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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 1995)
3 ptemb er The Battalion Friday September 1,1995 elife File Photo issippi ind will fi. 2S,” Garcia line f'orev- 3e what I ill contin- ms are in ' to inde- io, Dallas icsts from ities,” he expanded brought '0 former le Field. &M that ie Band,’ ■hat nev- vey that ink peo- Soundtrack an adequate supplement for documentary, but misses mark Is Strike )49 50 ml as 1995 Clark The Battalion i In recent years, some d/the strongest movie soundtsacks have come from the rap genre. Mu sic from Juice and kbove The Rim, along with the success of rap pers as actors, has helped bring hip hop to the forefront of main stream media. But the soundtrack to the much-anticipated ra- pumentary The Show is more of a movie supple ment than a soundtrack that can stand alone. The powerful combination of Method Man and Redman powers “How High.” Using the karate theme of the Wu-Tang Clan, the duo recite “6 mil lion ways to die, so I chose / Made it 6 million and one with your eyes closed.” Shunning mainstream popularity — the “no sellout” code — is standard in rap, and Redman and Method Man are no exception. “F-k the Bill board, I’m a bullet on my block, / You know what | you pay for your Billboard spot?” One of the stronger tracks on the album is 2Pac’s “My Block.” In the same vein as his recent hit “Dear Mama,” the song is a somber account of life in the ghetto. 2Pac pleads for hope as he raps, “God help me ‘cause I’m starvin,’ can’t get a job / So I resort to violent robbin’, my life is hard ... To this day I still pray for a better way.” Ironically enough, 2Pac, currently in jail for sexual abuse, says “Life in the pen ain’t for me, cause I’d rather die.” Hmm. The soundtrack also features one of the hottest rap groups around right now. Bone Thugs N Har mony. Their singsong harmonies on “Everyday Thang,” while certainly a different style than any other rap group, get to be incredibly annoying. While some rap critics have hailed the group as innovative groundbfeakers, all the group has real ly done is put gangsta rap to bizarre vocals. Does n’t quite work. One of the biggest problems with the soundtrack is the curi ous inclusion of non rap songs. Mary J. Blige’s “Everyday It Rains,” Isaac 2 Isaac’s “Old School” and Kali Ranks’ “Kill Dem All” seem completely out of place on what is supposed to be a rap soundtrack. Even more disturbing is the sneaky way the CD appears to have songs from Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Dr. Dre, Treach and Slick Flick, when in fact they are only 20-second sound bites of them talk ing about rap. The biggest rapper (literally) around right now, The Notorious B.I.G. makes an appearance on the album with his oh-so-misogynistic song “Me and My Bitch (Live from Philly).” Not one of the high points. But A Tribe Called Quest saves the day, and in turn, the soundtrack, with “Glamour and Glitz.” With the best voice in rap, Q-Tip deftly laces his vocals over the throbbing beat. And Q-Tip’s lyrics are some of the best in rap. Case in point, “Glamour and Glitz” features the phrase, “I get inside the crevice like a dentist / Disrupt the block like Dennis the menace.” While The Show has been labeled the definitive voice of rap, the soundtrack just has too many holes to stand alone. A better move would’ve been to include rap classics, like Run D.M.C.’s “King of Rock,” or even the movie’s namesake, “The Show,” by Doug E. Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew. A look back would be welcomed to show rap’s progression from the ’80s to the ’90s, from The Sugar Hill Gang to Wu-Tang Clan. And were it not for 2Pac, A Tribe Called Quest and Method Man, T7ie Show soundtrack wouldn’t show much at all The bad rap on rap gets worse, as The Show doesn't show in B-CS A fter scouring the scores of music mag azines that flood my mailbox each week, my anticipation was high. The show was coming. Not just any show, but The Show, the first documentary on the ever-evolving world of rap music. Having been a rap fan since hearing U.T.F.O.’s “Roxanne, Roxanne” in 1984, I was looking forward to seeing the film, which has been called the definitive film of rap. With Def Jam mogul Russell Simmons produc ing, and the biggest names in rap starring. The Show sounded like a dream come true for anyone who appreciates rap music. Apparently that doesn’t mean much, because it came out Friday, Aug. 25, but it’s not playing in College Station. Surprise, surprise. I suppose it really isn’t that shocking that a rap movie isn’t playing in this area. Rap isn’t exactly a dominant form of music around here. There aren’t even any R&B or rap radio stations around, with the only reachable frequencies being select Houston stations. I can’t imagine the typical Joe and Jane Aggie listening to Craig Mack or De La Soul on their way to yell practice. Just about the only rap you can hear around here is the usual playing of “Baby Got Back,” “Ihash