1 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com The right ' Cyde WHERE DID ALL THE GOOD HIP HOP GO? By TOM SHEA For the Daily It's official: Akon's single "Smack That" is overplayed. Don't let fraternity guys, socially anxious underclassmen or the Scorekeeper's DJ tell you any differently. The beat sounds too much like Usher's 2004 hit "Yeah!" to be origi- nal, and Eminem's mailed-in verse only speeds his tailspin from the bright, creative center of hip-hop royalty to shallow, royalties-centered hip hop. His is the most disappointing career devolution in music. And on top of that, Akon can't even craft a new word for ass - at least Mystikal had the bravado to tell us what to shake. But there's always a place for songs like "Smack That" in the college partyscape. Just like the red cups and kegs of Natty Light, fun-loving students need to recognize songs like "Smack That" for what they are: addictions. Sure, it wasn't so bad at first. Who can forget the rush and the ecstasy of the first time you heard Lil' John scream "WHAT!"? The crowds couldn't get enough and before long, the main- stream craved more. How else can Unk's career be explained? Soon, Akon, Unk and others will be forgotten - and deservedly so. Not all forgotten party- rappers warrant such a fate. The Pharcyde, an * early-'90s poor-man's A Tribe Called Quest, are the most consistently overlooked and under- valued contributors to hip hop. A feel-good, tongue-in-cheek group, Slim Kid, Imani, Bootie Brown and Fatlip were the alternative to West Coast gangsta rap. Never much of a commer- cial success, they represent what should be in {the b-sidel, Thursday, February 15, 2007 - 3B A student's passion for neo-soul and R&B Courtesy of Chapter 1 Records Despite rooting for the wrong football team, The Pharcyde is a necessary installment for any lover of hip hop- hip hop today. Their career was a tragic tale mired by crack addiction, commercial failure and a considerable lack of gats. Their biggest hit, "Passing Me By," was the opposite of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg's party-friendly misogyny. The group masquerades as thumb-twiddling nervous teenagers, petrified by their dream girls. The lyrics lament like a pro. Look to the past, young squire. There you will find good hip hop. Their other hit, the smooth "Runnin,' "reluc- tantly embraces the tough-guy image in the chorus ("Can't keep runnin' away") and Bootie Brown's moan: "My pappy never told me / how to knock a nigga out." Every good stoner will (should) recognize the hazy "Pack the Pipe," the feature track on Dave Chappelle's "Half Baked" soundtrack. And their record industry critique "Somethin' That Means Somethin' " should be required listening for this genera- tion. Sadly, coy rappers and reluctant ghetto heroes (regardless of THC intake) didn't fare well. Still, their midtempo style and sense of humor make the group's album Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde an undeniable classic. The Phar- cyde is California attitude with enough gusto to power the party into the deep night. Thankfully, The Pharcyde is not lost. Bootie Brown's appearance on the Gorillaz's Demon Days shines. Regretfully, a reformed duo limps on, a musical amputee. To be fair, there are certainly bright spots in today's hip hop. Ghostface's Fishscale and The Clipse's Hell Hath No Fury were the best albums of 2006. Old-school roots are celebrated and resurrected in the likes of the OkayPlayers troupe, Canadian-born K-os, DJ Shadow, RJD2 and the community-college version of Com- mon, Lupe Fiasco. The mainstream brand of vapid, hyper-pro- duced hip hop continues to dominate. While most public playing of old-school hip hop is reserved for theme parties - and even then, usually limited to Sir Mix-A-Lot and "Nuthin' but a G Thang" - the The Pharcyde and other forgotten gems go unheard, scripts unflipped. How to rescue parties and eardrums nation- wide? An immediate ceasefire of assaulting beats is needed, and as Akon says, "just kick it like Tae Bo." By ANTHONY BABER Daily Arts Writer LSA sophomore Valencia Waller has been surrounded by music all her life - even before she was born. "My parents , both sang in choirs all their lives so my sister, Valau- rian, and I were surrounded by singing even when we were in the womb," Waller said. WALLER Today Waller reminisces about what first inspiredher pursue music as a trade: "I know it sounds cliche, but it's the universal language, and it has so much power over people's moods." Growing up in Detroit with a prominent musical influence from her own family, music came to Waller like walking or talking. "Actually, my entire family sings, including my parents, my sister Valaurian and my younger brother Nicholas," she said. "We're also related to jazz composer Fats Waller who was a great singer in his time." With such an illustrious musical background, it almost seems as if Waller would be constantly pres- sured to pursue a career in music, but the songstress says that it was something that just came easy to her. "There was never any pressure for me to sing, it was just like a nat- ural outlet for me." Even in childhood, Valencia knew that music was going to play a major role in her life. Living in Motown she found plenty of groups and venues that allowed her to spread her voice to large crowds. "From age 8to13, I performed all over Detroit as a part of the FLICS Choir. We hit places all over the city, even a Million Man March event on Belle Isle. Then, from age 13 to 15, I performed with the Rudy Hawkins Singers, which is an adult choir." After years of performing with different groups and choirs, Valen- cia began to find her own particular style of R&B and neo-soul. "I feel it's easy