaway, Nickolas Ash·
, ford and Valerie Simpson, Karen
and ichard Carpenter, and
Stevie Wonder and Syreeta.
"Thank you for the compli­
ment!" Eric ay excitedly.
"We've idolized them all ever
ince we were kids. They've set
incredible rtistic rds for
us. When you reach for the tars,
at least you wind up in the strato­
sphere!"
The Carpe ters' ethereal
"Rainy Days and Monday" il
howcue for ir n­
nd sophistication. Eric
and Lisa suggest the purest
reverence and fragility with
poignant and tender reading of a
cl ic tbat takes its place along
ide the Carpenters' definitive
version. "The song is like a fine
piece of jewelry that's been in the
drawer for 20 years," Usa says.
"You take it out and polish it, and
suddenly it's even more beautiful
than you remember!"
PERHAPS THE MOST
remarkable aspect of Benet is the
way that Brie and Usa and their
production team of Jeff Lorber,
Bryan Loren, Robert Brookins,
$ami McKinney and Oeorge
Nash Jr., has fused such a wide
range of musical styles and in­
fluences.
When they connect with songs
about loneliness ("1 Remember
When"), undying affection
("Never Get Enough'�, the
politics of romance ('We Said,
She Said'� or unrequited love ("In
The Spring"), Eric and Usa make
their liquid voices nd like peb­
bl Skipping acro a pond. And
with tellar instrumental upport
from uch "players" Jeff Lor­
ber,Freddie Hubbard, D ve Koz,
OaryMee ndPauiJac onJr.,
Benet becom a recipe for rock,
rap.jazz, pop g pel and funk that
car melizes into a vibra t,
cohesive whole.
"My dad gave me the
honor of his favorite
short story writer poet,
Stephen Vincent Benet, " Bric
points out. "When I was younger
I thought it was corny, and pte
much ignored it. 'But
tumed 18 or o I bega
preciate it. Then Lisa and I __
performing, and 'Benet' UII_M
atel y came to mind. It just
vibe."
The youngest two of f ve
children, Bric and Lisa were m
and railed in Milwaukee, where
their dad w a detective on
police force. "We lived in • tou
neighborhood," Bric recal . "Be­
cause of my dad, we had people's
r peer, but there were time I h d
to fight for r peer, too." "Dad
wa definitely overprotecuve,"
Usa notes, "and in sheltering
we sort of turned to each other.
People have been singing in our
family for generations, and my
brothers and si ters used to �it
around the living room coming up
with the m t delicious five-pert
harmoni ."
"Every now nd then they'd let
me ing, too, even though I
BE T.810