Newspaper Page Text
Tuesday, January 27, 1998
THE MAROON TIGER
PAGE 11
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
A Celebration Fit Fora King
ASO performs compositions by Black Musicians
By Chester Starks, Jr.
Campus News Editor
The King Celebratrion
Concert in King Chapel
(conducted by an African-
American named Andn
Raphel Smith), celebrated
more than
Martin the
man, it
celebrated
some of
the ideals
that
Martin
stood for.
For the
idea of
civil rights, "Two Movements
from Symphony No. 1 in E
Minor" by Florence Price was
performed.
Price was an African-
American woman that gained
attention as a composer in the
1930's. Tier symphony was
premiered in the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra on June
15, 1933. Since she was the
first Black woman to be
noticed and respected enough
to win the Wanamaker
Competition (and to be
featured in the Chicago
World's Fair), King's vision of
equality was well represented.
In respect to King's view
on Vietnam, James "Kimo"
Williams' composition entitled
"Symphony for the Sons of
Nam" did a stupendous job of
describing the emotions of
many Vietnam soldiers. After
hearing the ups and downs of
'Nam, one is better able to see
why Dr. King was against the
whole ordeal. The
composition (which is still not
totally complete) represents
the emotion experienced in a
war that took Williams more
than twenty years to share
with others.
Since he grew up during
the period of King's era,
Wiliams felt obliged to
comment on the importance of
the movement in relation to
Blacks in music: "Martin
Luther King, through his
efforts, has enabled us to own
our own music and our own
records. Now if we put out a
rap or hip-hop record we can
actually take some of the
profits from it."
George
Walker's "Lyric
for Strings"
proved to be a
beautiful peice to
present
immediately
following the
intermission. Billy
Taylor quickly
followed Walker's
composition with
"Peaceful
Warrior," a tribute
composed
especially for
King.
The finale of
this compsition is
entitled "Heritage
- If You Really Are
Concerned." In
this excellent piece, Walker
expresses his feelings about
the mentality some people
have toward changing the
world. He says "It's easy to sit
on the sidelines, / To ask, 'What
can one person do?' / But each
person has something special
to give, / And no one can give
it for you."
The Morehouse and
Spelman Glee Clubs teamed
up with the AUC Alumni
Chorus to sing Walker's lucid
lyrics of liberty with the clarity,
beauty and power that they
were meant to be sung with.
Jim Lent/SPECIAL
George Walker's Pulitzer Prize Winning,
“Lilacs” was one of the many wonderful
piece performed by the ASO.
Bad Boy Enterntainment
un ‘LOX’ a diamond in the rough
By Jerrod Law
Staff Writer
Building on the recent
successes of "It's All About the
Benjamins (remix)" and "24
Hrs. To Live" on Puffy's and
Mase's albums respectively,
the LOX release their debut
album: "Money, Power &
Respect." Twenty-one tracks
long, "Money..." comes off
better than Mase but nowhere
near B.I.G. (kinda like New
Coke; better than Pepsi, worse
than Classic).
Don't get me wrong, there
are some nice songs on the
album and the LOX perform
well together. The only
problem is that no song on this
album makes me wanna jump
up and proclaim them as the
next great rap group. Maybe
the tone of the album is just too
laid back. Even on the title
track, which is chillin', DMX
(now here's a debut album I'm
waitin' for) steals the show
from the trio. When the LOX
are supposed to be tearin' the
top off of the mic ("Goin' Be
Some Sh*t", "Everybody
Wanna Rat") their vocal levels
never rise above
'slightly irritated.'
Then again, maybe they
don't need to. I mean,
they do have the Master
of the Platinum Single
himself, Puffy, on their
side. He does his thing
with "Can't Stop, Won't
Stop" and "So Right,"
both of which will
probably get extensive
airplay on 97.5 or 103
(or maybe that late
night show on 88.5)
before this month is
over.
Some of the better tracks
on the album are "All For the
Love" and "The Heist [Part I]."
"... Love", Jay's solo, has a nice
Bomb the Suburbs: An Insider's Look
into the World of Hip-Hop
By Mark Allwood
A&E Editor
OK, I know what your thinking. At first glance, the
title of William Upski Wimsatt's book, Bomb the Suburbs,
can be quite deceiving as well as disturbing. I was actually
offended upon reading the title, myself being a product of
the territory known as American suburbia. But all of that
changed when I actually
opened Wimsatt's book and
decided to read its
interesting pages.
I was also a bit skeptical
when I learned that the
author is a young white
writer/hip-hop activist.
Not that race should matter,
but everyone knows that
hip-hop culture was
founded and continues to be
dominated by people of
color. Nevertheless,
Wimsatt's account of hip-
hop and what it has branched off to become is nothing short
of brilliance. For the uneducated, hip-hop culture was not
always classified as smoking blunts, drinking cristal, and
bustin' a gat over some stupid bi-coastal rivalry; Hip-hop
started out as four elements, nothing more, nothing less.
These four were, of course, l)MC'ing 2)DJ'ing 3)Graffiti
writing and 4)Breakdancing/B-boying. Wimsatt writes
from the tradition of these essential elements, most notably
graffiti, as he professes to have pieces thrown up all over
Chicago.
While most of us have graduated from the old to the
new school of hiphop, Wimsatt and the Chicago hip-hop
underground, he claims, never separated the two. I might
try to freestyle every now and then, but I admit I put down
my markers and cardboard boxes (used to breakdance)
before I reached my teens. Wimsatt maintains that the
Chicago underground is still a movement reminiscent of
the movie Beat Street.
Bomb the Suburbs is not only a commentary on hip-
hop, but it tackles the idea that the suburbs and its mind
set are a direct result of the deterioration of cities. In other
words, the suburbs happened because people wanted to
get away from the problem of the city. However, running
away from the problems do not make them go away.
Instead of bombing(graffiti writing) the city and messing it
up, Wimsatt feels we should take our voice to the suburbs,
hence the title. At times, the author will make you mad,
but in reality, he is speaking honestly about emotions some
people will never admit to feeling.
Bomb the Suburbs is not your average book, in that it
contains interviews, letters, personal accounts, and art, in
no particular order. However, this adds to the excitement
of the book because you never know what to expect. It's a
commentary on hip-hop, society, and race all rolled up in
one. It might be kind of hard finding this book because
hardly anyone would agree to publish. You can check Tower
Records or someplace similar, but if they don't carry it, you
can order a copy by sending seven dollars to Left Bank
Distribution, 1404 18th Av., Seattle WA. 98122.
track laid down by Swis-Beatz.
I would say Beatz is a
newcomer, but I'm sure there's
someone out there who has
about 30 other beats he's done.
'The Heist..." reminds me a
little of Biggie's "Niggas
Bleed" with the bank robbing
trio going down in a blaze of
glory.
All in all, this album
actually could have been
pretty good with maybe a
track by Havoc or E-Swift
(remember his
"Operation:Lockdown"?) just
to add to the flavor. Styles,
Sheek, and Jay do accomplish
something few new artists do
these days: they show
promise. You get the feeling
that one day the LOX will
make a great album. One day,
but not today.
