tyt"a',evecybody
with O.P .P. thanks i> �,ahtv By.
ami manbers, woo Wl by
the names of � Vtnnie aOO
Kay Gee. Alnmt ovanigbt the
� wart from being unkmwn
toatig-timemcdiaandm ic
sation.
Realizing they were on to
something, the guys wanted to
�talize furtbrz on their popular
ity by brcn:hingoutwith their own
line of ughty By IDQ"-
C Naughty By Nature'
return WeB kicla:d off with � in
gle ''HipHopHooray"offtMk''19 �
NoudaJy 3" album.
"Hip HlJ' Hooray" shot to the
nwnberonespot on the R&B chart
in sevm short weeks aOO it looks
like the song oould do the same on
the rap aoo pop cham.
The guys are mjoying tMk
soplonores� becase a lot of
people tlnlght O.P.P. was it aOO
Naughty By Natwe would faIe
int> one bit worner i>ry.
A record labcl is in the works.
Kay Gee alrtaly a production .
oompany, while 'I'rea;h owm hW
own video diredlm finn.
t
Arresting
style for
the 90's
It seems everyone is talking
about Arrested Development'
unique rmsical style (their debut
aIbum3 y� 5 Maadu& 2DtJ)tf
In TheLifo Of..lla3 sold oVC' two
millioncopies),butnowpeq>leare
beginning to focus on aootber of
the bard's creative forces - their
fashion style.
20 year-old Aerie Taree is rot
only a major force in the gro�
a singer and darcer, but she also
designstheband' clothing, Urder
Taree' guidance, the band's im
age was launched.:.she worked to
make the group's clothing a reflec
tion of i1S music - colorful, Afr0-
centric, funky, Southern, rural
hip-hop.
"I put my own personal style
inu> it," Tame tdls tbe New York
Times in a feature in rview that
f� on her fashion flair, I 'but '
there's a lot of the individual char
acteristic of h individual mem
ber in there 100. I try to show
originality, our craziness, our light
bearedress." It is already starting
atrerx1thatmanyothO's follow
ing.
"People have tarted to catch on
to wbat I'm ooing. which makes
me happy," notes Taree, "Ourmu-
ic contimes to grow with and
our physical I k will follow."
Contrary current ruI1lOIS, how-
eva, Three no plans to open up
a clothing store of ber own in the
near future ... "When would I i
bly have time?" he laughs.
Meanwhile AD. aren t making
their fans wait 100 long get thdr
haOOs on methin new. They
will rcl Unplugged the end
of March. As the name suggest, the
album live in York
at thOr recent rformarce for a
pedal telecast of MIV's Un-
plugged ries. ed by a trong
pe ion, hom and rhythm
ti n, 11, H iller aM the t
of tbe group turn in powerful ren
di ti oftbeir hi Tennt:.SS«, Peo
ple Everyday, and Mr. Wendal
well as poignant versions of
Rainin'Revolutun am centro
ve ial Fishin' 4 Religion.
As Monie Love t 11 it, he w s
about to en r college wh n h
as ed her mother for me ge
dvice. he h d lready earned
rious rep as one of London'
freshest rappers, a rep so strong
that even before he h d record d
in the U.S., Monie (Simone
Johnson) had become 000 of hip
hop's lading ladi .
Sh asked ber mom, should she
continue with her studies or make
a go at the hip hop career begun at
basement parties in London and
nurtured by high school days in
Brooklyn. "My mother said,
You're young. You can take a
year, try being a' me; if it doesn't
wor out, then you'll go back to
school.' Monie pauses and then
breaks out into laughter. "Well, I
haven't been back to school I So it
must have worked out."
Yeah, you could say that. Her
·1990 Warner debut, Down To
Earth, yielded the hits' "Monie In
the Middle" and "It's A Shame".
Her collaborations with De La
Soul ("Buddy"), Queen Latifa
("Ladies First� and Jung
rotbe ("Doing Our Own
i>angN) helped r r,
tion one of the new Juts 0 the
Native Tongue po . Now in
1993, Monie Love is back withIn
- A Word Or 2, a markedly harder,
more socially aware collection:
tougher, more focused, yet still
very much Monie Love.
Down To Earth showed that a
sister can throw down, without
lowering herself to the forces of
, negativity, backbiting and in
fighting. In A Word Or 2 contin
ues along that funky and positive
path, If there's anything that Mo
nie is, it's positive; in her outlook,
in her music, and in her one world
embrace.
