. . r . 0 0 0 0 4B - The Michigan Daily - Weekend Magazine - Thursday, October 17, 2002 The Michigan Daily - Weekend Magazii AML Continued from Page 3B I was upset when I heard that. TMD: I was upset too. It killed me, because Ja Rule might my least favorite person in hip-hop music. DJ Haircut: In history, maybe. TMD: Do you guys feel like hip-hop is struggling? A lot of guys who are held up by the labels as the paradigm, like "this is hip-hop," really aren't making the kind of music that real hip-hop fans want to listen to. What do you think people can do to get it back to a better place? Sonny Star: Actual hip-hophas been dying for the last few years. Everybody can always say "it used to be this, it used to be that," but you kind of have to say that since hip-hop used to be used for a different thing than what its being used for now. And if it is still being used correct- ly, it's only being done by a few select artists, and even those artists that I still respect veer off sometimes and do what they need to do to keep their jobs. So, the people that I hold up as the best right now, I can respect cer- tain things that they do, but not every- thing that they say or are about. TMD: So is Nas an example of that? Sonny Star: Nas is an example, Jay- Z is an example. Whoever people are lis- tening to the most right now commer- cially, there are certain things I like them for and other things which I don't look to get from them. Vital: See, and this is another thing about hip-hop. People like to stratify the whole thing, separating the commercial and underground, trying to make them different when, in fact, they're really not. You get a lot of bull from Nas and Jay-Z, but at the same time, when they do hip- ip hop is getting better right now. We've seen some dark days, but I am optimisic that the state of things is getting etthatow. - DJ Haircut F3 ELITE ENTERTAINMENT EXPOSI In a world of shady characters and dirty deals, I this is just business as usual. hop, they do it the best. I'm not going to go out and get every new Roc-A-Fella album, but at the same time, when you hear them do a track or a collabo(ration) track and it's on some hip-hop stuff, they do it better than some of the underground cats in the first place. Sonny Star: There's the same bullshit in the commercial stuff as there is in the underground stuff. The underground ain't all that it's cracked up to be. People shouldn't be categorizing either one. Buff(1): A lot of times when we get interviewed or when we just talk to peo- ple, they automatically assume that - since we would fall into the underground category - we're anti-industry, hate everything on TV and don't listen to the radio, but the fact is that there's a lot of stuff on TV that I love. All of us like to party and have fun, but when you see people repeating the same things over and over again, it kind of gets tiring. Sonny Star: Doing stuff, like singing, that maybe (people like Ja Rule) should- n't be into or do more than once. DJ Haircut: I also just wanted to bring up something which I've said in other interviews, and that is the trend that in the last five years, rap music has more or less become pop music. That is some- thing that has not happened to hip-hop before, and I feel like that changes a lot of things in the way that the public looks at hip-hop - the way that records are sold. Never has there been a time when hip- hop records have sold more copies. It went from NWA, where society was threatened by listening to hip-hop .. Sonny Star: Now, if you're a part of society, how can you not listen to hip- hop? DJ Haircut: ... to now, when hip-hop is standard on the radio and MTV Texture: I won't be surprised if in the next presidential campaign, there are rappers rapping campaign slogans Vital: Even with all that, I love hip- hop right now, only because I love what we do and I believe in what we do, and that's hip-hop. So I love it for what it is because I am able to do it, and there are a lot of people out there still that I respect that are doing it. I don't like to compare the state of hip- hop, you know, what it is and what it's gonna be, because it is always a jaded view however you look at it. So, I'm just gonna look at it right now. Will it go back to the days of old? No, it's not gonna go back to the days of old; that's impossible. I don't even want to see it go back to the days of old. I want to see what the next step is. DJ Haircut: I will say that I think that hip-hop is getting better right now. We've seen some dark days, but I am optimistic that the state of things is getting better now. Buff(1): The way that I'm looking at it now, somebody out there is trying to blow up cats like Mos Def, Kweli, and Slum Village. These people are getting television and radio opportunities that they never got before, so I think it's good right now. See AML, Page 5B Don't bother with most of disc two. BILLBOARD TOP 10. 