®f)e Cljarlotte
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1996
BIARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Rapper using radio to spread the Word
By Winfred B. Cross
THE CHARLOTTE POST
C ontemporary gospel fans
scanning the airwaves
will get an earful
Saturday.
Bebe & Cece Winans’ “Count It
All Joy” will ring out of Radio sta
tion WNOW 1030 AM. It’s the first
song to be played on “R.A.P. It
Up,” a one-hour, all-music pro
gram devoted to the best in con
temporary gospel broadcasting
10-11 a.m.
RAP stands for rhythm and
praise. The show is the brain child
of Marlon Tate, once known as the
Overweight Prince. He used to rap
for girls. Now he’s The Hip-Hop
Minister of Radio.
“The purpose is to be encourag
ing and uplifting,” Tate said in the
station’s tiny location in Union
County. “Also, we have the young
people in mind. My audience is
whoever will receive it. It’s anoth
er outlet for young Christians not
necessarily in tune with the tradi
tional kind of gospel. It lets them
know it’s not boring to be a
Christian.”
The show features such artists
as John P. Kee, Yolanda Adams,
Dawkins & Dawkins, Donald
Lawrance and the Tri-City
Singers, Christopher L. Gray and
the Winans.
The station is automated on the
weekend but Tate will do the show
live.
“We won’t be limited to who we
will play, but it has to be word
oriented,” Tate said.
Tate’s worked at other
Christian stations. He did a
stint at WGSP 1310. “They
kept telling me that the
Charlotte sound was a quar
tet, more traditional sound.
There were many artists they
didn’t want to play,” Tate said.
But he kept pushing for more
contfemporary stuff and start
ed developing an audience.
^ A lot of stations in
^ ^ the area do not play
^ ^ these kinds of people.
It’s a shame,” Tate
said. “It’s all gospel. People get
caught up in the beat, saying
it’s not gospel. If you’re caught
up in the beat, you are not
looking for the message. I’ll be
the first to admit the beat and
the music is the first thing to
get you. But if you are listen
ing to a church sta
tion, you are doing
that to get uplifted.
minutes of music before each
hour.
The station bills itself as
interdenominational and
interracial. Tate says about
half the audience is black.
1116 station supports Tate’s
new show in spirit, but he’s
picking up the tab himself,
just to get the program on the
air.
Why? He says the reasons
are obvious - the program is
needed.
Ironically, Tate didn’t even
know contemporary gospel
existed until 1990.
“I saw Commissioned at a
local church,” he said. “John
Kee was there and came up
and did a couple of songs. I
was like, ‘man, if this music
sounds like this, that’s what
I’ll do.’”
Tate, 24, moved to WNOW,
basically a Christian talk
radio station. He’s on from 9
a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday
through Friday, playing 15
“I get tired of turning on the
TV and seeing kids my age
dying all the time,” he said. “I
look to it as being a tool in our
community. Maybe this will
speak to them and let them
know there’s a better way of
life for them.”
Tate is hoping the show
becomes “listener supported”
and becomes a part of the sta
tion’s everyday lineup. “That’s
one of the goals I’m shooting
for,” he said.
And what of the The
Overweight Prince?
“That’s a time period I want
ito forget about,” 'Tate said. “No
■one will ever know the stress I
went through. I’ve done a lot of
growing up mentally and spir
itually.”
Tate is now a Christian, mar
ried and at peace.
“My career is what I’m doing
now,” he said. “My concern is
Marlon Tate, the Hip-Hop Minister of Radio, In the WNOW studio In Union County. He hopes to
get new show In regular lineup. PHOTO/James Brown.
what can I do to help someone
else”
Tate is a 1989 graduate of
South Mecklenberg High
School. He did got a Job at
WGIV - 1600 (now WBAV) and
got hooked on radio.
Stickney to play Charlotte Monday
By Winfred B. Cross
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Women who haven’t gotten
enough of exhaling will enjoy
Monday night at at the
Comedy Zone.
Comedian Phyllis Yvonne
Stickney will headline a
women-only concert “From A
Black Woman’s Point of View.”
Special guests will be
Charlotte’s own Sara Helms
and Washington, D.C.’s
Angelicque Cope.
Part of the proceeds go to the
Battered Women’s Shelter.
Stickney is known for her
“power of the booty” tag line,
but her career is far more
diverse. She’s done movies
(“New Jack City, “Malcolm X,”
and “What’s Love Got To Do
With It”), TV (“Cosby Show,”)
and stage. Her one-women
show, “Big Mama An Nem,”
won her a second Audelco
Award.
The show starts at 7:30 p.m.
at the Comedy Zone, 5317 E.
See CONCERT, page 5B
All eyes are on Tupac’s new disc
By Winfred B. Cross
2 Pac
All Eyez On Me
Dr. Dre., pat Nigga
Daz, David Blake,
DeVante Swing, DJ
Pooh, Mike Mosley,
fQDIII and Jolmnhy
“J” D. Rasheed,
producers
Death
☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
Tupac Shakur has been
through a great deal in the last
couple of year. He’s been shot
up, locked up and set free
(at least tem
porarily).
Now he’s about to blow up
again with his fourth solo
LP All Eyez On
first double new release for a
rap artist.. It’s an ambitious
work - 27 compositions
sprawled across two CDs. It
could quite possibly become
the best-selling rap CD of all
time.
Before I get into praising this
work, I have nit-pick. I have
the same problem with this
CD as I have with any other
gangsta rap CDs: too much
loose sex talk, too much frivo
lous violence and too, too much
profanity. For a time, I didn’t
think he knew another word
besides bitch.
But 2 Pac’s intense vocal
style and superb choice of pro
ducers makes this CD likable
despite its flaws. The music is
first-rate: beats pound with
authority.
Shakur has assembled an
all-star cast from rapdom —
Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg,
Rappin’ 4-Tay, Dat Nigga
Daz, Outlaw Immortalz
and E-40. He’s even
thrown in Roger
Troutman (on the mar
velous “California Love”),
Jodeci and Miche’le to boot.
Too bad he doesn’t have
much to say lyrical'y. There’s
nothing new here. He does at
times shows creativity.
“Wonda Why They Call You
Bytch” tells the tale of a girl
who’s used her body, to get
through life. She ends up with
lots of kids, no respect and
HIV. It’s a chilling tale, which
is his explanation for why he
uses bitch. I don’t buy it, and
neither will C. DeLores
Tucker, who’s mentioned in the
song.
This could have easily been a
one CD release, preferably
Book 1, as he calls them. No
matter. This is going to blow
away the competition for
weeks to come.
Fugees (Refugee
Camp)
The Score
Prakazrel
“Pras,” Wyclef
and Lauryn
Hill, executive
producers.
Columbia
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
See SOUNDS Page 2B
SOMETHING FOR THE PEOPLE