n I
Parri h Smith nd Eric
S nnon collectively known
EPMD, hav announced
that' they are parting way
du to personal differen
Th hard core r p duo'
late t LP, Business Never
Personal, bas been certified
gold, as has their three prior
albums Strictly Business,
Unfinished Business and
Business As Usual. Rush
Communication' chairman
Russell Simmons hopes the
group will get "back to busi­
rt s."
Switch a roo
The recording industry
has treated hip-hop like the
plague. Rappers are jump­
ing ship to greener pastures.
Big Daddy Kane has left
Cold Chillin' Records
(sources s ythe company is
on its death bed). Kane has
moved to MCA.
- Warner Bro. nd Ice
T d ay. It dtdn �
m tter to Ice T who i
seven figure deal with NW A
famed Priority Records.
The Hard
Black Gem
Jamaica, Queens reas­
sert its presence in the hip­
hop nation with the release
of Onyx's debut sing1e on
Def Jam Records, the first
single "Throw Ya Gunz;" hit
'store in late November.
Onyx, the "Official Nas­
tee Nigguz," are four
hardcore hip hoppers ready
to unleash their fury. Fredro
Starr, Big D.S., Suave and
Sticky Fingaz ar dedicated
to the raw facts of life. With
their innovative aggressive
rhyme style they drop
rhyme left, right and 'dead
center.
"Throw Ya Gunz" refers
to the Jamaican tradition of
the gun salute a a show of
respec to your fellow
"br ther". To clarify any
mi conceptions, Onyx does
not .ond ne violence.
heck 'em out on tour
with Po itive 1(, Diamond
o Brand N�'an, Double
XX Po e and how' &
AG. Watch out or their
album "Bac Da Fuc Up" in
. early M rch.
Who's
,
the boss?'
tyling and pr filing
through the gang polluted
treets f uth entral and
Detr it, Bo bites her
tongue f r n one. As the
fi rst artist to break out ofDef
Jam (n w we t coast la el
DJ-WE T .
8 is rna hing the h�p-
h P nation's se xi t
tercotype and hattering
th unwritten d ctrine that
f male arcn t haren't.
"I wa in pir d to become
a rap r by alt -N- Pepa,
but if start street, you should
tay tr et" say .
ABOVE THE LAW - Go Mack, Total i<-oss, Cold 187um and KM.G.
A lot can in two _years.
A city can burri. An ntire m .
cominunity can come under teady
fire from relent! law eatorce­
ment 0 icia . And for the cold­
blooded LA quartet Above The
Law, a growing musical turity
can bl m. in the two years since
their 1 t album, Above The Law
has indeed become funkier, more
musically adventuro and more
socially conscious. But for any who
doubt that the not>rio ly rough­
neck rappers could have evolved all
that much, their attention it directed
to the band' explo ive w
GiantlRuthless album, B10cJc MafoJ
Life.
Rap has always been art form of,
by, and for the streets, but only a
handful of albums have painted as
searing a portrait of inner-city Ufe
Black Mafia Life. 187um
(pronounced one-eighty-sewm),
A T.L.'s producer and lead rapper,
is once again joined by KMO., Go
Mack and Total K-<&, along with
surprise guest appearances by
N.W.A's M.C. Ren and Bazy-B,
,and Dif.tal Under �:� 2 p
.. "We didn't want 10 do the same
stuff others are do' every day,"
says 187um..of AT L's musical in­
tentions this time out "It's still
street, it's still hard-core, but we
too a deeper musical approach,"
187um and A T.L. are true 10 their
word, especially on songs like the
taut and sinister "Commin' Up, " the
hysterical reggae rap "Mee Vs. My
Ego, " the choral rap fantasy "G &
Macaronies," and the ultra-funky
. . gl "V.SOP"
prenuer SID e, ....
"N.W.A. was getting hot back
then," recalls 187um, "and they
promised to sign us as soon as their
tour ended. The day they came off
the road, they signed us."
