Aggielife
Thursday, September 30,1993
The Battalion
Page 3
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1994
land
ar
ielife editor
jrts editor
Sports editor
sr ' • |an
ifer C s,n
; Tremblay
Country
Music
Assoc.
Winners of the 27th
annual CM A Awards
Entertainer of the year:
— Vince Gill
Single of the year:
— “Chattahoochee, ”
Alan Jackson
Album of the year:
— “/ Still Believe in You, ”
Vince Gill
> Song of the year:
— “I Still Believe in You, ”
Vince Gill & John Jarvis
’ Female vocalist of the year:
— Mary’-Chapin Carpenter
< Male vocalist of the year:
— Vince Gill
< Vocal duo of the year:
— Brooks & Dunn
• Vocal group of the year:
— Diamond Rio
' Musician of the year:
— Mark O ’Connor (fiddle)
• Vocal event of the year:
— “/ Don *t ISeed Your
Rockin ’ Chair, ” — George
Jones, Vince Gill, Mark
Chesnutt, Garth Brooks,
Travis Tritt, Joe Diffie,
Alan Jackson, Pam Tillis,
T. Graham Brown, Patty
Loveless and Clint Black
• Music video of the year:
— “Chattahoochee, ”
Alan Jackson
• Horizon Award:
— Mark Chesnutt
From Harlem to Aggieland. . .
Fraternity to host A&M ‘Apollo Night’
By Joe Leih
The Battalion
The Omega Psi Phi Fraternity
will showcase a diverse ensemble
of local talent Saturday with their
first annual variety show in Rudder
Theater.
Starting at 7 p.m., the show
dubbed "Apollo Night with the
Ques" will have the same format as
the legendary "Amateur Night at
the Apollo" in Harlem, N.Y.
Derrick Thompson, a primary
organizer of the event, said the
principal similarity will be that the
audience members will vocally
judge the performers.
/V The crowd will start to yell and
boo if they don't like the act,"
Thompson said.
After that, a DJ will play a
recording adamantly urging the
performer to leave the stage, and a
"Sand Man" will escort him or her
away, Thompson said. And, he
said, at the end of the show a
young lady, like the Apollo's Ki Ki
Sheppard, will hold her hand
above each of the performers al
lowing the audience to cheer for
the best act.
The winner will receive a cash
prize of $200.
Harold Mitchell, another prima
ry organizer of the event, said this
energetic Apollo theme should be a
popular one.
"It gives the crowd a chance to
be involved," Mitchell said, "and it
keeps them excited and awake dur
ing the show."
The show's lineup will vary
from dance to rap; including
groups like Phunky Position, Fade
to Black and Pretty Girl Gangsters.
Mitchell and Thompson will
also perform at the show with fel
low fraternity member Tony R.
Taft. Named Q-ROTIC, the trio
will sing popular R&B, gospel and
soul.
Mitchell said that being a singer,
he knew the show would accom
modate the large need to showcase
people's talent. Plus, he said, it
gives some of the local youth the
opportunity to do something more
constructive with their time.
"It's much better for these kids
to be displaying their talent on
stage and feeling the positive vibes
from the audience. . . rather than
being on the street at late hours
selling crack or whatever," Mitchell
said.
Both Mitchell and Thompson
hope that the event will grow so
large that members of the entertain
ment industry will eventually scout
the show for local talent.
"The road to success," Mitchell
said, "it comes from someone just
happening to hear you, . . . expose
you and take you farther on the
path of success."
But this year, the goal of the
show is to raise money for Omega
Psi Phi's annual Ronald McNair
Scholarship, named for a fraternity
member and astronaut who died in
the 1986 space shuttle Challenger
crash. The scholarship includes
two $250 awards given to two
Bryan-College Station black male
seniors planning to attend college.
Thompson said that although
the show will appeal to a mostly
African-American audience, he be
lieves "Apollo Night" should inter
est all ethnic groups.
"It can provide unity," Thomp
son said, "an event where all peo
ple can come together and have a
good time."
Tickets will be available at Rud
der Box Office.
Spice 1: Portrait of a ‘gangsta’
By Rob Clark
The Battalion
"187 (murder) he wrote/Now it's a
walk-by in the hood/1 blow the gat in his
face because it's all good/And now the
boys in blue - what up?/Come after the
East Bay gangsta murder master ... My
chrome gat shines like
a sword/Now you got
another sent off to the
morgue." (From
"Dumpin' 'Em in
Ditches.")
