Not so alternative

Rolling Stone magazine, after rejecting an ad for a new translation for the Bible, has reversed its decision and has apparently sent Zondervan a contract for a half-page ad in the Feb. 24 issue. So much for being alternative.

Food

The Food Network has finally brought the late night up a couple hours. The infamous Iron Chef finally has an American version, complete with American commentators and American Iron Chefs. The show airs at 9 p.m. EST Sundays and iron chefs include Food Network regular Bobby Flay, Mario Batali and Masaharu Morimoto.

Style

Despite the ever-present snow up North, the much-looked-forward-to Fashion Week starts on Friday in New York City. The trendiest of designers are set to debut some of their hottest fashions for, you guessed it, their spring and summer 2005 collections. How ironic-how many inches of snow do they have now?

Extremes

So first there’s the ridiculous story of the man who tried to commit suicide, then there’s Arnold as governor (it continues to baffle us). Who really knows what’s going on in good ol’ Cali? The lastest: On eBay, an auctioneer has posted that for the low price of $150,000, said auctioneer will buy a gas-chugging Hummer, plaster it with the buyers’ logo, have it pimped and drive through all of the L.A. hot spots. Who even thinks of that?

Hip-hop is a cultural movement that began among urban African-American youth in New York and has since spread around the world. Emerging from a blend of African and West Indian vibes in the late 1960s, the four main elements of hip-hop are MCing, DJing, graffiti art and breakdancing. Some consider beatboxing the fifth element of the movement; others might add political activism as an important facet of hip-hop. The term has since come to be a synonym for hip-hop music and rap to mainstream audiences, defining it as a way of life.

However, many lyrical artists such as Dead Prez have surpassed modern stereotypes by ringing an alarm when people seem to start forgetting the purpose behind this beautiful culture. “Our mission is to teach, inspire and educate, because we need to speak the truth and respect the culture that has given birth to us,”says Stic of Dead Prez, reflecting on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others who died for freedom of speech.

To celebrate the late activist’s birthday, The District, located in downtown Miami, launched its Mellow Mondays with a live poetry session hosted by South Florida favorites such as Asia, Marcus Blake, Rachel Finley and Will da Real One, who stay faithful to the movement by blessing many stages with their powerful lyrics. The setting was sexy and the crowd real, a unified black, brown and gold audience, carrying their ancestries in their locks, honest smiles or blue eyes. A full house was waiting for the feature poets, M-1, who also goes by the name Mutulu Olugbala, and Stic of Dead Prez, to bring the unpredictable, yet incredible, words that have characterized them as militant artists of the hip-hop industry.

“I had no idea where our music was going when we first started. We make moves, we work hard, and we realize that we are headed to the right direction,” says M-1 when asked about the path the group is taking in the near future. From its first LP, Let’s Get Free, to its latest RBG, with the hit single “Hell Yeah (Pimp The System)” featuring Jay-Z, the group’s authentic creation is timeless and constantly faithful to the cultural movement.

One new component that can be heard throughout the recent album is the focus to the ‘hood and street knowledge. “I would like to reach out to our communities a little bit more, and introduce them to housing, health care and education by using this music as a vehicle-a vessel-launching our revolutionary program,” says M-1, while Stic adds, “We need to go door-to-door, hand-in-hand, to our ‘hood, and make sure that people are aware of the poor conditions they live in.” Such powerful statements reflect the group’s mission to teach, inspire and educate by using the most authoritative weapon of all, the mic.

Although Dead Prez’s style may be considered riot music to some, its beats are political, flavorfully spiced with jungle and drum and bass rhythms that can’t easily be categorized by one sound or production style. The music mixes elements of soul, blues, reggae, rock and more in natural, flowing ways while remaining complicated, challenging, terse and totally funky. The group’s lyrical content may seem stronger than the final musical product, but M-1 says that “Poetry and music are all part of this culture; they can’t be separated.” In effect, moral values and integrity are omnipresent in Dead Prez’s poetry, but are also simply coated with a dose of reality that is a tad bit excessive for the everyday audience, distracted by commercial pop and propaganda. That reality is what makes its music so close to hip-hop’s cultural movement, fitted to whoever can play the part, no matter what their background is. Hip-hop is in our soul and its content is firing us with ammunition to share our knowledge with each other.

Nathalie Guillaume can be contacted at n.guillaume@umiami.edu.

On Friday, Jan. 21, the University of Miami Rathskeller hosted the first spoken word night sponsored by the United Black Students. Although this was one of the last events on the calendar for that week celebrating the eternal dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., it was definitely the most popular one, pulling a very diverse group of students to share their poetic and artistic talents with their fellow students. The doors opened at 8 p.m., and by 8:15, the list was nearly full with young, gifted performers, but none of them could measure to the strong and inspiring performance the feature artist, J.Ivy, was about to deliver.