to convey feelings through R&B, and it's so open you can write about anything. As far as neo-soul goes, I love that it's less commercial since it's so new." With her individual style and years of experience, Waller became a solo performer. "I did a tour around high schools through Bunchey's Pizza pro- moting positive messages to high school students, but right now I'm just in and out of the studio, making demos." Even though she loves to per- form locally, Waller is ready to take her talent to the professional level, negotiating a contract with BDR Records, a record company in Los Angeles. Avoiding the will of the music industry. "I think the best fit for me would be either J Records or Epic. They both seem to be loyal to their artists and their legacies are perpetuated through them." Atthe University,Wallerhasper- formed at the Bursley/Baits Talent Show, U-Club Poetry Slam, Sigma Lambda Beta Valentine's Date Auc- tion and placed second in lastyear's Michigan Idol. Waller is focused on her path to the music industry and who she wants to be. "I want to have my own style with Beyonc's business savvy attitude, India.Arie's subject matter and how she doesn't let the industry change her, and legends like Donny Hathaway for their level of musicianship." Waller knows exactly where she want to be. "I want to become an artist and share my own music without becoming a product of the industry and what theythink I should be. My goal is to change music for the bet- ter, because it's not really a business venture for me; it's a passion." Oh, the horror of modern horror By SHERI JANKELOVITZC For the Daily Don't tell any preteens, but hor- ror films used to be more than just brutal, shocking images of blood and entrails splattered across the screen. There was once a palpable sense of fear, sometimes only sug- gested, in the mix as well. No one would argue that today's horror doesn't have the shock part down, but what about the fear? Eversince "Scream" rejuvenated the genre more than a decade ago, barely a month passes without one or two new horror movies. How new can they really be? It's all been done before: the torture scenes, the endless parade of disembow- eling and impaling, the contrived excuses for plot intended merely as filler between the money shots of gore. Every movie is made with the same formula in mind, and sadly, as the successes continue, so will the endless rip-offs. Shelling out $7 to sit through montages of men and womenbeing tortured is simply ridiculous. And yet films like "Hostel" and "Saw" - not to mention their numer- ous sequels ("Hostel II" and "Saw IV" are coming at you later this year) - make massive amounts of money. Today's audiences are brainwashed into thinking that this is horror, that this is true fear. When we look back at the horror of our time, you have to wonder what will be remembered. "Saw?" "Boogeyman?" Hardly the stuff of horror classics. Ever since "Scream" brought teen horror back into the forefront with self-conscious characters who knew they were in a horror movie, the trend has been ironical- ly to go back to the genre's modern beginnings of "Friday the 13th"- style slasher shows. It's as if the whole Hollywood population got together and decided on two main goals: less plot, more killing. Ever since this rather inauspi- cious beginning, horror films have continued to rely on shock above substance. As today's teen culture continues to drown in Red Bull and "World of Warcraft," it's clear that real fear is gone for good. If a film like "The Exorcist" was released today, reviews would probably label it tame, which in today's par- adigm means certain failure. In the late '90s, it seemed as if horror might have found its savior with the arrival of intelligent ghost stories like "The Sixth Sense" and "The Others," not to mention the arrival of M. Night Shyamalan, once hailed as the second com- ing of Steven Spielberg. But even Shyamalan soon resorted to the "gotcha!" scares of today's hor- ror movies with "Signs" and "The Village" (we won't even go into "Lady in the Water"). But the idea seemed to work, and there's no What happened to the fun of being scared? reason it can't be revived now. At the time, audiences began crav- ing a different type of horror film - one that actually involves think- ing. Now it's just up to Hollywood to deliver. The very best horror of the past, like "Psycho" and, more recently, "The Sixth Sense," left it up to the audience to piece together much of what wasn't beingshown on screen, a tactic that can be infinitely more disturbingthangraphicgore. These are the moments where our imagi- nations take over. Once the guts (quite literally in most cases) of the film are revealed, the true element of horror often disappears. If the onslaught of forthcom- ing films - "Dead Silence" and "The Hills Have Eyes 2" to name a couple - is any indication, we're in for a rough road ahead. Let's return the focus to less killer, more filler. Give audiences what's been lacking in horror movies for years: clever plot and actual scares, not just the gore. Let's put the fun back in being scared. MIDNIGIII MOVIES EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT! CHRISTIAN SLATER PATRICIA ARQUETTE DENNIS HOPPER BRAD PITT CHRISTOPHER WALKEN SAMUEL L. JACKSON SATURDAY, FEB. 17 @ MIDNIGHT FOR MORE INFO VISIT MYSPACE.COM/STATETHEATREA2 e 7711- Enjoy & Earn f to 10 Credits! a, i_7 SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER By Oliver Goldsmith Dept. of Theatre & Drama . Directed by John Neville-Andrews Feb. 15 at 7:30 PM ."Feb. 16 & 17 at 8 PM Feb. 18 at 2 PM . Mendelssohn Theatre Tickets $22 & $1 6 - Students $9 with ID League Ticket Office . 734-764-2538 &v ltoro* So 734-2i14-m011 Limited area, 6-9 pm.