BORN IN LO DON and
raised there and in Brooklyn, Mo
nie Love has lived for hip hop
almost all of her life. "I couldn't
wait for (classmate) Me Lyte to
come to school and tell me about
what had happened at Union
Square that weekend," Monie re
calls. "That used to be m high
light of Monday morning! I
would look for her in the hall
ways, cause my grandparents
would never let me go out!"
. Not wanting to draw attention
to herself by busting out with a
. British accent, Monie adopted
New Yorkese, and reinvented
herself as-a Brooklyn girl, talking
the talk and creating serious
rhymes. "Guys usrf to just sweat
you ca you'd pea different,
and I didn't want that plus, peo
ple never accepted rhym com
in at you with an English accent.
I felt mor comfortable delivering
like I w from Brooklyn nd at
the end 0 the d y, it's wh re you
feel more comfortable when you
flow."
The first single from InA Word
Or 2 is "Born To Breed", a shout
to' family value, Moni style.
This title has two para conno
tations, th first and mo t obvious
referring to Monie' new status as
a mother. But as Monie po in 18 out,
there' -more than what mee the
eyes.
"Breed stands for Build rela
tionships where education and en
lightenment dominate," she
explains. "Breed is another way of
saying give birth and I don't feel
that Black women today just sim
ply give birth. Actually, it doesn't
make a difference what color you
are, if you're poor it's all the
same, and for those women, its all
such a struggl that giving birth is
just a part of it. I'm not a single,
mother but for Dan Quayle to get
up and say what he did, I was
freaking livid! I'm ready to go and
get Murphy Brown to be in the
goddamn video I"
As if the from the heart mes
sage wasn't enough to make you
pay attention, Prince pr duced
both the track and the title ong.
"Yeah, him!" Monie giggles,
"Purple Prince. I heard a rumor
that he was a fan, and I thought it
was a lie but then I started hearing'
that he liked me ftom a lot of
ople. So I flew out to Paisley
Park and ,we did the songs!" .
MO I WO
Marly Marl and new c mer Free
dom Lyles on the rest of the re
cord. "I'm proud to y that I did
some serious writing and produc
tion this time." She puts he r new
maternal instincts to good use on
"For The Children" and the uue
song. "That's r ally a love song
for my family. Something that my
daughter can listen to in years to
come and she can hear me telling
her how much I love her and care
for her."
Monie Love
TOP R&B/SOUL
6. II HAT 2 DA BACK"
.................. : TLC (Laface/Arista)
1. "I'M SO INTO YOU II
................... � �.: SV\'\I(RCA)
2. -so ALONE"
................... : ....... Men At Large (East/Wesl)
7. -rr WAS AGOOD DAY"
.......................................... Ice Cube (Pr�ority)
3. "I HAVE NOTHING"
............................ 'Nhitney Houston (Arista)
8. "SWEET THING"
.......................... Mary J. Blige (Uptown/MCA)
4. "DEDICATED"
....... R. Kelly & Public Announcement (Jive)
9. "GOOD OL' DAYS"
............................................. Levert (Atlantic)
5. "INFORMER"
................................ : Sno . (East/West)
10. IISWEET ON YOU"
.......................... Lo-Key? ,(Perspective/A&M)
• I
TOP 10 SINGLES
1. i'FREAK ME"
.................. � Silk (KEINElektra)
6. IICATS IN THE CRADLE"
.... � Ugly Kid Joe (Stardog/Mercury)
2. "DON'T WALK AWAY"
................................ � Jade (Giant)
7. 111M SO INTO YOU"
...................... : Swv (R�A)
8. "I GOT A MAN"
................................. Positive K (Island/PLG)
3. "I HAVE NOTHING"
............................. Whitney Houston (Arfsta)
lilt s time t stop ing ign -
r nt," declares Monie. "It's time
to go beyond the bias, cau at th
end of the d , everyon n ed to
save each other. I want oplc to
walk away thinking damn, for
Monie to go from nice to kin a
mean, stuff, mu t be getting
hard r. Thi r cord-is not cutesy,
but I'm not talking about tmng
lightly, not this time."
4. "COM ORTER"
........................... Shai (Gasoline Alley/MCA)
9. "THE RIGHT KIND OF LOVE"
........................ ! .......... Jeremy Jordan (Giant)
5. "TWO PRINCES"
, Spin Doctors (EpiC Associated)
10. "FOREVER IN LOVE"
............................................. Kenny G (Arista)