Formally known as James Ivy Richardson, the Chicago native, currently living in New York, has been blessing poetry venues from Los Angeles to Toronto to Jamaica, and other hot spots in the U.S., for the past 11 years. This spoken word impresario with the features of an Ethiopian king has been stimulating us to connect poetry and hip-hop in the soulful melodies and deep thoughts that we can find in his flavorful LP, Down at the Loose Skillet.

“I want to share what I went through to those who are just coming up and it feels real good to get back to that,” Ivy said to the audience of college students that supported him with cheers and applause.

In 2004, Ivy introduced himself to the world as the first African-American to represent Chicago on the award-winning Russell Simmons’ HBO Def Poetry during its first season. That same year, he recorded with Kanye West in his triple-platinum, Grammy-nominated album, The College Dropout, where he is featured on “Never Let You Down” with hip-hop extraordinaire Jay-Z. Although these appearances are Ivy’s most noted ones, his talents in the art of poetry have permitted him to work with amazing artists such as John Legend, Lil’ Mo, hip-hop violinist Miri Ben-Ari and even dive into the world of cinema with voiceovers for MTV and the NFL.

“I am still learning myself, and I am trying to better that. I often come up with melodies but I am not a producer, so it would be nice to have a producer to put my joints together,” he says. In this learning process, Ivy has discovered a new style of writing; he is working on a book titled I’m Not That Good with Words that will be sold along with his upcoming album, Izn’t It Ivyous?

Although he savors the status of hip-hop icon he has attained, Ivy still enjoys the natural pleasures of life and the beautiful struggle of getting to his envisioned destination. He releases his frustrations with a pen and a pad and encourages newcomers to stay real to their experiences by always remembering not the beginning, but the feeling from the beginning.

“I’m starving because I am far from where I wanna be,” he says. “And I am working on it so I see myself as OK…an OK good, because everyday I want to get better.”

Going by his now-famous quote, “Dreams don’t come true, they are true,” Ivy is living proof that we have the power to do it all. In fact, that’s what he wants his audience to do. “We can’t get caught up in insecurity, but we should simply stop being scared to succeed and be who we are here to be,” he says. “Nobody owes you anything but you.”

Nathalie Guillaume can be contacted at n.guillaume@umiami.edu.

The doors of Northwestern High School in Miami are generally closed on Saturday, but on this particular day, it looks like it’s the first day of school. In the gymnasium, some kids walk around with their backpacks greeting their friends as if they hadn’t seen each other in months, and all are dressed to impress-new hair weaves for girls, the latest shoes for guys and complete outfits along with matching accessories to complete the package.

But the reason all of these kids have come out to school is not for any school-related activity. The person responsible for all of this may be a new name to you, but to those in attendance, she is one of the next big thing in the world of music. Brianna “Lil’ Brianna” Perry, a young, sophisticated lady with a fresh vigor and hunger is ready to take take the hip-hop world by storm, but on this particular day, she’s also celebrating her 13th birthday.

South Florida’s latest “lil'” rapper has accomplished more than most people twice her age who are still trying to break into the music industry. Rapping and free styling since she was seven, Brianna’s talents were recognized when she caught the ear of Miami’s own “Diamond Princess” Trina. She was instantly swooped up with a recording contract under Trina’s now-defunct label, Diva Enterprises. After appearing on albums by two of hip-hop’s raunchiest female rappers, Trina and Jacki-O, along with becoming the youngest person to freestyle on BET’s Rap City: The Bassment Show, she eventually caught the attention of one of her biggest influences, Missy Elliott.

Elliott saw the creativity and originality of Brianna and immediately signed the young talent to her own label, Goldmind Inc. Using the talents of Elliott, Timbaland and others, she has recorded over 40 tracks for the untitled album.

“The recording sessions with Missy run smooth because I have the passion and love for music that I want to make my project sound good,” says Brianna. When working with Elliott, an important requirement to making a hit record, is keeping up with Elliott’s nocturnal recording schedule, one that Brianna has gotten use to. “I’m a kid. I keep the energy,” she says with a laugh, “But I do take breaks.” While much information surrounding the album is under lock, Brianna does assure that it will be worth the weight. “You have to look out for that album. It’s serious.”

Brianna is distinguishing herself from the rest of the artists her age because not only does she have producers such as Elliott and Timbaland, but also because she is writing her own material. And while Lil’ Bow Wow and Lil’ Romeo had the support of the millions of pre-pubescent girls, Brianna has the confidence that she will gain their support, too. “Hopefully my lyrics and my music will take them in and hopefully I won’t have to worry [about not being accepted].”

As she patiently awaits stardom, she credits her mentor Elliott with preparing her for what’s to come. “Missy has taught me to stay humble and work hard, because when you work hard, you can conquer anything.” And if everything goes according to plan, you can expect to see Brianna everywhere. “I hope to be taking over the world. Lil’ Brianna backpacks, umbrellas, purses, perfumes. Everything!” Obviously, she has also learned that branding and marketing are the keys to success, an important lesson for even someone who just turned 13.

Marcus Washington can be contacted at m.washington2@umiami.edu.