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The Daily Tar HeelMonday, August 19, 19917 A Mi Ice-T's message defies big-label logic !ce-T O.C. Original Gangster Warner Bros. 12 Black. Black and big. It used to be "right on," but now it's "fly" and "dope." One of the most timely recordings by a black performer was released this summer. It thrusts rap further, employ ing conscientious, provoking messages delivered in up-to-date lingo on top of meticulous samples, killer grooves and house-crunchin' beats. Pardon the jar gon, but ya better get used to it it's part of the revolution taking place in black music, particularly rap. Knowledge reigns supreme. Not everybody understands the im plications, but everyone in an evolv ing set of "thinking rappers" ( including Brand Nubian, Public Enemy and Paris) knows how to say it. They may differ in the catch-phrase used to express it, but it's the notion that counts. Similarly, the different genres of this school of rap thinking teach and preach for the black man as equal, or as supe rior, or as different, or as divergent but always, as a contender. Take two, De La Soul and Ice-T. The former are witty and sly, subtle and smooth. They don't overbea.r impress ing with iambic pentameter, obscure yet hip samples and trademark beats. Ice-T, whose core is as hard as the inside of a golf ball and seemingly as complex comes from a different 'hood. And it's hard to believe he's not for real. His music is state-of-the-art and makes you feel like he really wants to kick your ass just for listening to it. But Ice-T is not about vulgarity. He's about the truest rendition capitalist-consumer society can provide to portray the most vivid grit-blood-violence-poverty-cruelty-blasphemy-mental-hysterec-tomy images it's been dealt, and for good measure, mass-marketed like hell. Ice-T's fourth LP, "O.G. Original Gangster," defies most logic found in the big-label industry these days. It has 24 tracks, most of which repeatedly use the words "fuck" and "shit," in various contexts. He would probably be consid ered vulgar and repulsive by almost anyone. Does he care? See for yourself: "Fuck the police, fuck the CIA, fuck the FBI, fuck Tipper Gore, fuck Bush and his crippled bitch. I told ya, ya shoulda killed me last year," he winces on the last track. Can you say "freedom of speech?" That was part of the title of Ice-T's third LP, released in 1989. But "Origi nal Gangster" is tougher. It bites into flesh like an Uzi. That's the effect Ice T wants. He's very calculated in all the outrageous no-holds-barred language and attitude he smears in your face. He's a smart man, and a rich man, and a nice person, and an ex-convict, and well-endowed and angry. No, he and I didn't have lunch last week but all this and more he candidly reveals on the album. The chemistry of Ice-T and his pro duction unit Rhyme Syndicate is ground breaking. Tracks like "Mind Over Mat ter," "Straight Up Nigga," "Midnight" (yet another cop of "When the Levee Breaks") and "Escape from the Killing Fields" combine Ice's most intense lyr ics and deliveries with the LP's most sophisticated and danceable beats. On "Escape...," Ice-T scoffs at and blames the black man for thinking his place is in poverty in the ghetto. "Shut up, do you know How dumb you sound?That mentality What keeps my people down. No one wants to Live in an urban wary You live there 'cause Your parents were poor. They live there because theirs were also, Get yourself together Hit the gates, bro!" Ice isn't dissin' his own race. But he's not giving the benefit of the doubt just because someone's black if they're not willing to try making things better. wait for the video go to the dollar theater only pay matinee price pay full price take your sister, too TANNING, INC. One visit .v.$5.oo 5 visits $20.oo 200 minutes. ....$40.00 20 visits $60.oo One Month $50.oo 3 months $125.oo 7 Wolff Tanning Beds Bulbs changed every 500 hours Open 7 Days A Week 139 Rams Plaza 9 am-9 pm . 968-3377 . Ice-T in 'Original Layton Croft Music The special ingredient to Ice-T is the (supposed) fact that he's been to hell and now he's back (making millions) to tell us it's right in our own backyards. If not in our own backyards, in his. In south central Los Angeles. "Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous" is indicative of Ice's lack of preten tiousness. He gives a day-in-the-life scenario of a star, saying it's hard, but he wouldn't trade it for the world. He also says he's rich as shit and loves to have money. This theme also ties in on "Straight Up Nigga," where Ice boasts m i urAc i cATucDonne a Kin riiirrc m9 I foU SALE NOw $ UNIVERSITY MALL i J AND 11 I IsomsagLLl I are guaranteed for life, flt 1 f We've got the largest selection! b t I (SiSIPAfC J -1 Look for our Eastpak Express Carts In University Mall & South Square Mall throuah Auaust 27. I NORTH HILLS MALL. RALEIGH CARY TOWNE CENTER Dreaming of an advertising job in a big city You'll need good experience, lots of it. ' The Daily Tar Heel can give you that experience and help you pay your way through school at the same time. The advertising department is looking for account representatives and assistant account representatives. If you're interested in advertising or sales and want to get ready for the big time, come interview with us. Applications are available in Suite 104 of the Student Union. Stop by today and prepare yourself for the big city ! The Daily Tar Heel is an equal opportunity employer , I Gangster' mode being a "Nigga," a term in his dictio nary of distinguished pride. "Nigga," to Ice-T, encompasses la bels deemed more suitable by society, like "African-American," "black" and "colored," in one word. He aligns with fellow "niggas" for the sake of race. But then the Ice-T twist. He justifies the stereotypes of a black person from the area he's from thief and criminal saying that stealing was exemplified by white settlers, who