By TUREKA TURK
M#Chlp.n Citizen
I would like to first tart
out by saying that I knew
these brothers had it going on
when I first aw their video
"That's When Ya Lost" back
in the warm days of summer.
In the midst of flipping
channels, I was compelled to
stop when I saw a group of
young Black men with a
funky sound bouncing
around in a place that looked
like a tropical paradise.
"What?" I thought, "No na­
ked women? No bouncing
cars? No guns?" They looked
like kids from around the way
and I appreciated the fact
that they remembered the
true spirit of rap (which is
to"represent your self' a
Trendz of Culture member
told me) and found an origi­
nal way to present it. They
didn't sound like anybody out
mingling in the industry at
the time. This was good.
My excitement rubbed off
on no one. I only got a couple
of half acknowledgments.
But that's okay because the
important thing h p n :
Souls of Mischief fulfilled
their destiny.
THEm DEBUT "93 'til
infinity" has inserted a sigh
of relief in the part of the rap
community that was starting
to believe that originali ty was
in the closet somewhere with
track suits and match book
Levi's.
Two of the tracks from the
debut have already played on
the minds of people from the
West to the East eoast and
rightly so. New Yorkers are
amazed at the group's ability
since the group hails from
Oakland, California.
"¥' all is fresh," one fan told
the group on a New York ra­
dio show, "especially being
from Oakland, But you got to
tell the others from the West
coast they gotta get their lyr­
ics together. You can tell y'all
been listening to us (East
coasters)." ''Yeah,'' the group
responded uneasily.
It is quite evident that
there is a group of West coast
rappers trying to deter from
the stereotypical hard rap
image that Dr. Dre, Ice Cube
and Too Short have made fa­
mous. Members of this group
include Pharcyde and the
family clique called Hiero­
glyphics, of which Souls be­
longs.
Hieroglyphics is a combi­
nation of two groups and
three solo artists that grew
up together. The clique is
Souls of Mischief; the first
member to come out, Del The
Funky Homosapien; and new
artist, Casual.
But what's up with the'
name Hieroglyphics?
. "It's mostly about the lyr­
ics," the Hieroglyphics pro­
ducer, Domino, says.
"Hieroglyphics is a language
that's difficult to decipher.
And the lyrics that they kick
are definitely hard to figure
out."
NO JOKE. BUT if you
took the time to listen to the
pure lyrical poetry these
brothers weave, you'd hear
some pleasurable magic and
some innovative perspectives
on the world.
N one of the Souls have
reached two decades on the
earth (one is 17 and the oth-
18) but th h n't
let age become a barrier tor
goals.
" ... they
. remembered
. the true spirit of'
rap (which is to
represent your
self. .. ) ... "
"We all went to the same
elementary school, junior
high, and most of us went to
the same high school. 'When
Del (Tha Funky Homos­
apien)'s cousin (Ice Cube)
hooked him up with a record
deal, Del said 'Y'all next.' We
did a song with him called
'Burnt' (on the B-side of Del's
'Mistadobalina/t, " recollects
group member Tajai, the only
member attending college.
The rest is part of infinity.
The group's first release
(and my first "discovery")
"That's When Ya Lost" was
produced by Hieroglyphics
brother Del; who's doing a
much better job producing
By CATHERINE KELLY
Michl an Citizen
BROOKLYN, NY - A newly
formed organization, The Hip
Hopping Corporation had its
first community meeting last
Saturday, Jan 28, at Medgar
Evers College to bridge the com­
munication gaps in the Black
community. Youth, parents, art­
i t from the Hip Hop industry,
church and political I ad r
w II invited to share th ir
vi wand rtic:ipa in a day
long event of lectu and qu -
tion/ wer periods,
Th s ion, Rap Mu ic:
BI m or Burd n n red n
many i u ,How v r, th dis­
cu ion with th .mo t p rticipa­
tion w th i u of the Bla
rtis " r sponsibility to th ir
music and the community of
young and old who listen,
Paren were both encourag­
ing and outspoken 00 th n d
for chan in the sometim vio­
lent and misogyni t lyrics in rap.
Panelist Je ie Stringfield,
youth counselor, argu it takes
a whole village to 'raise a child
and t ed th id a that rap­
pers are looked up to among th
youth of today,
than rapping himself these
days. The rest of the tracks
were the offspring of Domino
and the rest of the Hiero­
glyphics crew.
If you can stand some
brothers who remember
where they came from musi­
cally, aren't yelling in 'your
ear, . and have omitted the
Look for the new single,
"Never No More" if you don't
believe. But th n, if all g
well, Souls should be around
'til infinity.
words. "gat" (slang for guns)
and "slay" to describe their
style, then Souls of Mischief
is definitely a group to check
out.