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5 [the maroon tiger
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2003
ArtsEtc.
DEAD PREZ
ITS STILL BIGGER THAN HIP-HOP
by Antoine Hester
antoine_hester@maroontiger.net
ONLINE EDITOR
Though many of today’s robotic Hip-Hop
consumers may not be aware, there was a time
when mainstream Hip-Hop consisted of more than
misogyny, expensive jewelry, and fabricated
thuggery. This was a time when viewers would
have scoffed at a two-hour commercial slot for
current major label acts, even if our beloved BET
had cloaked in an appealing title, perhaps "Rap
City." Aperiod when Hip-Hop stood for something
great; before capitalism sank its fangs into the
culture many of us love so dearly and mutated it
into the unsettlingly shallow "hot” commodity it
has become. Atime when Hip-Hop’s uniform was
seemingly more robust than her most recent attire:
oversized fitted cap and a throwback jersey. Dead
Prez is surely a "throw-back” to this era.
“M1 ” and “Stic-man,” known collectively as
Dead Prez. first sparked the minds of listeners in
February of 2000 with their debut album Let s Get
Free, which featured the single "[It’s Bigger Than]
Hip-Hop." DP has since released one mix-tape
album, Turn Off the Radio, and was scheduled to
release another, Get Free Or Die Trying, on October
7. DP was scheduled to release its major label
follow up. RBG, on Columbia Records in May,
but the project was shelved when the duo was
dropped from its label early this year.
Although RBG has yet to see retail sales, an
advance version of the album was leaked, and
several copies have since trickled onto the
worldwide web. RBG, meaning "Revolutionary
to "turn off the radio.” In this song DP addresses
the influence that mainstream radio can have on
its audience.
The messages that Dead Prez transmits can
be a bit radical. Although some listeners may not
agree with the artists’ views, it is refreshing to hear
a contemporaiy Hip-Hip act tackle salient social
issues. Regrettably, this album may never see
record store shelves. This should not, however, stop
resourceful music fans (such as myself) from
getting the music. No rap group has uttered as
profound a political statement as Dead Prez since
Public Enemy. Their latest effort, RBG, is definitely
worth a listen. If you have not heard the first album.
Let V Get Free, you should make it a point to check
that out as well.
http:/ /suabroad.syr.edu
1-800-235-3472
Scmcsie
iimmer
-trams
Meet the T-Shirt Guy
by Colin Hosten
coNn_hosten@maroontiger.net
COPY EDITOR
When most students talk about their hobbies,
they usually describe their participation in sports
or their affinity for certain video games. Instead,
Wendell Holland talks about retail orders, business
partners, and customer satisfaction. Meet the one
they call the T-shirt guy.
You’ve seen him walking around campus.
About yea high with a Macy Gray do - oh, and of
course, wearing a trademark T-shirt bearing one
of his own designs, which have recently achieved
a distinguished reputation as the newest cult hit
on campus this semester. I took some time last
week to get to know a bit about the mastermind
behind the design.
Apologizing for the disordered state of his
"workshop,” Holland began to tell me about his
hobby-turned business venture. He had just come
from an intramural soccer game, and had barely
completed a sentence when the phone rang. ‘ ‘Sorry,
man, I gotta take this."
It was good news, too - someone was placing
another order for a custom T-shirt design (an Ohio
State T-shirt, for her boyfriend). It was just another
addition to the rapidly growing list of clients that
Holland has accumulated in the past month and a
half. He’d just finished an order of fifty Morehouse
T-shirts for the alumni chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha
Fraternity, Inc., acquired through his business
arrangement with College Crib, the popular retailer
of college paraphernalia located in the West End.
Indeed, business is, as he puts it, “snowballing.”
How on earth does such a snowball begin to
build momentum, though?
As with so many successful business
ventures, Holland started in the most unassuming
way.
“My friend and I decided to make a couple
T-shirts to wear to our high school basketball
games,” explained the Philadelphia native. “He
was always calling me about some new way to
make money, from vending stands to selling T-.
shirts.” The vending machines didn’t quite work
out, but the T-shirts, well...
The immediate popularity of his shirt designs
at those basketball games prompted Holland to
think about selling them. At the time, he had no
way to mass-produce the clothes. It was his
younger sister who introduced him to “fabric
paint,” with which he experimented this past
summer. As it turns out, Holland had stumbled
upon a formula for success. He wore one of his
Morehouse designs to a Tiger football game at
BT Harvey, and the enthusiastic response from
students has yet to subside.
Fate continued its positive course for Holland.
One day when he passed by College Crib wearing
one of his familiar T-shirts.
“I’d known the manager there from before,
so he called me in to say wassup, and I ended up
showing him a couple of my designs.”
The manager immediately ordered ten T-
shirts, which garnered such a positive response that
Holland continues to produce for College Crib to
this day. In fact, the store now orders designs for
hoodies, baby Ts, bags, and hats, as well as T-shirts.
There have also been requests for Holland to lend
his artistic skills to designs for other colleges, some
of which include Spelman, CAU, Fisk, and FAMU.
Holland, himself, has been bombarded with
orders for custom-designed T-shirts from students
and campus organizations, to such an extent that
he now relies on a staff- two students who help
with production, and two others who take orders
and tend to customers.
‘They’ve taken a lot of the pressure off of
me.” said Holland. "I can concentrate on just
making T-shirts and enjoying it.”
Concentration, though, must be an issue for a
full-time college student with a budding part-time
business. How does he manage to focus on
schoolwork amidst his entrepreneurial endeavors?
"Yeah, I’m still trying to work on that.” he
admitted. “I’m forced to budget my time more
responsibly."
Not that the International Studies major has
had any problems managing his time - his 4.0
showing last semester speaks for itself. He is
conscious, however, of the need to have a well
rounded college experience.
‘ ‘I think last semester I was taking everything
too seriously. My GPA might go down this
semester, but that’s balanced with the advantages
of doing other things as well.”
Mom and Dad don’t see things in that light,
but both are very supportive of their son’s T-shirt
initiative. His father counsels him about financial
responsibility. He also ordered a T-shirt for himself,
but Wendell hasn’t gotten around to it yet
It is from his mother, actually, that Holland
inherits much of his artistic zeal. Her most
important piece of advice to her son? “Don’t
continue to do it if it stops being fun.”
Thankfully, there is no indication that the fun
will end anytime soon.
“My satisfaction comes from having so many
people enjoy my work,” beamed Holland. “And
of course it's fun to make money doing something
you enjoy.”
Ain't it.though?