sible for. the hehuva re�ix" of
Snap's "Rhythm Is A Dancer".
By TUREKA TURK
ltllohlp.n Clt/an
Catch You" every week.
Despite "Gonna Catch
You's" mass exposure, Gor­
don does not have the record .
to back up its stature.
CUTTING THROUGH
the unnecessary of Gordon's
bio ("After many delays­
business dilemmas, creative
struggles, even a stormy per­
sonal life-Lonnie has tri­
umphed as the fierce ruling
.diva she is ... "), it is evident
that Gordon has mad' confi­
dence and much fun with her
music.
o ay, get past the Rupaul
. croeeed with Grace Jones ex­
terior of Lonnie .Gordon. In
the vast spectrum of music,
many up and coming girls
who dream of divahood latch
on to the funky, eyebrow rais­
ing looks for their exterior.
Lonnie Gordon proves that to
be no exception in the under­
ground dance house category
(how many categories does
that make now?).
If Gordon's music was ex-
GORDON COULD'VE
scored high with "Don't Stop
Lovin' Me" (according to her
bio, it's her husband's favor­
ite song), but its longevity is
complete overkill.
The song appears to end
almost three times, but two of
those makes it a glouttonous
comeback. Its only hope is a
remixer who figures out how
to make it purge.
"I usually write as the re­
sult of personal experiences,"
Lonnie says.
Gordon should really keep
ber e ian' to be If
"Mtsaing You" is evidence of
her 1 e of tal for iting
lyrics.
albu
,
o 0
may put you
a bad mood .
"Since you got on the plane
My life is not the same
You got on the bird
Now my life is so absurd"
•
I
NO KIDDING, THAT'S
what she really sings.
Gordon has a voice, no
doubt, and with the technol­
ogy of the music industry in
present times, it is disap­
pointing that her record "Bad
Mood" isn't better than it is.
I can't avoid the obvious,
Gordon's new album may put
you in a bad mood. There, I
said it.
Gordon would have a
chance if she didn't write her
own lyrics, continued to let
Steve Inch produce her
tracks, and she took much
'more care in choosing her
material. As Rupaul says,
'You better work!"
But if all that never hap­
pens or fails, she sure is inter­
esting to look at.
citing as her offbeat look,
she'd have a mega-dance, al­
bum under her belt. But, un­
fortunately, producers
Blackbox.couldn't score as big
as their "Everyday, Every­
body" and "Strike It Up", de­
spite working with flesh and
blood this time instead of a
sample.
Perhaps dance musicgoers
are best reminded of Gor­
don's work with her sleeper
hit "Gonna Catch You",
which hit #1 on Billboard's
dance charts. And if your
memory -remains unjarred,
flip' on MTV's pseudo-dance
show "The Grind", which re­
mains faithful to "Gonna
If only the music business
was that simple.
. .
Gordon attempts to mix
her dance music with the
style of the 1970s songs we'd
like to forget. The first track,
"Love Can Turn Around", is
describes as a "campy bossa­
nova-ineets-007 romp".
Like I said, 1970s songs
we'd like to forget.
Another possible sleeper
hit for Gordon could be her
remake of Gloria Gaynor's.
classic "I Will Survive". The'
song, despite how many
times its been done before,
was apparently in the good
hands of Todd Terry, respon-
Lonnie Gordon
By Joe Williams, III
money is worshiped, In America, if the
price' right, anything goes.
Rap music and Hip-Hop products
grossed over two billion dollars last'
year. Even as a protest music, rap has
been integrated into the largest rerord
companies in the world, MCA, Atlantic,
Warner Bros., Columbia, EM! Music,
etc. Rap music has been the most
popular music on the charts in recent
years.
In other words, the bottom line for
Corporate America is dollars and
cents. In this case, many, many dollars
and cents. The record eompani don't
gi an oun about the ghetto or barrio
or Black music or Black and brown
youth. It's 11 about the green, baby,
and when h green dri up, t col­
ored rapping kids will be sent back to
th ir i ghettos to die, most of
th m broke and beaten
Rap music has been the lvation for
hundr ds of Black youth. Many of
was their enemies, organized. Rap said
to the downtrodden, "It's all right to
.shoot back when the cops hoot at you. "
Rap artists developed out of prisons,
from among the pimps and street
walkers, th drug dealers, the chool
drop-outs, and the gang bangers. It
was the only hope many black youth
tacked by preachers, politicians, the
police, the courts, the media.and many
of the parents of the Hip-Hop genera­
tion
Hip-Hop has been described as sex­
ist, racist, vulgar, and demon-inspired.
It has also been labeled revolutionary,
social consciousn ,and liberating.
I can't remember the first year I
. heard 8 rap song, but I do remember
some 'of the lyrics, "Hotel, motel, Holi­
day Inn ...... "
I recall saying how I didn't like the
music because it sounded li e someone
was just talking fast. Well, that must
have been over 10 years ago. I didn't
know at the the time that song was to
usher in one of.the most phenomenal,
cultural art expressions th world has
ever known.
Rap music is not just a music, but it
is also a cultural movement .. Rap has
developed its own lifestyle, called "Hip­
Hop" culture. Hip-�op has its o�
variation on the English language, Its
own lines of clothing, and its own rap
dances.
The interesting thing about Hip-
Hop is that it has been atta�ed from
so many various aspects of ety, but
it has managed to survive, and in many
, become stronger. It has been at-
. THE MAIN ASPECT of-rap music
is that it brought to mainstream
American the reality oftb ghettos and
barrios. It was the language of the
street, a language never fully known by
whites and many middle-class Black
Americans.
It the language of th poor and
restl , the forgo en, the crack-users,
the gang kille , the prostitutes, the
rapists. It was the reality which exists
in the hidden oorners of society; it w
too raw for middle-cl America, too
ra w for their Christian valu . It was
the nightmare of 18 enforcement. It
a
would ever know, e n if it down,
dirty, and nasty.
But, that is only th surfs reality
of rap and Hip-Hop. Rap wouldn't h
lasted on minute in America if it
w. n't for 0 major factor. Rap m ns
money, mega buc .
DILLIO
And, in America,