The Michigan Daily - /u4, t ee. - Thursday, March 14, 1996 - 5B Brothers' celebrate life's little pleasures Chicago-based duo's explicit lyrics spark controversy By Eugene Bowen Daily Arts Writer Sex. Such a small word, but the controversies, the concerns, the out- rage its existence sparks are by no means miniature. The stories of AIDS, teen pregnancy and the like have turned one of life's most enjoyable little pleasures into something nearly evil. et everybody does it, and every- y loves to hear about it. People haye flocked to hear those like Dr. Rut, Andrew Dice Clay and 2 Live Cre extol in their own unique ways, thijoys of sex in all its variances. But over time, 2 Live Crew's popularity ha declined, and Clay's isn't faring much better. Although Dr. Ruth re- tains her popularity, her following is comprised of the mostly older crowd. *g America doesn't want her sexual advice. With few exceptions, there's nobody out there making sex "fui' anymore. Tlis will be changing soon, at least if Hula and Malik - better known as the, Chicago-based duo the Outhere Brgthers - have their way. Anyone into the Chicago-area club scene has probably heard "Pass the Toilet Pa- per" by now. This hip-hop/techno party song is a habitual favorite in the \@idy City and in are~as throughout the United States where such club music is popular. Sexually explicit lyrics are these two brothas' (though not really brothers) forte. "We are very sexual in our songs," Malik said. "The sexual side of us is what everybody sees and what our music portrays.' Yet the two demand realism in their Ssic. "All of our songs reflect things t t we, or friends close to us, have done, and things that have been done to us," they insisted. A peek into these close friends' lives shows that what these guys rap about is far from make-believe. Hula, the quieter half of this for- ever-smiling duo, grew up in Harvey, a Chicago suburb, whereas Malik came straight from Chicago's Southside. Both now 27, the two didn't it and become close friends until about a decade ago. It is Hula's story that strikes a chord on just how prevalent sex is in America, even with young children. "I was 5," he began, snickering a bit. "It was terrible, man. Actually the girl was older than me (7), and she was sleeping with my brother who was 9 at the time. He told me if I did i, 'd be cool." Wula admits that his attention span in school was never all that, and he thinks he knows why. "Having sex at a young age was really distracting, 'cause I remember even as early as seventh and eighth grade Ijust wanted to (have sex with) every girl in my class. I constantly thought about it, and that's probably why I couldn't concentrate." Both guys had already begun Djing en they met through a mutual friend k in '87. Listening to their first "Go to a country like Holland where prostitution and drugs are legal, but it has one of the lowest rape percentages in the world" --Hula of the Outhere Brothers, on sexually explicit lyrics "It's all about education," Hula said, breaking his characteristic quietness. "Go to a country like Holland where prostitution and drugs are legal, but it has one of the lowest rape percentages in the world. The kids there use condoms and stuff. I think it's only 'cause their society makes them more aware, while over here in America they try and shut kids out. Everybody knows when you do that to kids they'll just want it more. Ifpeople would educate theirkids about these things, I think they'll make better life choices. Sex is nothing negative." Malik continued,"That's why we have all these parents saying they don't under- stand it when their kids are getting preg- nant and sneaking in and out of windows at night. That's just it: They don't under- stand. These kids are gonna find this stuff out for themselves. So when they do find out, theirparents' job is to not be afraid to discuss it with them. Don't keep sweep- ing it under the rug, because if you do, you're gonna look up one day and find your kids under that rug.- "People need to quit blaming music. If the music was not here, all the problems of America would still be here." "We respect 2 Live Crew a lot," Malik said. "We respect Luther Campbell and what he did. But we have more versatility. It's notjustrap; it's not just dance. Wedo slow, R&B songs, too. But we do more of the sex-oriented stuffbecause that's what's most successful for us now. "But believe me, there's more to this than just sex. People like Luther Campbell don't make it by just sitting around thinking about sex. You gotta have some business sense, too." FILM EST Continued from Page 113 months of hard work. Unbeknownst to us sun-washed audience members, preparations for the 1996 Festival be- gan long before our spring breaks ended - in fact, preparations were most likely underway even before this time last year. How's that for a lengthy project? Honeyman and four other people made up this year's selection com- mittee. Starting in January, the five dedicated workers had the lovely job of sifting through more than 300 en- tered films. Every night for six weeks, they met at the Michigan Theater from 7 p.m. to midnight and watched every single film. Only one week ago, they voted on the films that would be in- cluded in this year's program. Most of us can't even bring ourselves back to the theater after sitting through a two-hour-crap flick such as "Down Periscope." Can you just imagine watching films and watching films and watching films ... for six weeks straight? It must be a talent - or perhaps a love for the work. Working closely alongside Honeyman is her student assistant Alison LaTendresse, who helped co- ordinate the activities and responsi- bilities of the other 90 volunteers who helped with the Festival. For her, watching the films has been the high- light of her three years of experience. "Watching experimental films totally changed my life; it changed the way I look at everything, think about every- thing," LaTendresse said. "It is such as intense burst of this really