1. Elvis: 30 #1 Hits, Elvis Presley - The "i" is a "1." Man, that's classic! 2. Forty Licks, The Rolling Stones - Whoever decided to run the TV commercial for this twice back to back should die. 3. Man vs. Machine, Xzibit - This is Xzactly what we hate about music. 4. American Idol: Greatest Moments, Soundtrack - This won't break the bank, because it's only a single. Get it? Because it's so short ... Because they're not good. 5. Home, Dixie Chicks - It hurts our ears when you play. 6. Let Go, Avril Lavigne - We don't care how many ties you have, you are still awful. 7. The Young and the Hopeless, Good Charlotte - a.k.a. Blink 183. 8. Nellyville, Nelly - How can he even pretend to act tough when he is hanging out with boy bands? 9. The Eminem Show, Eminem - How does VH 1 get off putting his second album on the Ultimate Album show? 10. Believe, Disturbed - That Steve Austin song ruled. JEFF DICKERSON -SOMETHINGLEVER :nV PLEASE WELCOME BACK THE CLASS OF 1987 at ever happened to quality children's television (Mom, I can't believe you didn't buy that for me on nmy 6th progratming? Maybe we were lucky or just plain birthday) or the Cobra Hydrofoil, constructing your soon-to- spoiled, but the '8s was a great trile to a kid. be-toy was a mission in itself. The hardest part for me was sue there were bad.times throughout the decade, think the never getting the pieces to fit together, but getting those whole Iran-contra fiasco and the introduction of Dan Quayle pesky stickers in the right places. Most people don't under- to the world, but-- more importantly.- - there was also a stand, but sticker placement is an art, an art I genuinely buttload of great cartoons. sucked at, This is where my dad came in handy, although one Oh, how I've always dreamed of going back to those sim-.misplaced sticker or tear would disrupt the whole father-son pie times of Frankenberry cereal and Reaganomics. Well, it bond for weeks. looks like my dream may have finally come true. Last year "G.I. Joe" returned with a new comic book Over the extended weekend (some people have dubbed series from Image. It quickly became one of the most popu- the brief sabbatical as."fall break") I had'a lot of free time on lar comics, and before you could say "Yo Joe!" there were my hands. ..I between games of NCAA Football 2003 (Go..dozens of new toys on store shelves across the country. Let's Hoosiers) and reruns of "Full House,"I stumbled on to an hope they make another version of the U.S.S. Flagg, which episode of "Masters of the Universe" on The Cartoon, still has to be the single largest toy vehicle ever made in Network, but this was not the He-Man I remembered. Thailand. Gone were the pansy Hannah-Barbara animations and the "G.. Joe" was a landmark TV series, but my personal slightly homoerotic'storylines between.Prince Adam and favorites were those heroes in a half shell, the world's most Man-At-Arms. This edition of "Masters of the Universe" fearsome fighting team, the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." was sleek,.sexy and more adult-oriented than its predecessor. In what has to be the most absurd concept in mass media of There were no signs of Orco or Dolph Lundgren, and He- the past century, scratch that - ever, Kevin Eastman and Man himself looked as if he had spent most of his time at Peter Laird created a cultural phenomenon in 1984 with their Gold's Gym popping Ritalin. Was this a dream? I checked bizarre Ninja-trained-Renaissance-named-reptilian comic the other channels to make sure my biological clock was characters. Once the comic became a television cartoon, firmly set on 2002, and by the time!I saw "The Real World: America was never the same. Las Vegas" on MTV I knew.I had in fact not gone back in These turtles were suddenly everywhere; from lunch time. boxes to underoos (my pair is a bit snug now). A live action Excited by my unearthingI did some Angela Lansbury- flu was made and quickly became the highest grossing pic- style detective work to investigate what historians may look ture in the history of New Line Cinema. I've never waited so back and call "The Nostalgia Effect" Turns out He-Man and many hours in line (at least five) to get into a movie theater, Battle Cat aren't the only 'S0s characters to make a but it was