By SHOCK ROCK
Drop
Th Bomb
Hip-hop extraordinare
Brand ubian are . ng the na­
tion by torm. Th ir sopho­
more d ut album "In God We
Trust". Th album debuted on
Billboards Top 200 at an amaz­
ing #12 pot (highest rap debut
this year). The album also de­
buted at #4 on Billboard' R&B
charts.
GetoH aven
Rap-A-Lot artists the Oeto
Boy are coming back trong in ..
1993. Amid each m mbers
solo projects in 1992 (with Wil­
lie D leaU' th group penna­
nently). Bushwick Bill,
Scarfa d new member Big
Mike are tarting trouble with
thei released ingle "Crooked
Officer. If
The single "Crooked Offi­
cer", has true meaning for the
group with incidents follow:
- An altercation between
Scarface and Houston Police
led to the death 0 Scarface'
friJ (
w given).
- Rap-A-Lot Records
owner Jam Smith w ar-
. r ted and charged with drug
pos ion. Smith w released
on bail and claims an XTC pill
was planted on him. Interesting
enough in the past a Houston
cop �as fired for manufacturing
drug evidence against Smith,
Moreover the officer who
wrongly tried to arr t Smith
and arti t Dana Dane last year
for holding up a party tore is
the same officer who arrested
him on drug charg .
March 9 th Geto Boys will
drop th if verdict with the re­
lease of the full length album
"Till Death Do Us Part. "
Serious
·Business Partll
Warrants have been issued
for Erick Sermon of the former
rap duo EPMD for trashing ex­
partner Parri h Smith' estate in
Long Island, ew York,
The dl pute is over a sum of
$150000 in royalties in part
with their management and pro­
duction company. Rush com­
municatiors chairman R ell
Simmons is pe onally getting
involved with round table dis­
cussiorswith both sides.
Another
Day, Another
Breakun -
Sources clo e to the 'rap
group Qang Starr says a break
up i imminent. Due to group
member Guru s excessive
drinking. AJ 0 due to DJ Pr
micr wh fccl. like preading
hi wing in th produ tion
area. He i now producing
KRS-One Mobb D ep and
Heavy D's 1 est C ort.
He' one 0 e most ucce -
ful produce Iwritersl rtis in
music. Of th ix Ibum he' pro­
duced, three have gone to top
pot of v rious cham and five
h ve sold more than one million
copi . Only 27 yea old, Dr. Dre
i considered by many to be the
mo t creative producer on the
rap/hiphop ene today.
He is also one of the most con­
troversial. As a member, producer
and co-founder 'Of N.W.A, his
work has reflected urban society
and incited tho outside it. But
the flipside of the notoriety of
N.W.A. (aka Niggaz With Atti­
tude) is that Dr. Ore's musical
talent has 0 ten been overshad­
owed. Now, on his debt solo al­
bum. The Chronic (Dea th
Row/l nte rscope) , his first from
his own label, Ore harvests the
promise and - the future of urban
music.
"My level's the 13th floor,"
Ore y, "where nobody e is."
r A ,ri-
ots ("The Day � N1Igaz Took
Over") or every y It n the vlo­
ent world of the g rigsta ("Nigga
Witta Gun," "Rat-Tat-Tat-Ta "
"LU' Ghetto Boy"), wh ther
dissing and boasting (the first sin­
gle ''Nuthin But A 'G' Thang,"
"P --- Wit Dre Day'� or having a
lowriding good time ("Let Me
Ride") and partying ("Deeez
Nuuuts") , on The Chronic Ore
displays a range of style and sub­
ject unheard of on a rap album.
Using original R&B funk vocals
and melodies as well as samples
from the likes of George Clinton,
Donny Hathaway and Isaac
Hayes, his songs flow into each
other, creating a sense of life as
it's lived on the street the anger,
the sex, the warfare, the dope, the
rhythm, even the humor.
Says Ore, "Give credit to the
people who inspired you. Clinton,
Bootsy, Parliament, I've listened
to theirsh-- for years, I have every
record they ever made. But for rap
to stay around, it has to com up
with new-ideas. You can't just lay
down a sample and rap over it. Get
creative or be left behind on the
caboose. I'm upattheengine, full
steam ahead."
GRAI in
Compton, �ifomia ho ing
project by his mother nd grand­
mother, Andre Young won hi
nic name playing b ketb II and
idolizing Dr.J. (Juliu Erving).
