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CONTACT US I I H , \l I I X THEY SAID I' Story ideas? Questions? Comments? I I I J VII/ THOMAS HIGGINSON: “Originality Writeusatgamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com V mLi simply a pair of fresh eyes ' Renegades * BY JUSTIN BAJAN THE GAMECOCK “My man FN is gonna give you a few ziggy-ziggies...” To the uninitiated, this might be confusing, but to a hip-hop fan, it makes perfect sense. Translation — DJ FN is going to perform some turntable tricks for the audience to enjoy. Non-Stop Hip-Hop Live at the Elbow Room features many facets of hip-hop culture. At this weekly showcase people can enjoy live spinning, a freestyle contest and the occasional performance by both local and well-known artists. Although the doors open at SK30 p.m„ the venue doesn’t live up to it’s name until around 11:00 p.m. when the room fills with people from a wide cross section of society. Some wear dreadlocks and Rasta caps, some gold chains and baggy clothes, but all share a respect and adoration for hip-hop. WUSC DJ Shekeese, who has been with the station almost five years and handles the booking of the more notable artists, plays a big role in the program’s success. “Non-Stop Hip-Hop has been part of WUSC for years,” he its accompanying live show has been held at the Elbow Room since it started. The show is designed to include all aspects of hip-hop culture, which is based on four crucial elements: emceeing, dee-jaying, breakdancing and graffiti art. According to Shekeese, the Elbow Room “brings the essence of hip-hop culture.” On any given Wednes day night, the diversity of hip-hop fans is evident. The audience varies from 17 year-olds to 40-year-olds, Shekeese said, proving the “wide impact that hip-hop has had on society.” Hip-hop’s influence is widespread. The genre has its own section in any respectable music store. Its culture has its own communication patterns and has spawned its own slang, which has creeped into mainstream culture; writer Joel Stein used the word “diss” in Time magazine, and President Clinton used it during a speech. Hip hop can define the way people gesticulate; most emcees use their hands to punctuate their stage performances. Hip-hop can even influence its listeners’ mannerisms. One popular example is the “B-Boy Stance,” a position achieved by folding your arms across your chest and leaning slightly to the side, t Hip-hop culture also encompasses a wide variety of fashions, but has no one standard. One person might be comfortable wearing Adidas Shelltoes accompanied by Cazal glasses and a furry kangol. Others might prefer to wear baggy denim with a platinum or gold chain. Like most music forms, hip-hop is a business — one that has expanded its influence into TV shows, movies and magazines, and that is intertwined with the history of the genre. The first known step toward hip-hop’.s emergence as a mish-mash of disco music was D J Kool Here’s experimentation with a turntable and some old records in the parks of the Bronx in 1974. This led to the first successful musical venture by The SugarHill Gang, “Rapper’s Delight” in 1979, which established a precendent for the first popular rap group, Run-DMC, in 1983. As the ‘80s progressed, hip-hop got its first TV show, Yo! MTV Raps, and a magazine that exists today, The Source. In 1989, the Grammys recognized it as a legitimate form of music, giving the genre its own category. Also involved with Non-Stop Hip Hop Live at the Elbow Room is Tony Nu, WUSC hip-hop director. DJ Nu spins both at the live show and on the radio program. “Non-Stop Hip-Hop is just an extension of what we do on WUSC,” Nu said about the radio show that includes all the elements of the live show, including a freestyle contest and live spinning. Nu and Shekeese, with the help of Kingpin and DJ FN, share duties as the hosts of both the live show and the radio program. Nu calls the work a “team effort.” mm? The live show isn’t held every Wednesday of the year, but follows the Elbow Room’s booking schedule. It’s usually held every month. Last week’s show attracted the biggest turnout in recent history. “In and out all night, we had about 160 people,” Skekeese said. Some big-name artists helped attract such a big crowd: Saigon, a formidable emcee from New York; the duo Rise & Shine, both perennials in the New York underground scene; and veterans El Fudge and Mr. Complex, who both have ties to Rawkus records, which sponsors the show. ♦ HIP-HOP, SEE PAGE 8 ■m • aa - - mgrzz 'ant ■ - m Above left: Singer from the band Rise and Shine performs. Above: Rough (left), the winner of the freestyle contest, and Saigon. PHOTOS BY MICHELLE WILLIAMS PROFESSOR PICKS CHARLES KOVACIK Professor of Geography of 1 s.c. 4 FAVORITE BOOKS Caste and Class in a Southern Town John Dollard A Field Guide to American Houses Lee and Virginia McAlester Exploration of the Colorado River and its Canyons John Wesley Powell Killer Angels Michael Shaara 4 BOOKS YOU SHOULD READ Tuesdays with Morrie Mitch Albom South Carolina: A History Walter B. Edgar Blue Highways: A Journey through America William Least Heat-Moon Goode's World Atlas Rand McNally Merry Wives comes to Drayton Hall Shakespearean comedy verges on ‘hilarious extravagance’ BY JENNIFER BIRD THE GAMECOCK t “The world is a stage and we are all its actors.” William Shake