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www.themaroontiger.com
November 10 - ! 6.2010
10 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Fabulations, a
Spelman Drama
Production
N.E.R.D. Nothing’ Album Review
Taylor Williams
Associate A&E Editor
tay lor_an ton i o_w i 11 iams @yahoo .coin
A fter a two-year hiatus, the rock/psychedelic rap group
N.E.R.D. is back with their new album "Nothing.” Fans
have anticipated the release of this album after the success of
"Seeing Sounds," which is viewed by many as their best work.
It is safe to say that “Nothing" channels a different sound than
their previous albums.
The album begins with the fast-paced party record, cleverly
titled “Party People.” The track features Atlanta rapper T.I.,
who changes up his usual southern relaxed flow to keep up
with the fast pace of the track. The following is a track-by
track review of the rest of the album:
• “Hypnotize U” - With a more tranquil feel, the track's hyp
notic beat fits Pharrell’s whispered falsetto perfectly.
• “Help Me” - One of the more experimental songs on the
album. This could be a hit or miss depending on the lis
tener. The song is similar to “Sooner or Later” from the
“Seeing Sounds” album, with its transitions from the mel
low verses to the explosive hook.
• “Victory”- is the next track and it has a bass heavy sound
that drives the pace of the track. The sound and lyrical con
tent of this song is a bit different from what N.E.R.D. has
done in the past. It is inspirational in some ways; reminis
cent of a speech a coach would give his team before they
perform in a championship game.
• “Perfect Defect” - Homs are often the accompanying
sound throughout the album but they are perhaps most
prominent on this track. The song features a rattling drum
beat and melodic keys that conform to Pharrell's smooth
voice.
• “I 've Seen the Light/Inside the Clouds" - This song is defi
nitely the highlight of "Nothing.” The sound of the lone
tenor sax stands out on this track, giving it a jazz/hip-hop
fusion feel. This track just simply works; all the compo
nents of this track mesh well together. The second half of
the song “Inside the Clouds" has a more relaxed and sooth
ing feel, a perfect ending to the song.
• "God Bless Us All” - Another horn-heavy song. The track
starts with what sounds like a leftover beat from one of
the Clipse albums but then shifts to a typical sounding
N.E.R.D. song. This can be viewed as another inspirational
track, written to send a positive message to the younger
generation.
• “Life as a Fish” - A very mellow track with heavy, crash
ing instrumentation on the song's hook. The song appears
to be a song about war from the mind of a fish.
• “Nothing on You” - The pace of the album picks back up
with this song. The song is simply an ode to the “it” girl
who has everything going for her and no other girl comes
close to.
• “Hot N Fun” - This is the first hit single from the album
and features Nelly Furtado. This is another party song
which is just as its title says: hot and fun.
For N.E.R.D. fans “Nothing” is exactly what you would ex
pect from the group. But it is far from the sound that was pres
ent on their first album "In Search of..." It is an experimental
sound that has pushed the group in a different direction. The
album takes you on a ride that you don't want to get off of. It
is definitely worth the listen for anyone who wants to take a
break from typical hip-hop.
Kid Cudi's Man On The Moon II:
The Legend of Mr. Rager
Joshua Moore
Staff Writer
j_moore20 @ yahoo .com
S cott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi
invites listeners into his
personal therapy sessions
as he navigates through the
highs and lows of life on his
beautifully crafted sopho
more release, “Man On The
Moon II; The Legend of Mr.
Rager.”
As the follow-up to last
year’s Complex Magazine
Best Album of the Year,
“Man on the Moon II"
proves to be just as good if
not better than it’s prede
cessor. Gone from this al
bum are the pop singles that
jumpstarted his career like
“Day ‘n’ Nite” and “Make
Her Say.” Instead, listeners
are treated to 17 tracks bro
ken up into five acts, which
takes us through the mind-
frame of Mr. Rager, Cudi’s
alter-ego of sorts who, since
his last album, has dove into
acting on HBO’s “How to
Make It In America,” got
ten into altercations with
fans, and been arrested for
drug possessions and crimi
nal mischief. In his first act,
"Act I: The World I Am Rul
ing" begins with the Cee-Lo
assisted first track, “Scott
Mescudi vs. The World.” In
the song, he states his wish
es, bluntly; “I hope you un
derstand what you’re hear
ing.”
