Get An
Appointment
�strangebrew of rap's Diga­
ble Plarets i seeping through the
nation with their own "Appoint­
rnent At Tbe Fat Clinic" ur fea­
tun ng pecial gu t Groove
Garden.
Digable Plane is having a
"large like daft banrer year with
their gold ingle ''Rebirth of Slick
(cool like dat)" and the critically
cclaimed album "&achin'''.
I'mFmm."
Clock 'em out at aclinic (club)
near you
SNAPS
En Vogue has igned a deal
with "Roseanne" Roseanne Ar­
nold's production company to do a
Itcom, • Nice & Smooth are
corning out hard .• Dr. Ore albwn
and single "Nuthin' But A G
Thong" have each ld a million
copies .• Detroit X-Change (I'm
Freaky) have igned with Big
Beat/Atlantic Records. • Masta
Ace' new album "Slaughsa
House" hits tores in a few weeks.
Hip Hop High: The group
AU.T.H.O.RI.T.Y. (managed by
Shock Rock) has been nominated
for the Best R&BlUrban group by
the Motor City Musi Awards.
Hip Hop Low: Being edited I'm
out
Entertainment
In Brief
. Tupac
Shakur
gets rapped
cleo
BY the way
ollins (Behind-
,
(
"The fact that we are all mixed
African and European women is
exciting."
Zap Mama is a group of five
women singe rs led by Marie
Daulne. Shortly before Marie's
birth in Zaire to a Belgian father
and a Zairean mother, there was a
political revolt which forced the
Belgians to leave the country.
Marie's father was killed in the
ensuing riots but her mother man­
aged to escape with three children
to the safety of the pygmies, the
neighbors of her own tribe the
Bantou. The pygmies are feared
by other tribes because of their .
supernatural powers, mysticism
and spiritualism. There, Marie
was born, without medical atten­
tion, in the forest.
Marie's mother moved the
family, to r husb nd' ret tlve
in Belgium. Growing , Marie
learned both tr8 0 a can
songs as well as Catholic cho­
rales. With no money for instru­
ments, she formed a small
cappella group with her brothers
and sisters.
To Zap
means to
switch
channels,
or as
in ten de
nere,
cultures.
After Marie left home, she de­
cided to make music her profes­
sion and studied polyphony in
Arab, Asian and African contexts.
She felt that since the African tra-.
dition is oral and tr nsmits emo­
tion she needed to experience this
other dimension first hand; Marie
set out to re-meet th pygmi s.
When she' arrived, they regarded
her differently from the other
women who had come to tudy
and film - becaus she could
sing like them.
Although her mother had care­
fully taught her children some
Bantou tradition, she feared
them becomingtoo African and
considered Marie' ng "sav­
age" and unci vi lized. At the same
time, the Belgian side of her fam­
ily supported her cul tural stud' S.
As Marie started developing her
new group, she realized that since
she he had not spent much
time in Africa the music could
never be fully African: "My mu­
sic i a mix - like me." To Zap
m an t witch channel or, as
int nded h re, cultur . In a way,
Marie com es herself to Ameri­
cans a new' br ed 0 people who
. ave forgotten som of their roots
and tradition .
ZAP MAMA ARE going
back to the roots, the human
voice. Instead of adding more
elaborate instruments, like so
many of their Europeanized con­
ternporari s, Zap Mama ubtract
instruments. These are women of
the world: Zap Mama offer an
cappella journey, reminding us
that we all make the same sound
they use (breathing, exhaling) but
as mechanization continues - in
Africa as well as in Western coun­
tries - everything original and
natural gets taken for granted. Al­
though based in Brussels, the
home of techno, Zap Mama's in­
struments are their vocal ch rds
and bodi S.
TOP R&B/SOUL .
1. "So Alone"
............................ Men At Large (East West)
6. "Shoop Shoop"
. :.Michael Cooper (Reprise)
2. "I Have Nothing"
............................. W1itney Houston (Ansta)
7. "Kiss Of Life"
..................................................... Sade (Epic;
3. �IDedicated"
....................................... R.Kelly &PA (Jive)
8. "Down With The King"
........................................ Run DMC (Profil�)
4. "It Was A Good Day"
........ : Ice Cube (Priority)
9. "Sweet On You"
......................... Lo-Key? (Perspective/A&M)
5. "Sweet Thing"
..................................... Mary J. Blige (MeA)
10. "Good 01' Days"
' : Levert (Atlantic)
Their li sh ware m 1-
ling and fun, than to their sense
of humor, their vibrant r nali­
ties and their collestive experi­
ence within. theater and dan .
live Zap Mama add a wh Ie new
dimen ion to the ex rience.
Zap Mama this I -tulcd al­
bum from Luaka p' Africa in­
vade Europe ries, is their fir t.
Zap Mama have conqu red
Euro with their truly organic
undo At WOMAD (UK) OS
RAQSME (France) or ye'
Central Park, they impre
iciansandalikc. t rtourin 1 r
1 day la t year, ( nd havin a
vi 0 in rotation on MlV Euro ,
th gr up i currently on t ur in
Euro ,working on a cond
video, were recently featured in
the BBC's' "Rhythms of The
World" seri S.
1. I Have Nothing"
........................ : Whitney Houston (Ansta)
6. "Love Is" ,
.. Vanessa WHhams/Bnan Mcknight (Giant)
2 .. "Two Princes"
................... Spin Doctors (EpIC Associated)
7. "Looking Through Patient Ey •
.. P.M. Dawn (Gee Street/lsland/PLG)
3. MCats In The Cradle"
................... Ugly Kid Joe (8 ardog! ercury)
8. "Freak e"
. � Silk (KEIA/EI ktra)
4. "The Right Kind ove"
.................................... Jeremy Jord n (GIant)
9. "Don't Walk Away
.................................................. Jade (Giant)
10. lilt Wa A Good D
•
5. 1m So Into You"
SWV (RCA)
.......................................... 100 Cube (Priority)
-� .-