amazing art that you don't really see all year round. It's hard to describe the expe- rience." LaTendresse' s interest and love for experimental film have given her the opportunity to work closely with the many aspects of the Festival. Most importantly, she deals with the con- stant phone calls from filmmakers. According to LaTendresse, new film- makers are arriving in Ann Arbor this week from locations such as Toronto, Chicago, New York and Iowa. In our telephone interview, LaTendresse told me that these film- makers, dropping in and out of town all week, are looking for "spare couches and spare beds to sleep in." Any takers? If so, give the Festival Office a ringey-ding. It's your big chance to attend the screenings, buy a T-shirt and take home your very own director! Now that's something you don't hear often! So, what can audiences expect from this year's Festival? Both Honeyman and LaTendresse described some of this year's high- lights. On March 12, opening night, at 8 p.m., audiences caught a glimpse of "Garden of Regrets." In it, Jeffrey Noyes Scher uses collage and rotoscoped animation, creating a work that Honeyman believes will start the ball rolling. "I like to open with a bang, and his film will cer- tainly catch the audience's atten- tion," she said. The opening night concluded with Rachel Libert's and Barbara Parker's "Undertaker," a "must-see" film about Patricia Smith, aperformance artpoet, sharing her poem about the death of young black boys in this country. Make no mistake, however: These highlights are sprinkled throughout the entire week. Others include Fri- day evening's screening of "Tender Fictions," created by Barbara Ham- mer, a highly respected feminist les- bian experimental filmmaker. The hour-long piece is her autobiographi- cal documentary. Audiences also might want to check out Richard Myers' - who has entered the Festi- val since 1962 - "Monstershow" on Saturday afternoon. His 90 minute black and white work is a narrative study about Dracula, Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (how strangely appropriate ... Mary Reilly, Mary Reilly). The Ann Arbor Film Festival of 1996 certainly has even more to offer its audiences. But is there something about this year's event that is differ- ent from previous years in terms of strength of the program? Honeyman's response just seemed to sum it all up: "The films are differ- ent every year; the audience is differ- ent every year; the images are differ- ent every year ... but it's still the same Festival." 1996's enthusiastic, hard-working students and members of the commu- nity, as well as the aspiring experi- mental filmmakers from around the world, will continue to make this "same Festival" possible for many years to come. The Outhere Brothers: Generation X's answer to Dr. Ruth? underground release, 1993's "Fuck You in the Ass," which contained the hit "Pass the Toilet Paper," you can quickly tell what each musician's characteristic flair is. Malik raps; Hula mixes. This distinction remains on the duo's first major LP, the recently re- leased "I Polish, 2 Biscuits and a Fish Sandwich" (Aureus, **-A ). But why this title, Malik? "Since the album was about sex and all the things that go into it, we thought, 'What can we use to symbolize all of that shit?"' I leave it to the reader to decode the symbols. According to Malik, the Outhere Brothers strive in their music to "keep that hard underground feel while still keeping the music danceable. But the music is also very African American, very hip-hop and urban." Their music also has a distinctive techno flair that is very popular in gay clubs. "That's what so fresh," Malik insisted. "The gay clubs support us for one sound. The pop culture supports us for an- other." Listening to their music and view- ing their closeness and sexual frank- ness with each other, many might be quick to label Hula and Malik "gay," in accordance with the stereotyping that runs - and ruins - America. The icing on the cake probably comes from the fact that they've seen each others, er, "little brothers." (Interpre- tation is again left to the reader.) Both men deny ever having gay or bisexual thoughts or experiences. Malik does concede, however, "we watched a movie with a transvestite in it before. We don't worry about people thinking we're gay or any- thing. Just 'cause we hang out with Dennis Rodman people get the wrong idea." After a short laugh, Malik gets serious. "We're far from homophobic. You can't do dance music and be homophobic. You're out of touch then." Hula said, "When you want to try your dance tracks out you go to the gay clubs first. Gay people are the ear of dance music. They'll let you know if your shit is phat or wack." However, even with success ring- ing from a few American pockets, the Outhere Brothers phenomenon has largely been unfelt in the United States. But in the United Kingdom, the story is completely flip. Singles like "Boom Boom Boom" and "Don't Stop (Wiggle Wiggle)" have both hit No. I there. And of course, "Pass the Toilet Paper" continues to be a hit in the United Kingdom as well. The shock of the Outhere Brothers' suc- cess there has hit everybody. As Malik puts it, "People were like, 'What the hell is goin' on?!' We were hated by some. We were talked about in Parliament; they banned our al- bum. They called us gangsta rappers." Sounds very much like the 2 Live Crew controversy of not-so-many years past. How sad such ignorance exists worldwide. But there is serious controversy re- garding explicit lyrics. Even though their music is marketed toward adults, the Outhere Brothers know that kids are listening, too. Both of them fa- thers, Hula and Malik are sensitive to charges hurled at them by angry par- ents. Emily Breer's "Superhero" will be featured in this year's Festival. --- -mm ~1I 001 --expires: 4/30196- -----.m_ i f f J Pasta, Frui, aCOOL COW! All Natural Frozen Dessert Fat Free 9 Calories per Ounce Cholesterol Free Low Lactose CATIIrAvArnil 13 -ilLIP JAI U KUby, r4JI LI I U i { z