well worth it. I still watch the film religiously; I grandiose re-appearance into our culture as of late. just wish they would come out with a special edition DVD Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back Snake Eyes, complete with the deleted scene shown in the trailer (you Raphael and Optimus Prime. It's 1987 all over again. know the one, where their shells rise out of the water) and a "G.1J oe" was one staple of my life growing up in the commentary track with Corey Feldman. I may not get my Reagan era. The cartoon was always entertaining (and who dream DV, but at least I can enjoy the new animated could forget the classic Nintendo game?), but the toys are "Turtles" movie helmed by action-maestro John Woo that is what made the Joes and Cobras so damn cool. As if the in the works. countless points of articulation on a figure weren't enough, At the discovery of the triumphant return of my childhood they also came with an assortment of plastic weapons and heroes, my body was going through a sensory overload I had- most importantly, a file card. These tiny cardboard dossiers, n't experienced since "Super Mario Bros. 3" made its debut at complete with bio and birthplace, enabled for infinite story- the end of Fred Savage epic "The Wizard." Although thrilled lines in play battles. And knowing is half the battle. by seeing my old friends again, I began to think about what The vehicles were a whole other ball game. Remember possibly prompted this massive redux of nostalgia. Was.the back when you actually had to put together your vehicles? entertainment industry just getting lazy? Or is our generation Kids today have it easy - real easy. Just open the vibrantly just a sucker for nostalgia. Whatever the answer is, I'm just colored box and you're ready to go. What happened to the going to sit and enjoy 1987 while its here again. creative assembly process? Whether it was the Tomahawk JeffDickerson can be reached atjsdicker@mnich.edu. Hey, Freshmen and Sophomores... ...s yo-Ur*b simply not c.'ng You've got the business savvy, but things aren't challenging. Well, come join the Business Staff at the Michigan Daily and become an Account Executive. You will sell advertising locally and nationally, manage your own account territory, create ad copy, and earn commission based pay. We're talking big time experience here. So, if you're the ambitious, creative and highly motivated type, then stop by and pick up an application. Deadline is Thursday, October 31st. WHAT'S NEWS IN ENTERTAINMENT RASTAMAN REMASTERED - Bob Marley's 1976 album Rastaman Vibration will get a remastered, expanded two-disc release that includes alternate takes and live ver- sions of many of the songs. The album is the third Marley stu- dio album to be remastered; Catch a Fire and Exodus have been released in the expanded format as well. In addition to the alternate versions of the album tracks, including "Crazy Baldheads," "Johnny Was" and the political staple "War," the album fea- tures versions of songs written at the same time but not released on the album, such as "Jah Live" and "Smile Jamaica." Live performances from the Roxy in L.A. during the Rastaman Vibration Tour, including "Trenchtown Rock" and No Woman, No Cry" are also included. Revolutio of that D MATRIX SEQUELW RELEASE DATES DECID- ED - The long-awaited "Matrix" sequels, which have been plagued with delays, have been given their release dates for 2003. "The M a t r i x Reloaded," the second film in the trilogy, will come out May 15, and the final install- courtesy of warner Bro ment, "The He's kind of like Jesus, but not in M a t r i x a sacrilegious way. ns," will open in October year. irectors Larry and Andy achowski wanted to have them come out closer together, but spe- cial effects requirements Rom made it impossi- ble for both films to be fin- ished for back-to- back release dates. The second film will apparently end in a thrilling cliffhang- er. Producer Joel Silver said, " ... We won't even have to advertise s the third film. We'll just .tell them the date, and they'll come." a THE O.J. ALL STA OF THE WEEK BRUCE WILLIS How can the same thing happen to.- same guy four times? Bruce Willis and his production company, Cheyenne Enterprises, are in negotiations with F to produce Die Hard 4. Willis wants to call his new film "Man of War," and Fox, which owns the right to the title, refused to let him use the title unless l- makes the fourth "Die Hard" movie. Yippie kay-yay, credibility! The Michigan Daily Student Publications Building 420 Maynard Street,2""Floor. or call (734) 764-0662 for more info