snatched everything away from Native Americans. He's got a point. Ice-T is flamboyant, disgruntling, explosive, compassionate, focused and pissed the fuck off all in his own right. Believe the hype. f mm m e Connells score a victory at "And if it crumbles all around us, then we'll wait and see." Despite the ever-present, doom filled prophesies of their most unmer ciful crit ics, th ings haven 't come close to crumbling for the Connells. On the contrary, the Fourth of July proved to be the group's biggest concert ever, as it headlined the opening night of the Hardee's Pavilion at Walnut Creek Amphitheatre in Raleigh. In many ways, it was a dream con cert for the Connells. Rarely do cham pions of college pop music, despite their inspiring and often exhausting sound, get the chance to perform at 20,000-seat outdoor arenas on starry holiday nights . But on July 4, the Connells got the chance to play the role of the ail American, center-stage band. No matter how out-of-place the group may have looked playing on the mam moth stage (people with lawn tickets could barely make out the players), you couldn't help but be excited for the members and wish that all successful bands trapped between prime-time MTV and the underground could have the same chance. It's a bit of dream that's usually shattered by the myth, money and excess of "popu lar music." But on this night, North Carolina decided to give something back to its favorite next-door-neighbor band. The Connells got to play the Rolling Stones, as thousands of giddy teenagers danced in the aisles and young adults piled onto the grass seats carrying blankets and beers. As the lights went out, giant TV screens showed the members walk ing single file from the dressing room onto the stage. As they faced the thou- Icoupon ih4iy coupon! i I JJJ VALID ON IlLSL CJ SzJUiZX3 CjJ Offer only good through, I I M PURCHASES OF V--: y Sept. 30, 1991 Nfc I MORE THAN $5 Neighborhood Bar& Grill No Takeout Please I 1 1506 E.Franklin St. limit 1 coupon per I 1 (Hs . ChaPel Hill fSiBSgiayj) ANNOUNCING TheWestEmd Monday, 819 Tuesday, 820 Wednesday, 821 La 968-467i f Terraza 50 off any sandwich DKg0 968-8670 1 12 price pizza 929- 6978 Every Wednesday $1 . off Free Pool Tables Tapewormz lasagna manicotti 4p.m. -7p.m. KcifclOkG 11 year anniversary $1.75 Sports Quarts 75c Draft 82291 'The Coldest Beer in Town" No cover with this ad Thursday, 822 I Friday, 823 Seedals VSC) 2967-9762 Wings 25c each TSjn Now open for lunch & dinner Nachos liLl Oysters 1 12 shell 25c each Beer or Sangria PitcherswC Steamed Shrimp 25c each For Delivery Call: HeW Tuesdays Thursday High Balls $1. 00 942-GRIL Slider Shooters $1.00 Coming Thursday, August 29: Back To School Block Party The West End Tlie Best End 500 Block West Franklin Street Charles Marshall Concert sands, they seemed undaunted, opening their set with the gloriful tunes "All Sinks In" and "Speak to Me," from their One Simple Word LP. B ut after the opening riffs, there were what seemed to be traces of nervous ness. Missed or muffled guitar phrases were briefly apparent, and Doug MacMillan's vocals were a bit restrained and began cracking earlier than usual, although thiscould have been due to the normal live grit displayed by pop's preppiest punk child rather than by big stage jitters. But despite minor imper fections in transferring club anthems to center stage, the Connells' set was con sistent, tough and, to say the least, bold. One would expect a band in the Connells' shoes to adapt its set to a new bigger-than-life environment by play ing some of its most popular material first to earn an early stamp of approval. B ut "Scotty 's Lament," and "Hats Of f," (which were left off entirely) were re placed by "Set the Stage,""Over There" and "Upside Down." The band was almost seven songs into the set before the members finally let theirguarddown, playing Boylan Heights' quaint charmer, "Choose A Side," only a moderately huge anthem of sorts. MacMillan also didn't lose his down home spontaneity. Between songs, he didn't hesitate to entertain the crowd with his trademark a cappella samples of '70s pop hits. And during a brief solo, he broke a string on his seldom-used acoustic guitar. Without skipping a beat, amphitheater he stopped the song, abandoned the guitar, apologized and jump-started the band back into its set. Gu itarist George Hunt ley got to sing some of his flattering melodies, like "What Do You Want," and "Sal." "Motel" was a nice surprise as an encore, but his best songs to date, "The Joke" and the perilous "Home To day," were sorely missed. Also sorely missed were some of One Simple Word's most enlightening tracks, like "Too Gone" and "Another Souveniu" While the big stage gave the Connells the chance to test the sheer stadium strength of rock an thems like "Something To Say," and "Stone Cold Yesterday," (which ig nited blazes of energy and frenzied the crowd), some of the most moving and poignant numbers proved to be the quietest, like the mellow acoustic ver sion of "Hey Wow" and the country punch combo of "Get a Gun." The band's well-deserved encore closed with "Sat Nite USA," the fierce rock song whose sweating chorus had to be written for live performances on nights like these. But whatever rush the band had worked by the closing ended abruptly. The lights turned on quickly and the fireworks went off. But it was a victory on both sides. The Connells were given a big chance to show off a brief history of an enor mous pop talent for a rather large au dience and a gorgeous new amphithe ater. And North Carolina responded with 11,238 delighted fans who danced, drank and sang along. A cou rageous and uninhibited presentation the only flaws were a few missing songs and seats that allowed some to see less than they would at the Cradle.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Aug. 19, 1991, edition 1
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