While the first album took
us into Cudi’s dreams, this
album brings us into his re
ality that is represented by
his dual personalities. Scott
Mescudi possesses one side
of it. as the socially con
scious son of a teacher deal
ing with issues of loneli
ness, depression, drugs, and
women. These problems
provide much of the motive
for the actions of the char
acters in “Act II: A Stronger
Trip,” which narrates the
character's experiences with
drugs with stand out tracks,
“Marijuana” and “Mojo so
Dope.” “Act III: Party On”
can be summed up perfectly
by the track, "Wild’n Cuz
I'm Young.”
On the other side, there
is Mr. Rager who serves al
most as an anti-hero that al
lows Kid Cudi to escape all
his perils. In “Act IV: The
Transformation," the alter-
ego track, “Mr. Rager,” sees
Scott begging Mr. Rager to
tell him of his stories and
travels. “Mr. Rager,” Scott
calls, “tell me where you
going, tell me where you
headed.” Mr. Rager replies,
“I'm off on an adventure.”
To this, Scott cries out, “Mr.
Rager. can we tag along?
Can we take that journey?”
As a member of G.O.O.D.
music, the album wouldn't
be complete without a
Kanye feature, which comes
in during the song, “Erase
Me,” discussing a love gone
awry. However, possibly
overshadowing Kanye’s fea
ture is the other G.O.O.D.
music family assisted track.
“The End,” featuring Chip
tha Ripper, Nicole Wray and
G.O.O.D. music member
GLC. The track finds Cudi
addressing his drug addic
tion. He narrates, "I see that
I’m caught...it’s something
like a spiritual healer that
could end me / I think that’s
the part I find intriguing / I'm
fiending.” And perhaps over
shadowing both G.O.O.D.
artist features, are not one,
but two features from Mary.
J Blige, who assists Cudi on
the tracks “Don't Play This
Song" and "These Worries."
In the final act of the al
bum. “Act V: You Live and
you Learn.” Cudi comes to
terms with his actual reality.
On "All Along” he comes
to terms with his lack of
friends. On "GHOST!” the
rapper has a self-realization
that his drug habits were
hazardous. This particular
track shows Cudi in a better
place than on much of the al
bum. He realizes that things
seem to make sense even
tually, but he also reveals
his vulnerability about the
things that still trouble him.
The final song on the album,
“Trapped In My Mind” is a
full acceptance of his reality.
Cudi raps “Now it's a gift
and a curse since my birth /
I'm in prison / oh I'm happy
right where I'm at / You see
I'm trapped in my mind /
and I know it’s crazy / hey
it's not that bad at all.”
Once the last song fin
ishes, the listener may very
well realize that this is one of
the most musically ground
breaking and emotionally
riveting albums released in
a while. The listener sees
Cudi at his lowest points, his
drug-induced highest points
and in the end, he comes full
circle to an acceptance of
life on his own terms. There
is no gimmick, there is only
Kid Cudi. While many mu
sic critics and listeners are
still making up their mind
on their feelings toward
Cudi and his music, Cudi
understands. Toward the end
of the album he raps, “Hope
they understand, that I really
understand, that they don't
understand.” If you are a
music lover or just appreci
ate good music, this is not an
album to sleep on.
Kid Cudi’s “Man on The
Moon II: The Legend of Mr.
Rager” will be released Nov.
9, 2010, and can be pre-or-
dered on Amazon or iTunes.
