Arts & Entertainment
NAS: STILLMATIC MURDERED DREAMS: THE REVIEW
Clayton Mercer
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Cnice40 @ collegeclub.com
“Went from Nasty Nas to Esco’s
Trash” was a line from Jay-Z’s “Take
over”, a song that has helped inten
sify one of hip-hop’s most memo
rable lyrical battles to date. Shawn
Carter’s words summarize what
many people have been saying
about Nasir“Nas” Jones since his
1994 classic debut, lllmatic. His
crafty lyrics and views of street life
took a back seat to a life of fur-coats
and nights full of Cristal and beautiful
women in nightclubs with P. Diddy
After three lackluster albums and a
not-so- well-received Firm fiasco,
Nas has returned to his glory days
with his latest album, Stillmatic.
Nas spends little time acknowl
edging the war of words between
himself and Jigga.The scorching
“Ether” finds Nas using Jay-Z’s
mantra, “I will not lose” to perfection.
With lyrics such as, “You seem to be
only concerned with dissin’ women/
Were you abused as a child?/
Scared to smile/ They called you
ugly?/Well, life is harsh/ Hug me,
don’t reject me” and his verbal jabs
towards the Roc-A-Fella Records
family “Ether” is a killer-reply to Jay-
Z’s “Takeover.”
The verbal battle continues on
“Destroy & Rebuild” as Nas ad
dresses his conflict with Cormega,
former Firm associate Nature, and,
most surprisingly. Prodigy of Mobb
Deep, who he feels disrespected the
legacy of Queensbridge. The gem of
the album is the Chucky Thompson
produced “One Mic,” which Nas
experiments with the pitch of his
voice. Nas begins with a whisper
and gets louder as he adds more
impact to his lyrics. On “Rewind,”
Nas tells a descriptive story from
ending to beginning. The reunion of
Nas and Large Professor on “Your
Da Man” is well received because it
gives the album a feel of their work
on lllmatic.
However, Stillamtic does have
its problems. The Swizz Beats pro
duced “Braveheart Party” featuring
Mary J. Blige seems out-of-place on
this album {Stillmatic will be re-
released and the album will not
contain the track “Braveheart Party,”
which Mary J. Blige asked to be cut
for “personal reasons”). And al
though the chemisty of Nas and AZ
is great on “The Flyest,” the track
seems to be a misguided attempt at
crossover appeal.
Even with the flaws, this is the
album Nas fans and hip-hop enthu
siasts alike have been waiting for.
Nasty Nas has returned to the
formula that made him one of hip-
hop’s finest MC’s. Stillmatic is not
lllmatic, as Nas did not intend it to
be. Michael Jackson may never have
a better album than his blockbuster
Thriller. But Nas can have a better
album than lllmatic. Stillmatic is a
step in that direction.
FAITH EVANS: FAITHFULLY
Clayton Mercer
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Cnice40 @ collegeclub.com
Bad Boy Record’s first lady.
Faith Evans, has returned with her
most introspective album ever.
Faith’s third album. Faithfully, delivers
a mixture of old school and new
school anthems.
The first track on the album,
“Alone in This World”, includes the
notorious beat and excerpts from
“Who Shot Ya” by Evan’s late hus
band, Notorious B.I.G., and is Co-
Produced by Sean “P. Diddy” Combs.
The track uses light piano tunes to
lightly enhance Faith’s beautiful
vocals. The retro influence also
shows up later on the title track
“Faithfully' as the instrumental from
Mtume’s “Juicy Fruit” is easily notice
able. Super-producers, The
Neptunes, show up on the album for
the radio friendly “Burnin’ Up”, which
also features new Bad Boy artist
Loon.
The standout track on Faithfully
is “I Love You”. The song, co-written
by Jennifer Lopez and Co-Produced
by P. Diddy, is a platform for Faith to
show her vocal skills and demon
strate why she is one of the best
soul singers today. With lyrics such
as “First time I saw your face/ My
heart just erase/ All the guys I knew
before”. Faith easily grabs your
attention as she blatantly releases
her true feelings.
“You Gets No Love” is an up
tempo groove that shows Faith
having fun with the music. Helped
out by a rap by P. Diddy and Loon,
Faith uses lyrics such as “Played
with my emotions/You gets no
devotion/ You gets no love” to re
lease her anger towards a man who
has done her wrong for the last time.
“Can’t Believe” sees a soulful Faith
sharing time with label-mate Carl
Thomas in what has to be consid
ered Faith’s best collaboration to
date.
Faithfully is easily Faith’s best
album ever. A typical Faith album
with strong vocals, great use of old
school/new school flavors, and great
production, Faithfully sho\NS maturity
and an overall great effort.
PREVIEW: “OUMES OFTHE HEART’
Public Relations Reports
Elizabeth City State University
(ECSU) announces upcoming dates
for the Pulitzer Prize winning play
“Crimes of the Heart.” ECSU’s Univer
sity Players will present the family
drama February 20, 21, 22 and 23,
2002 in the G. R. Little Theatre. Cur
tain time for each performance is 7:30
p.m.
The play zooms in on the lives of
three Mississippi adult sisters awaiting
news from the local hospital on the
condition of their gravely-ill father. One
sister, Lenny the oldest, has never
married and is running out of pros
pects. The middle sister has returned
to heal from wounds of a failed singing
career on the West Coast. The young
est wounded her husband after a
disagreement. Other characters such
as a prudish cousin and a young
lawyer add sparks to this drama.
Critical comments include those
from The New York Times. “While this
play overflows with infectious high
spirits, it is also, unmistakably the tale
of a very troubled family.”
“It has heart, wit and a surpris
ingly zany passion that must carry all
before it. It would certainly be a crime
for anyone interested in the theatre
not to see this play.” The New York
Post.
ECSU’s performances will be
directed by a senior drama student,
Laura Nykki Houston. Admission for
the general public are $7, $2 for
ECSU faculty and staff; $1 for ECSU
students.
Antonio Barrow
Assistant Editor
thegreatchefOI @yahoo.com
Murdered Dreams, a mystery
novel by Lola Scales Boone, is a great
story for those who love mystery. This
Elizabeth City State University gradu
ate provides us with a sense of realis
tic details.
The story takes place in a city
called River’s Edge. Talbert Micheals,
the protagonist, is just released from
prison and is now looking for his
brother. When he arrives at River’s
Edge, he finds out that his younger
brother Desmond is dead. Outraged by
his brother’s death, he teams up with
police officer Grant Lewis to find out
who the murderer is. They try to find
any acquaintances or close friends of
Desmond to see if they could give
Talbert any important information.
Other people also have their
share of pains. Kyle Stanton, a Viet
nam War veteran, relives his painful
childhood and also, suffers from the
memories of the war. Raven Turner,
Desmond’s girlfriend, was accused of
killing Desmond, but later, she is
released.
Raven’s ex-boss, Jeanette
Horton, was caught charging her '
employees extra commission, but she
charged Raven more. Serena Mor
gan, the antagonist, suffered from a-
psychological disorder due to her
childhood. She is Kyle’s daughter, '
who now blames Kyle for the pain and
abuse that she suffered from her
adopted parents.
This novel is a great mystery and
I enjoyed reading it. The writer has.
used her mystery writing skills fantas
tically. The novel was very factual in
some details such as the police
investigations. I also liked the way the
past changed the fate of the people If
you love mystery novels, this is truly, a
good one to read.
To purchase a copy of this mys
tery novel and to learn about the
author, visit
http://www.travlobooks.com.
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Photo Courtesy of genocites.coip\
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Photo Courtesy of stillmatic.com