Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 12, 1990 TAG: 9004110341
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TRACIE FELLERS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It's also your chance to do some cold chillin'. The Easter Rap-A-Thon, featuring rap heavyweight Big Daddy Kane, hip-hops into Roanoke on Saturday night. MC Lyte and Queen Latifah -two of rap's rising female stars - and Digital Underground and 3rd Bass will share the spotlight at the 8 p.m. show at the Roanoke Civic Center Coliseum.
Brooklyn-born Kane got the attention of rap audiences nationwide with his first album, "Long Live The Kane," released on the Cold Chillin' label in late 1987. With "Ain't No Half Steppin'," a funky, streetwise single from that album, Kane enjoyed chart success and gained a following of young rap listeners.
Kane's follow-up album, "It's A Big Daddy Thing," has already spawned a hit single - "I Get The Job Done." The album's raw language and decidedly adult themes - expressed in tunes such as "Pumpin' Ain't Easy" - probably wouldn't meet with the approval of parents. In fact, "It's a Big Daddy Thing" and Calfornia-based Digital Underground's latest release, dubbed "Sex Packets," both have labels warning potential listeners of explicit lyrics.
Several rap artists have been under fire lately from groups such as Tipper Gore's Parents Music Resource Center - and from the media - for their profane, raunchy or racially insensitive lyrics.
But Saturday's show offers another side of rap with MC Lyte and Queen Latifah, two young women making an impact on the rap scene with fresh, inventive rhythms and rhymes.
The Village Voice has called MC Lyte "hip-hop's best female vocalist and lyricist." Her debut single, "I Cram To Understand U," a rap about love, lust and crack addiction, was released in 1988 to critical acclaim - The New York Times named it one of the year's 12 best.
Last summer, MC Lyte's second album, "Eyes On This," was released, which explores subjects as diverse as drug abuse and relationships. And this year, she received a New York Music Award in the best rap artist category, beating out established male rappers including LL Cool J.
But success in the rap world isn't all-important to MC Lyte, the stage name of Brooklyn native Lana Moorer, who started rapping with friends at school at age 12. Recently she joined actor Tim Reid, singer Patti Austin and other celebrities in a Carnegie Hall performance to benefit an AIDS foundation. She has also done public service announcements in an effort to educate people about the disease.
She has worked with the Make A Wish Foundation of Connecticut, taking time to visit a terminally ill child whose final wish was to meet MC Lyte. She also teamed up with a number of rap artists, including Latifah, on the record and video "Self-Destruction." The song's lyrics seek to eliminate rap's negative image and address the issue of black on black crime.
On Latifah's debut album, "All Hail The Queen," the 20-year-old Newark, N.J., native stakes her claim as the "Queen of Rap." The album attempts to expand rap's horizons with reggae rhythms, elements of house music and the influence of rhythm and blues.
Her first single, "Wrath Of My Madness," preceded the album, and exemplifies her individualistic, forceful style, tempered by reggae inflections. "Come Into My House" is Latifah's first effort to combine rap and Chicago house music, an increasingly popular matchup. And rap group De La Soul joins her on "Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children," in which the three male rappers banter with "Mama" Latifah.
If you're wondering about the "royal" name, Latifah says it doesn't have to do with royalty, but with her spiritual feelings. She got the name Latifah, which is Arabic for "delicate and sensitive," from a Muslim cousin, and favors African headpieces and natural fabrics in clothing.
Greensboro urban contemporary radio station WJMH (102 JAMS) is heavily involved with promoting Saturday night's concert, according to program director Chris Bailey. "We're going to have our [disc jockeys] on stage; we're going to be a presence in the crowd. We will be there," he said.
General admission tickets for the show are $16.50 and are available at the Roanoke Civic Center box office.
EASTER RAP-A-THON: 8 p.m. Saturday, Roanoke Civic Center. 981-1201.
by CNB