Spencer Greene
A&E Editor
sgreene.savvy@gmail.com
P ossibly their most pub
licized production of
the semester, Spelman Col
lege's department of drama
and dance presented the play,
“Fabulation: the Re-educa
tion of Undine,” directed by
Marion Wright. It’s the story
of a successful Black woman
who forgets where she comes
from and her struggles as she
must return to her home. The
theme and script was a bit
outdated, but was performed
by a stellar cast and commit
ted production team.
The play begins with the
main character, Undine
Barnes, sitting at her desk
in her luxurious office, ram
bling. Played by Adrianna
Mitchell, Undine is the epito
me of a stuck-up woman; she
flaunts her success, bosses her
incompetent assistant around,
and speaks down to everyone
in her presence. Through her
soliloquy, the audience is in
troduced to her conflict, well,
one of many, and her forgot
ten past.
As cliche as possible, she’s
head of a high-profile fashion
public relations company and
becomes bankrupt after her
Latin lover, Herve, empties
out her bank account. At the
same time, she finds out she is
pregnant—not to mention her
ex-boyfriend was a rapper.
It's not quite clear how that
information was relevant to
the plot, but it was stressed in
the play. Twenty minutes into
the two-hour long play and so
much is already happening.
With no money. Undine is
forced to return home to the
family she abandoned. Each
member in her family was
a security guard, except her
grandmother who was a her
oin addict whom everyone
thinks has diabetes. How one
can mistake a heroin addic
tion for diabetes doesn’t quite
make sense, but the actors do
a good job of portraying it on
stage. Undine goes to the cor
ner to buy drugs for her addict
grandmother and gets caught
by the police. Now that she
has lost her husband, career
and money, she also adds con
victed felon to her resume.
At the end of the first act, an
hour had passed and a major
ity of the crowd was anxious
to begin the second act; anx
ious to see what other drama
awaited Undine and perhaps
how much longer the play
would be.
As Undine struggles with
acknowledging the home she
left behind, she must deal
with social services and attend
meetings for recovering drug
addicts. Every once in awhile
she flashes back to images of
her Latin lover who stole her
money. The dialogue between
her and Herve is comical;
they engage in a tango scene,
which is well choreographed.
After some small, unneces
sary scenes and monologues,
Undine meets a guy in the
recovering drug addicts meet
ing who is interested in her.
Although their connection
isn't focused on much, he
seems to play a major role in
the end of the play. Their con
nection could have been ex
plored more.
Toward the end of the play,
Undine is confronted by fam
ily and begins to understand
their animosity toward her. In
her last addicts meeting, she
has a conversation with her
newfound love interest and
decides to vent everything
she’s learned from her situ
ation. Shortly after her vent,
she goes into labor. The set
is changed to a delivery room
and she gives birth - that con
cludes the play. More empha
sis could've been placed on
developing a stronger ending
instead of pointless scenes in
the middle.
Overall, the play was
entertaining and success
ful. Although it was rather
long, the audience was en
gaged throughout the two
hours. However, the dia
logue seemed a bit outdated;
with the use of terms such as
“chicken head" and “I’m dig
ging you.”
Additionally, the light
cues were a bit late at times.
Though the character of Un
dine seemed to be cliche at
moments, Mitchell did a great
job of bringing her to life. Ac
tors Leland Fowler and Victo
ria Burwell and other charac
ters did great work as well.
Eric Mosley provided com
ic relief as Herve, until his
serious monologue toward
the end when confronted
by Undine. Mosley delivers
greatly, but the words seem
to lack substance. The set de
sign was well done. It’s ob
vious the drama department
worked hard to put on a great
production; their work paid
off. The actual play itself was
a bit scattered and the script
wasn't cohesive. All in all.
Fabulations was a success for
the drama department.
Join us for our General
Body Meeting on Thursday,
Nov. I I th, 2010, at 6 p.m.
in Kilgore Hall 2nd Floor
Seminar Room!
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