It” or “Da Butt” at the country dance clubs while the cowboys try their best to do hip hop moves from 1989. Not a pretty sight. It’s obvious that the beating rap takes in the media and by clueless politicians like Sen. Bob Dole has taken its toll. From the 2 Live Crew, to “Cop Killer,” to 2Pac and Snoop Doggy Dogg, rap is an easy target. Rap scares people. It’s as simple as that. The shocking imagery of young black men and women struggling with gangs, drug abuse, racism and a world of extreme violence does n’t play too well in white-j?read America. Mp^t times, the frightening voice of ghetto frustration falls on deaf ears. Instead of listening and at least attempting to understand the source of this anger, parental advisory stickers are slapped on albums, and rappers are dismissed as hoodlum thugs. Not that there aren’t any irresponsible rappers out there. Certainly many have jumped on the lowriding gangsta bandwagon in hopes of finan- Instead of listening and at least attempting to under stand the source of this anger, parental advisory stickers are slapped on al bums and rappers are dis misses as hoodlum thugs. cial gain. Nevertheless, the words gangsta rap can’t be men tioned without controver sy, labeling a whole music genre by one small piece of its puzzle. What is even more sur prising is it seems that rap is finally achieving mainstream success, with 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G. becoming Top 10 mainstays. But it doesn’t matter. Rap is still conservative America’s worst nightmare. And The Show only proves it. I have to wonder, if a documentary was re leased that chronicled country music and featured Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire and Clint Black, would it be coming to a theater near you? That would be one show that would definitely go on. l> done is put gangsta rap to bizare vocai. Does- show much at a U . ^ ^ g ^ ^ for ir fho to grace Rudder stage with blunt comedy that attacks stereotyp in, Javier Chaffin, Higgin- 3arry & Jance & erLong in Hill, rian A. Miller, l/inkle; loway, ports: ;e bwn Hall kks off its Dniester irogramming jh award- ve D. in the !647 ; Bat- lassi- id of- ty ? e AM finning omedienne uid Freudian Hip J By Jan Higginbotham The Battalion Overcoming stereotypes has never been easy for anyone, and Margaret Cho has learned first hand how over whelming preconceptions can be in show business. Cho, winner of the 1994 American Comedy Award for best female comedi enne, had difficulty getting started in her work because of stereotypes. “I was young and couldn’t get much work as an actress,” Cho said. “It was especially hard to get work as an Asian-American actress, so I switched to comedy.” Cho will bring her stand-up comedy show to Rudder Auditorium tonight at 8:00 in a show sponsored by MSC Town Hall. The show will also feature Freudian Slip, the Aggie Players’ im promptu comedy team. Cho found recent success as an ac tress on the ABC sitcom All-American Girl before the show was canceled. Al though Cho was disappointed about the show’s cancellation, she said she gained a lot from the experience. “It was an all-over good experience,” Cho said, “and I’m better for having done it, but it was also very difficult. Television, as opposed to stand-up, is a very emotionally arid environment and it stifled me creatively. People were more concerned wAh making money than doing what was good.” Although Cho is one of the few Asian- American women working in show busi ness, she said she doesn’t see herself as a role model for other aspiring Asian-Amer ican actresses and comediennes. “I don’t really want to be one because I don’t think my life is necessarily the very best as a model,” Cho said. “But I think I probably am one whether I like it or not. So in that case, if I’ve made it any easier for future generations, then I’m glad I could help.” Several people have had a major in fluence in Cho’s life and in her profes sional career. Cho said actor Steve Mc Queen’s work has had a major effect on her life. “My whole life is a glorification of him,” Cho said. “If he was alive, I think we’d be married!” Some more recent performers have also helped Cho in her career. “I love my contemporaries,” she said. “Two of my greatest friends and influences are Quentin Tarantino and Janeane Garofalo. We hang out all the time.” Cho said she and Tarantino spend a great deal of time together watching movies. “I know all of the video store clerks around here (Los Angeles) on a first- name basis, and I know some of their home phone numbers because Quentin and I watch movies all the time,” Cho said. “We get so much inspiration from watching good movies. That’s a large part of how we’ve learned to do what we do.” Although Cho has been doing stand- up comedy for 8 years and acting for 12, she said she thinks she still has room to improve. “I’m always learning and growing,” she said. “I’ve devoted my life to my profession, and I’m making a lifetime out of getting better at what I do. Margaret Cho