Sound violent?
That's the idea. But for
gangster rapper Spice
1, the object of his lyrics
is not violence, just to
be violent. It's all about
reality, survival and the
G (gangster) style. Spice 1
Spice 1 is one of the
prominent hard-core rappers that have
captured the attention of the music indus
try.
Bom in Bryan, Spice, whose real name is
Robert Green, moved to the Bay-City area
in California at a young age. He started
rapping when he was 13.
After a few small retord deals. Spice
scored with his single, "187 Proof," which
caught the attention of Jive Records, a ma
jor rap distributor. After signing with Jive,
Spice released his self-titled debut album.
His new album, "187, He Wrote,” has just
been released.
Success hasn't changed him though.
"I don't really feel that (success! com
pletely," Spice said. "But I feel that I'm get
ting to where I want to be. It feels good to
have a little success in your life and accom
plish something besides running the
streets."
The streets, it seems, are what inspire
Spice's lyrics. The rough area where he
grew up gives him his style and shows the
reality of ghetto life. But his music provid
ed his escape, and he tries to encourage
others to do the same.
He said, "There's a lot of kids trying to
get out of the streets. A lot of my friends
go through dope sellin' and gang-bangin'.
and I've seen them grow up. The only
thing right now we've got to get out of the
streets is this music. I always respect an
other person trying to get something, make
something out of his life; not just kicking
back, bangin' and going to jail and doing
all that because I've been through that, and
it ain't cool. It's not cool at all."
MC Serch once said rappers are a
"product of the environment/' and usually
the environment's problems are reflected in
their songs. On the streets where Spice
grew up, drug dealing was common.
"Everybody sold drugs," Spice said.
"Everybody and their mamas sold dope.
Their grandmamas sold dope. I ain't never
really hurt nobody. I just tried to get mine
like everybody else was. But when the rap
thing came along, it pulled me out of the
streets completely."
Rap is quickly criticized for its lyrical
content, and Spice is no exception.
"People say I
tapes," he said. "
about it. I'm not saying Wou go do it.' I'm
just saying that's what I've done - this is
what it's all about around here."
- A AA\_/A l.
glorify gangsterism on my
I don't glorify it, I just talk
While rap's audience is becoming in
creasingly white. Spice's lyrics don't seem
to impress too many white adults.
"They might like Jazzy Jeff and maybe
the little cute songs," he said. "But if they
g o off deep into the ghetto, they hear about
illin' and bang-bang, shoot-em-up."
Despite the violence depicted in rap.
Spice said there is a good reason for it.
He said, "There's always a message in
all my lyrics. If I say I shot a motherf—er
in my rap, (then) I went to jail after that or I
died after that in the rap. Because real
gangsters don't live long. And that's true."
The use of the words "bitch" and "nig
ger" in rap is often criticized. But Spice
said those songs aren't his thing.
He said, "There are only a few (rappers),
that don't have too many bitch songs on
their albums. I don't got no bitch songs on
my album. I like the girls. I never had no
problem with them."
To Spice, "nigga" has a different mean
ing than the racist word "nigger." Fellow
rapper 2Pac talked about the meaning of
the word "nigga" on his "2Pacalypse
Now" album.
Spice agrees with 2Pac and said, "The
word (nigga) to me means 'Never Ignorant
- Getting Goals Accomplished.' Tnere's a
real difference."
Another controversial aspect of
hard-core rap is the anti-police sentiments
expressed (anyone remember a little ditty
called "Cop Killer?"). Spice said this is a
result of police brutality.
He said, "One thing I liked that KRS
-ONE said -'The police were put here to
protect us, but who protects us from them?'
And that's real."
One of Spice's songs/'Piggy in a Blan
ket," which depicted such hostility, was re
moved from his album. But that hasn't si
lenced Spice.
"If the police ever beat you down, then
talk about it. Because they ain't supposed
to do that, and that's wrong," he said.
