The Rap Column

THE MULTIMILLION-SELLING, Grammy-winning producer, performer, songwriter, and entrepreneur Andre (Dr. Dre) Young and Interscope Records, which distributes his Aftermath Entertainment, have resolved the federal lawsuit they filed in U.S. District Court in August 1996 against Triple X Entertainment and Missing Link Entertainment over the release of the album 'Dr. Dre--First Round Knockout,' a compilation of older Dre-produced tracks. Young and Interscope obtained a permanent injunction and 'significant monetary damages,' said to exceed $400,000, from Triple X and Missing Link, the two companies that joined forces to release 'First Round Knockout' in May 1996.
The defendants have been prohibited from manufacturing and distributing the album since September 1996. It contains songs by Miche'le and World Class Wreckin' Kru ( the band Dre belonged to before joining seminal rap assassins N.W.A); 'Bridgette,' an unreleased track by D.O.C.; and 'Deep Cover,' the song that introduced Snoop Doggy Dogg to the world. All sales proceeds have been held in a trust since the suit was filed.
PLAY ON: By 9 p.m. Sept. 5, the Orioles Bar on Baltimore's booming waterfront was packed with party people--professionals, young and old, buppies and baps. They gathered for a First Friday throw down hosted by Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Michael Jackson--a tall, bald brother with a smile that's like the sun breaking through clouds.
Over the last two years, Jackson has performed exceptionally well on the football field, snaring 23 touchdown receptions, the third best performance in the NFL. And now he's hoping to score big in the rap realm, too. Jackson has formed Big Play Records, a Navarre-distributed label. Its first signing is Raw Elements, a co-ed hip-hop duo from Cleveland. The act, which features Caren Crew (Shifti) and Andre Jones (Encore), formed while its members were college students.
'I started out being a big blues fan,' Jackson recalls. 'And from there I started listening to all kinds of music, period. I knew I didn't have what it takes to be an artist. So I decided to be a facilitator of talent.' Jackson credits Damien Howard (a former employee of Trevel Productions, now A&R director of Big Play) with encouraging him to form a record company. 'I believed in him enough to go ahead and do it with him,' Jackson says.
Raw Elements' debut single is 'Shake 'Em Up'--a high-intensity party jam with a fun feel and rugged rhymes. It samples a Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five classic. The group's album, 'The Core,' is due in early 1998.
The single represents just one facet of Raw Elements' musical vibe. 'We got party music, street music, jams that show skills . . . everything,' says Jones. 'We do everything from hardcore hip-hop to love ballads.'
Crew feels that Raw Elements' presence on the musical map will help to further define Cleveland as a rap capital known for cultivating fresh artists. 'Because Bone Thugs-N-Harmony made such a big impact on the world with their quick-tongued singing style, people might not be ready for us,' she says. 'But we still have to go ahead and do what we have to do.'
MORE: The debut Reprise/Warner Bros. album by the flygirl duo Nadanuf isn't out yet. The single 'The Breaks,' featuring Kurtis Blow, streets Sept. 30. Still, the act's members have been making moves and getting mad busy. They've appeared on Keenen Ivory Wayans' late-night chat show on Fox; performed at the West Hollywood, Calif., House of Blues with Blow and the old-school funk band Slave; and they are about to go on tour with teenage R&B contender Usher and hip-hop apostles God's Property.
The Cleveland crew also has plans to debut a line of activewear, Nadanuf '98 Worldwide Gear. The duo's album, 'Worldwide,' ships Oct. 21.
Rohan Thompson, a former A&R staffer for RCA Records, now consulting with Qwest Records (where he recently oversaw the debut album by R&B stylists Keystone, which is due next month) is at the helm of the Hip-Hop Cafe, a genre-themed restaurant like the Motown and Hard Rock cafes that's located in south Philadelphia. It opens its doors Oct. 31.
In the past, others have discussed doing a hip-hop-oriented restaurant/bar, but Thompson is the first one to actually go ahead with the idea. He says he thought the undertaking was viable 'because hip-hop is so dominant in the culture right now. There just needed to be something that could represent it properly.' After Thompson secured financial backing, he was ready to put the concept into action.
The restaurant will feature three levels, and the womb of the room will be decorated with murals, pictures, and memorabilia. Documentary video, vintage interviews, and promotional clips will be flashed across television monitors, and hip-hop music, broadcast from a high-tech DJ booth, will fill the air. In addition, there will be 'a little recording studio,' says Thompson, 'that will kick karaoke to the next level.'
On the restaurant's menu will be typical cafe cuisine: fries and burgers (veggie, beef, turkey), pasta dishes, etc. The food selections will be presented under down headings. For example, the entree list will be headed with the phrase, 'It's all good.' and desserts will be filed under 'Mad Flavas.'
'HARD TO GET (REVISITED),' the Rick James and Richie Rich track from Def Jam's 'How To Be A Player' soundtrack, is a shot of sweet, springy punk-funk that deserves some attention from radio mixers and club jocks. Producers DJ Quik and G-One have composed a track of cheesy synths, old piano, fuzzy guitar, sexy sax, and thick, tuneful thump. It hops and drops like classic slick Rick songs, such as 'Super Freak' and 'Give It To Me.' He throws a curvaceous cutie forceful come-on lines: 'You hot, you hot, I love the stuff you got/You are the kinky girl I write about in every song.' Meanwhile, Rich, a velvet-voiced young blood player from San Francisco, adds some flavorful, laid-back verses: 'Mackin' is an art/My philosophy be mo' hos mo' cheese.'
Atlantic Records, Vibe magazine, and Alize dE France, the makers of the passion fruit and cognac beverage that more than a dozen hip-hoppers--including Lil' Kim, Mobb Deep, Punk Barbarians, Notorious B.I.G., and 2Pac--have mentioned in their songs, is sponsoring the Alize Phat Track Contest, which will give aspiring artists a shot at being heard by industry pros and the public. The grand prize is recording studio time and a slot on an Atlantic Records compilation alongside already-signed stars.
(c) BPI Communications, 1997 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED