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Entertain ment
Page 9
Clark Atlanta University Panther
December 4, 1990
the beat and what she considers
the truth.
Harmony drops some
serious science. The title to her
first released single, “Pound
cake,” addresses the way
society treats women.
“In a society, a woman is just
intelligent or attractive or
spiritual, said Harmony. On
commercials, you’re always
seeing parts of a woman’s body
— a piece here, a piece there, a
piece everywhere. What
Poundcake is saying is that it’s
not about just one piece.
Women are whole entities.
They are all those things —
intelligent, physical and
spiritual. It’s about the need for
man to realize that he’s not the
only creature on earth.”
“Art of War” talks about the
need for unity and challenges
the Eurocentric view that
Africa is “the smallest
(continent) when in fact it’s the
tallest.”
“Mother Africa” pays tribute
to her African ancestry and the
Motherland.
Harmony, who has written a
book of poetry, credits Boogie
Down Productions as provid
ing her a launching pad to a
rapping and singing career.
Moggie's Dream Becomes Reality
Harmony
Harmony Rings At CAU
H-A-R-M-O-N-Y, it’s HAR
MONY
So wipe the tears from your eye
I exist in bliss, With a gift
With a mic in my fist
I’m out to uplift the R-A-P
industry
Then me
Who says a rapper can’t be in
key?
By PAULETTE V. WALKER
Editor-in-Chief
Rapper and singer Har
mony, a.k.a. Pamela Scott, will
be appearing at Clark Atlanta
University Dec. 6. She is
scheduled to be interviewed for
Clark’s New Music Report
television show which will be
aired on WUTV Cable 3.
Harmony, Blastmaster
KRS-One’s 24-year-old
sister-in-law sings and raps on
her Virgin Records debut
album, Let There Be Harmony.
She has a unique and assertive
style that is full of conviction
and she is out to define a
respectable place for women in
hip hop.
Like her contemporaries —
K.RS-1, Queen Latifah, and A
Tribe Called Quest — Har
mony is very aware and proud
of her African heritage. This is
evident after one listens to her
album. She raps the impor
tance of self-knowledge and
seeks to get this message across
to her audience.
“I am not the kind of woman
who sells records with her
butt,” said Harmony in a
published interview. And that
is exactly what she wants
people to realize with this
album. “I’m a rapper who can
sing,” Harmony insists.
The rich smooth vocals on
“Jah Ruiez,” a single from
Boogie Down Productions
Guetto Music: The Blueprint of
Hip Hop album was Har
mony’s singing debut. The
chorus, written and sung by
Harmony, had record execu
tives asking who she was.
With her debut album,
Harmony is a bit of a philo
sopher. She philosophizes
about God, family and unity
within an Afrocentric theme.
She’s a poet who speaks her
mind, a vocalists who sings
with finesse and a rapper who
breaks it down to the bare
essentials, leaving little else but
“I never thought I would be
this great rapper or R&B
artist,” said Harmony. “It was
just a hobby. I sang in school
and church and hung out at the
recording studios with my
family. 1 didn’t forsee signing a
recording contract. It just
happened that after I san on
that single, ‘Jah Ruiez,’ a lot of
record companies started
calling my house, so eventually,
Kris (Kris Parker of KRS-ONe
of BDP) and 1 decided to shop
a deal.
Harmony attended Hunter
College in New York for two
years and studied psychology.
She also sang. She became a
member of the school’s choir,
and performed at the 1989 Miss
New York Pageant at Madison
Square Garden’s Felt Forum.
“I got involved in that
because some of my peers said
(important) people would be
there to hear you." Harmony
recalled.
The Brooklyn native plans to.
return to school later to
continue her academic
pursuits.
A very important project
that Harmony envisions is
establishing “Harmony House”
where children “...can hang
out, learn about their heritage
or just have rape sessions.”
“Right now, I’m training to
work in the public school
system to teach children how to
read,”said Harmony. “I believe
if you train children early,
when they grow up they won’t
depart from their roots.”
By PAULETTE V. WALKER
Editor-in-Chief
“Staring eyes examine me
just because I’m from the sea.
They all choose not to look at
the pages in the book. Why do
people judge each other
according to their skin’s own
color?’’
These are some lyrics from
“Human,” a song about racism
that appears on Maggies
Dream’s self-titled debut
album.
“All the songs reflect our
environment and our perspec
tive on it,” says Maggie’s
Dream drummer Tony James
in a published interview.
“There is definitely a serious
problem with drugs and
neighborhood decay. But we’re
certainly not writing about
anything that other people
havent’ seen. And if anything, I
think these songs are definitely
more reporting than preaching
about what we think are serious
issues.”
The five men who make up
Maggie’s Dream are a multi
ethnic crew from Manhattan
(New York City). Their name
was taken from Dr. James
Comer’s book “Maggie’s
American Dream,” a book that
speaks about society’s prevail
ing views on Black America,
through the inspiring chronicle
of a Black family’s struggle in
the rural South.
On sheer visuals, Maggie’s
Dream will most likely be one
of those groups destined to
have rumors made up about
them in the tabloid press.
Nevertheless, they seem to be
primarily concerned with the
creative process. For this crew,
it appears that intuition rules
over image. As they see it,
“There’s nothing like being
inspired and having an idea in
your mind grow into a song
that in the absence of public
response, is worthy and
satisfying to us. That’s not to
say we don’t hope to attract as
many different segments of the
population as we possibly can,
but the bottom line is focusing
on the kind of music-making
that will go beyond contempor
ary trends. That's what it’s all
about.”
And with that it looks like
Maggie’s Dream will be
making great music for a long
time to come or, as their song
“Father Mother” aptly puts it,
for “many more revolutions
around the sun.”
The songs focus on racial
consciousness, AIDS, drug
abuse and divorce. Some may
find it morbid, but according to
the band members, it’s reality.
“You go out on the street
every day and it’s everywhere
you look,” said Lonnie Hillyer,
the base player for the band.
“You can’t help but be affected
by it — and if that's what you
see daily, then chances are it’s
going to turn up in your music
whether you intend for it to or
not.”
Maggie’s Dream