Above The Law toured with
N. W A and recorded an album for
Ruthless, Livin' Like Hustlers and
the E.P. Vocally Pimpin'. The
group also toured the V.K. where it
was met with overwhelming en­
thusiasm across the nation.
Few rap groups enjoyed as
notorious a reputation as A T.L.,
which redefined the term "rowdy,"
Today, that side of the band ha
hard ned into a more mature but n
less angry perspective on life.
"This album is about Black
people sticking together and
enterprising within themselves,"
notes 187um of Black Mafla Life.
The whole Black Mafia concept is
aboutdoingthingswithinourselv ,
which is what Above The Law has
alway done. We writ ,pr uce,
and manage ourselv s."
Above The Law makes n ecret
of their feeling that there is a war
being waged on rap by police
groups nationwide, "This show
cops will toop to any level to get
what they want" says 1 7um.
"They talk about 'Protect and
Serve. Well, th y d a lot of erv­
ing but I don't know about protect­
ing."
with a five-piece band," promises
187um. "It's going to be more
d on a much wider scale.
We nt t take hip-hop to a whole
oth r I vel. P ople are tired f the
same ld rap shows, I
There' no same old same old
with Above The Law, Angry, pas­
sionateandwi e,AT.L.justmaybe
th ensemble that leads the way a
new era in rap. As 187um ys,
"We dare take chances in music.
People sh uld always expect me­
thing different from us."
Inihe two years
since their last
album, 'Above The
Law has indeed
become funkier,
more musically
adventurous, and
more socially
conscious.
A TER TH IR nearly
eighteen month hiatus from per­
orming, the band i anxious to get
back n tour. "We Ire going out
DETROIT - Camille L. Jeter,
an actress with the National
Theatre of the Deaf, will return to
her native De t Feb .. 27 to play
the lead role in Ophelia, a how
presented in Si nguage and
poken words. The 7:30pm
performance will take place at
Farmington Hills.
The pr ntation i a nefit
performance sponsored by the
Lutheran Social Services of
Michigan and Tri County Deaf
Senior Citizens. Funds rai ed by
the event will go towards
programs for Deaf senior citizens
at both agenci .
Jeter 32, who graduated from
th Michigan School for th Deaf
in 197 , was recently ap inted
ia Artistic Director of The
ational Th atre of the 0 af
(NTD), an international turing
troupe made up of deaf and
hearing actors. In 1 , Jeter was
honored with a Princess Grace
Foundation/U A Fellowship f r
the high quality of h r work with
Th ational Theatre of th Deaf.
In the production coming to
Detr it, Jeter "turns Shakespeare
up id down" y sending
Ophelia, a min r character in
Hamlet, ack t C ntral casting.
She plays an all-n w Ophelia a
stron nd d . ive woman who
is re dy dodge the "slings and
arrows of fat " (and life with
Hamlet) with brio and humor.
Carrulle Jc ri thedaughterof
Bar ra Jeter of 0 troit,
Tick ts t nefit area deaf
en' I citizens ar 25. They can
be re erv d y callin
31 - 2-7 0 (v ice) or
313- 1 9 ([DO).
,
N.W.A's Eazy-E helps out on
"Game Recognizes Game, " while 2
Pac and Money B from D.U. lend
their talents on "Call It What You
Want" Always celebrated for their
keen nse of humor, Above The
law infuses much of the new album
with sardonic wit, as on the tongue­
and-cheek "pimpology" and the
sassy xy romp, "GiRupies Best
Friend. " But A T.L. isn't all fun
and games. Mega-tracks like
"Process Of Elimination" and
"Harda U R the Doppa U Fall" are
stark reminders that this band is a
tru survivor of Am mean t
of mean streets,
HAILI G OM hoods of
L.A and Pomona. California, the
members of A T.L. h ve been tight
ince junior high. Though th y've
known their hare of c and
conflict, they 11 realized early on
that music could provid first-
cl tic et out 0 a li{i of it:
Once their early demo reac d
N.W.A' Eazy-E c in the mid-
, A T.L' future w ure.