speare, the father of theatrical drama, precisely compares the legacy of live theater to the daily trials of living. The Department of Theatre and Speech is offering a score of diverse theater perfor mances in their 2001-2002 season. The Merry Wives of Windsor, the first show of the season, opens at Drayton Hall Thursday. Legend says that Queen Eliza beth was so taken with the Fal staff character, young Prince Henry’s drinking buddy in Henry IV, Part I, that Shakespeare reprised his role in the comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor. The down-on-his-luck Falstaff schemes to seduce two mistress es in hopes of gaining access to their husbands’ money. The women see through Fal staff s plan and decide to teach him a lesson. Intending to make a fool of him, they encourage his ad vances, and as a result, battle the jealousy of their husbands. The typical Shakespearean comedy ensues, full of mistaken identities, pranks, and love stories. Directed by Jim O’Connor, the cast is extremely excited about working with a traveling costume designer who brings Shake speare’s classic tale to life with modern costumes verging on hi larious extravagance Student performers had the op portunity to work with Shake spearean community actors from four regional theaters. Also, guest set and sound de signers who have worked on the professional sets of Arthur Miller’s tragic Death of a Salesman, and many more well known works, will aid in bringing this play to life. ‘ The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare, premieres Sept. 28, and runs through Oct. 7. Also coming this season is Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard. The two faced duo from Shakespeare’s Hamlet create a stage full of antics as this classic tragedy transforms into comedic hysteria. As an author, Stoppard has composed many other successful plays including Shakespeare in Love. This comedic remake of Shakespeare’s classic story is not to be missed. Bee-Luther-Hatchee by Thomas Gibbons is coming Feb. 8-17,2002. Gibbons’ play, which is a South Carolina premiere, attempts to de fine the age-old question of truth. Shelita Burns walks the thin line of life in this fictional African American tale of truth in an arti ficial world. Antigone by Sophocles is show ing March 1-9, 2002. How many women could live through life knowing the twisted facts that her father married his mother and killed his father, which doesn’t even make him her fa ther. As the daughter of the doomed Greek mythological character of Oedipus, Antigone battles her un cle’s authority, the king, for the proper burial of her war-stricken brother. Hay Fever by Noel Coward will be guest directed by Artist Paul Mullins. A weekend of romance goes awry, but what is to be ex pected on a mission to define love? The abnormal Bliss family be comes a visitor in their own sum mer home. Coward’s flirtatious play will keep the crowd laugh ing and waiting for the surpris ing finale. “Theater brings a community together as one,” said Ann Dreher, a 29-year veteran of USC’s theater program. As the guest directors and set designers accompany the upcom ing theatrical schedule, Dreher hopes the theater will continue to grow and expand outward to in volve further commun ity support in the future. CD REVIEW Billy Bol Thornton releases solo CD BY WILLIAM MILLS THE GAMECOCK “At times, this CD can actually make you feel an Arkansas wind.” That’s how Tom Petty describes Billy Bob Thornton’s solo debut album, Private Radio, released yesterday by Lost Highway Records, home of Ryan Adams, Lucinda Williams and other country greats. Private Radio is a prime example of classic country music. Thornton’s vocal style takes the dark storytelling . style of Johnny Cash and adds a dash of perversion. Songs like “Forever” are perfect ex amples of these naughty tales — told in the key of blues — that flow through most of the album. Rollingstone.com described Thornton’s voice as a cross between Leonard Cohen and Tom Petty. Although the album focuses mainly on vocals, studio musicians fill in the guitar, mandolin, fiddle and drums nicely. Thornton himself picked up his drumsticks and played or two tracks, “Starlight Lounge” and “Your Blue Shadow.” Thorton has been in and out of bands since grade school as a drummer and vocalist. His love of music developed before he started his film career: A few years out of school, he was a roadie for country music bands such as The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Thornton then beat his drums in Tres Hombres, a well known band that opened up for Hank Williams Jr., Ted Nugent and Earl Scruggs. It was only after years in the country music scene that he turned his stride toward acting and directing. Even in the roles he plays, however, his country attitude and style shine through, and his deep Southern accent evidences his rural Arkansas boyhood. Thornton has achieved many ♦ THORNTON, SEE PAGE 8 UPCOMING PLAYS ROSENCRANTZAND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD By Tom Stoppard Nov. 9-18,2001 Drayton Hall Theatre Directed by Karl Rutherford BEE-LUTHER-HATCHEE By Thomas Gibbons March 1-9,2002 Longstreet Theatre ANTIGONE By Sophocles February 8-17,2002 Longstreet Theatre Guest Directed by Jay Berkow HAY FEVER By Noel Coward_ April 19-28,2002 Drayton Hall Theatre Guest Directed by Artist Paul Mullins