news
ttaliOs
)ag e ]
rs W >H bt
; s - He sam
11 guide ^
d >' goes and
be imiu
1a y coo|
l,es and cai
sa id Lop||
■ tud ent Q
-ment mj
s that are mi
5 y passM
lated. i
t Senate wj
' Heeds to (;
nc reaseafie
ake theinec.;
w said
ion Fee i
ocess for 4
off-caS
a long-ten
- and to pay
and die
facilities«
»the Ai.\|
Veb site, j
h. theAAM
f Reg»
'nation Fee
ntplemenied
■'ill increase
fall, sprint
r semesters,
or five-wed
increase will
)lul in po:-
which cost
J $300,000.
arted." Weis
rt replacing
ruses), that's
more than
dace."
sultanis wil
vel the fee
tore in order
; rate where
any buses
arsold.
iht now is
ry thing we
and there's
rchasecapi-
, "Joshu^obso^^^^^^UONI
.ontracl. the J ) afor (left), a senior English major, Kirk Ehlig (center), a junior journalism major and Andre "Dre"
xreanworx- , ? Se ?' or e,ec,r| cal engineering major are all rap artists attending A&M. Williams is the first mem-
nejfWulnot r 15 ami y to attend college and will graduate this month. His rap, "Graduated,” chronicles his strug-
ler.bumW t f** 1 success toward graduation.
Die pay for
, to msi
nightoniTS-
iger.
imaiely IS
proval of a
states how
ill mn and
can be pur-
Aggielife
The Battalion
3 • Monday, May 3, 2004
LHOEOT
Graduation, life subjects of student raps
By Lauren Smith
THE BATTALION
To ch) tuhaf mc5f bvotfr&lA' UorCf Uo -«Vv OOrvurntArvCC^
'T/viz- omTTTJ^c- ^pm- iejltiew xty'
'Xo &&■ rVi y. pvecC&Sf
'7 / lcv&v 4C£-'$ic> clcuj whe+y, 7 tyU’ydtMX&d'
So begin the lyrics to senior electrical engineering
major Andre Williams’ college graduation-inspired
rap, “Graduation,” Somewhere between the Dixie
Chicken and the Memorial Student Center lies a hip-
hop community full of people with a passion for paint
ing pictures with words, bringing social issues to the
forefront or simply making people get up and dance.
Williams started honing his rapping skills when he
was 12 after his middle school football practices. He
started networking, which he said is an essential part
of making it in the hip-hop world, with an after
school job of putting up posters for a local hip-hop
manager in Houston.
“When I first got to college, working was plan A,
and rapping was only a hobby,” Williams said. “Deep
in my heart, I just want to take care of my future wife
and family. Hip-hop has become my plan A. Even if
1 get a record deal, it will not compare to the pride 1
feel about graduating.”
') rw "to rwote '$vcy»y / 888 e*yyf
yef, ■veacswc- MVS’ <* whok- zccfooty, oj 'five* SX&diivrvi/
/vtx'tet 1 Jysrudhj rvy&clc- yrf
'Wosy l^f, 800^, 7 dory’O guxctvitC&cl'
From the “gangsta rap” that originated on the West
Coast with Dr. Dre and others to the more modern
“conscious” Common rap, Williams classifies his rap
somewhere in the middle of the two.
“1 call what 1 do ‘reality rap’ because I write about
what I see day to day. Gangsta rap is a form that
expresses what is going on in the slums with a lot of
songs about violence, drugs and guns,” Williams said.
“Conscious rap is the more positive side of rap with
more soul and more wholesome concepts.”
Kingsley Okafor, a senior English major, has col
laborated with Williams on three rap songs and has
been rapping for five years.
“I have three different categories of how I rap:
bragatocious (self-promotion), conscious (social
issues like the struggle of inner city youth and prob
lems like racism), the state of hip-hop, obsession with
money, and fun-loving,” Okafor said. “Sometimes
rappers do not have to say something educational,
and a lot of rappers tend to pigeonhole themselves.”
Among the misconceptions about hip-hop is that
rap and rhythm and blues are synonymous genres.
“Rap is a subset of hip-hop, and it is the more of
the expressive spokesman for hip-hop,” Okafor said.
“R&B is based more on the emotion of love and pret
ty formulated. Rap hits on a range of topics, and there
is no set way to do it.”
With movies such as “8 Mile” and live coverage of
MC Battles on MTV, freestyling has become a more
publicized part of the rap world. While some argue
that freestylers do not come up with their lyrics on the
spot, there are others who will claim to the death that
the words to their song came to them in the moment
they are on stage.
“Freestyling and battling do not make you a good
artist. The best artists are the ones who put songs
together,” Okafor said. “The way to spot if a
freestyler is truly authentic is whether or not they are
talking about something about the environment they
are in. A lot of people have lines in their head.”
Rapper and junior journalism major Kirk Ehlig
See Delight on page 4
How does your religion view organ donation?
Assembly of Goo
Baptist
Bltoohist
G atfi o lic
Christian Scientist
Episcopal
Hindu
Independent Evangelical
Islam
Judaism (All Branches)
Eutheran
Tvl ETH O DIST
Donation is highly supported by the denomination.
The decision to donate is left to the individual.
Organ donation is encouraged as an act of stewardship and
of compassion for those who are suffering.
Donation is a matter of individual conscience.
A high value is placed on acts of compassion.
Organ and tissue donation is an act of charity and love.
Pope John Paul II has stated that Christians should accept
this as a challenge to their generosity and fraternal love.
The decision to donate is left to the individual.
A resolution in 1982. recognizes the life-giving benefits of
donation. All Christians are encouraged to become donors
M as part of their ministry to others in the name of Christ,
who gave His life that we may have life in its fullness/'
The decision to donate is left to the individual. Organ
transplantation can be used to alleviate the suffering of
other human beings.
The decision to donate is left to the individual.
Nothing in Scripture contradicts organ donation.
Muslim scholars belonging to various schools of Islamic law
have cited the principle of the priority on saving human life
and have permitted organ donation and transplantation as a
necessity to procure that noble end.
Organ donation is a contemporary Mitzvah. When a human
life can be saved, it must be saved.
Donation contributes to the well being of humanity and can
be M an expression of sacrificial love for a neighbor in need.’*
The United Methodist Church encourages all Christians
to become organ donors as part of their mininstry to others
in the name of Christ.
Presbyterian Members are encouraged to be organ donors.