There, hi mom' tas e in music
- Jam Brown, Fun dellc, and
Marvin Gaye - inspired him to
take up DJing a n r for
parties after high schools. Soon he
earned a pot. at Eve After Dark,
putting together up mpo dance
demos in the dub's four track stu­
dio during the week and playing
them on wee ends. Unli e many
rappers who cut their teeth on
sampling, scratching, and drum
machines, Ore was playing key­
fx>ards and laying down music vo­
cals too.
With another OJ, Yella, and the
manager 0 the club, The World
Class Wreckin Cru was formed
with the 17-year-old Ore as a
member. One of his demos be­
came their single "Surgery"
(1982), which r lea ed inde­
pen n d a phenome I
50, copi. After du tin
'high school in 1983, having tud­
ied mechanical drafting, he was
offered a job t Northrop Aircraft
but passed on it. By that time, he
was making more money DJing
anyway, and be ides The Cru was
releasing its second album.
Unfortunately, the group's
style didn't suit him. "They
wouldn't do my songs," he re­
calls. They said they'd never get
on the radio." He left in 1984 and
with him scratching and his homie
Ice Cube rapping, they began to
perform live, highlighted by gigs
at skating rinks where 2,000 peo­
ple would show up.
In 1985, according to Ore, he
and Eazy E decided to start their
own record company. Their first
project was "Boyz 'N Tha Hood"
which Dr. Dre produced with
Eazy a the artist.' Ore says about
10,000 copies were sold out of the
trunks of their cars and the profits
financed the first .W.A. single,
"Dopeman; " which Ore wrote and
produced. He then helmed Bazy's
album Eazy-Duz-It (1985), which
went gold, and the group "did
DR. ORE'
TH ALBUM R D
doubl platinum c rtification,
selling more than two million
copies. A hardcorc clas ic featur­
ing the track "F--- Tha Police" it
brought on not nly th F.B.I. but
police throughout the country,
who made it tandard operating
procedure to pull over any car
driven 'by Black men blaring
N.W.A. "We loved the contro­
versy. It's the rca on we blew up
as big as we did. It wasn't hurting
u , it was helping us."
After the rei a I c Cube x-
ited to som hard f eling. "He'
wanted to do hi own thing. We
didn't know what was happening
but one day he ju t left. H
should ve come and told us
what's up.'
Dre then pr duced Th
O.O.C., a rapper h di cov red in
Dallas, T x who contributed t
the first .W.A. al m. Hi No
One Can Do It Better (1 9) wa
platinum, rea hing #1 on th
R&B album h rt and #20 pop.
"It' Funky Enough" wa a #1 r p
single. That year Dre al pr­
du d the 1 -utled d but from
Mic l'le. It t 0 went platinum
and wa #1 n the R hart.
Th .W. '. ollow-up wa
100 Mil and Runnin' (1 ( ),
again platinum. In 11th ir third
album, i gaz4LiJe, ld ne mil­
lion copi and hot t #1 on Bill-
board's pop chart. Dre then went
010.
"I g t Icc Cube hi. tart. I a1 0
launched azy. Ther ai n 't n
que tion that .W.A. b came I
what it wa in lar e part be ause
of my music and my pr ducing.
Ore and azy had ( reed tr m
Jump trcet that we wa )0 be
Quincy Jone . It was The D.O.C.
who talk d him int headlining a
10 proje .t as a way f introduc­
tion. Yet Ore laims, zy and
ex-manager Jerry Heller tried to
qua h hi album. .
"They mad it di ICUlt," he ex­
plains, "but nothins impo ible
when )OU g t d opl in your
While musically he' a step
ahead lyrically he's det nnioed
to stay true to the street: The
Chronic i the name of n espe­
cially potent strain of marijuana.
"I'm doing on record what ople
are doing and talking bout in real
life and I think the hippie h-- is
coming bac . We've tal ed about
treets,the poli -and till do. But
violence can play out. That' why
there' comedy on the record too.
You have to put sh-- on to make
I u h om tim ."
more show than Jam Br wn.
that year." At the time, .W.A.
was Ore, Cu ,Eazy, Yella, Ren,
and Arabian Prince.
Then Straiaht Outta Compton
(19 9) expl ded. What can we
say that'll pi people 0 f? What
crazy sh-- can we do that!ll make
'em mad but they III ve 'cuz it's
so hardhitin '? We new we
wouldn t g t any radio or vi o. It
had to a word of m uth thing
and it work d."
That
rupt,
(wh
In nu n
tudi and
with the
arn ts a la
S CHRONIC, 82