Despite all of rap's problems, it has be
come highly successful. With such success,
there are undoubtedly going to be imita
tions. Ice Cube once rapped, "Be true to
the game." Spice believes this as well, and
he said, "You've got to be a G to do this. If
you ain't a gangster, you can't do it. I just
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REVIEWS
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Strait’s ‘Easy Come, Easy Go:’ A guaranteed chartbuster
By Lesa Ann King
The Battalion
"Easy Come, Easy Go"
George Strait
Country
MCA Records
"Easy Come, Easy Go" marks George Strait's eigh
teenth album release and proves this two-time Country
Music Association Entertainer of the Year remains first
and foremost, a classic country singer.
Strait's smooth, clear voice makes singing country
music sound pure, simple and easy. "Easy Come,
Easy Go" blends a steady mixture of slow country
ballads and a few upbeat honky-tonk two-steppers
that brings out the best in Strait's vocal abilities.
"Easy Come, Easy Go" brings together the lyrical
and musical talents of Nashville's best songwriters and
Strait's distinct country style into a smooth collection of
new country favorites.
The title cut, "Easy Come, Easy Go," takes a positive
approach to ending a relationship. Two names familiar
to most Strait fans. Dean Dillon and Aaron Barker,
wrote the title track. Dillon's contribution to Strait's
legacy of hits include, "The Chair," "Nobody in His
Right Mind," "If I Know Me," "Marina Del Rey" and
many others. Barker's previous successful Strait hits
include "Love Without End, Amen" and "Baby Blue."
Other cuts on this album from these writers include
Barker's regretful and melancholy ballad, "I'd Like to
Have That One Back," and Dillon's sad good-bye song,
"Without Me Around."
Many of the other songs come from writers who
contributed to the successful "Pure Country" sound
track. Steve Dorff, writer of "Cross My Heart" and
"Heartland," co-writes one of the most romantic and
touching ballads on this album, "The Man In Love
With You." A sincere and loving song. Strait's vocal
song gives this beautiful song life.
The slow and romantic "We Must Be Loving Right"
departs from Strait's usual sound. Co-written by Clay
Blaker and Roger Brown, this song combines a soft
mixture of piano and steel guitar with an irresistible
slow two-step country sound.
New country may come, and new country may go,
but the king of country music stays the same. And
"Easy Come, Easy Go" is sure to place Gentleman
George Strait at the top of the charts once again.
Yes she does: Etheridge meets challenge of creating powerful live music in her new album ‘Yes I Am ’
By Jacqueline Ayotte
The Battalion
"Yes I Am"
Melissa Etheridge
Rock
Island Records
She's like a modern day Janis Joplin.
Her sexy, raspy voice could survive alone and
still give off a pure, electrifying sound.
. Her name is Melissa Etheridge, and yes, she's
back with her fourth album, "Yes I Am."
This is Etheridge's most challenging album vo
cally, but on a much different level
than her past three albums.
Etheridge said, "From the mo
ment I started thinking about this
record, I knew that I wanted songs
that would be really strong live, be
cause that's where I spend most of
my time - what I do most is sing these
songs over and over."
The single, "I'm the Only One,"
sets the smooth rock tone for the rest
of the album. There is a subtle change in the in
tense rock sound Etheridge has captivated in al
bums of the past. But her deep voice remains
strong. Unbelievably, her voice has improved
Etheridge
since past rock hits like "Ain't It
Heavy" and "Somebody Bring Me
Some Water."
New tracks like "Come To My
Window" and "I Will Never Be the
Same" are very soft, untempered
rock songs. They each have a deli
cate fire within them which draws
the listener in, enabling one to dis
cover a soft, vulnerable side
Etheridge has never revealed before.
"All American Girl" is a very down to earth
rocker that seems to communicate Etheridge's
own political interpretation of women in the 90s.
But, Etheridge promises, "It's only an observation.
I'm not trying to say anybody's right or wrong."
The title song, "Yes I Am," is surprisingly soft
er than expected. It's not exactly the best song on
the album, but the love lyrics do capture
Etheridge's own poetic touch. The soft strokes of
the guitar flow along to her determined words,
creating a very pleasant, relaxed mood.
Every song on Etheridge's new album may not
capture the same fast- paced sound found in past
tracks, but there is one quality they do share. They
are all real songs. Too real to be ignored.
Etheridge said she wanted "Yes I Am" to have
the sound quality of "Real music slapping against
tape."
It seems her prayer has been answered.
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