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0 THE GAMECOCK * Monday, November 11,2002 • 5 CONTACT US MTY - Story ideas? Questions? Comments? I W I I / '“The world’s as ugly as sin, E-mailusatgamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com -JL. T _■ m—JL. m v and almost as delightful.” Behind the scenes at Carolina *i Productions ^ PHOTO BY JUSTIN BAJAN/THE GAMECOCK George Raad, left, Carolina Productions’ Ideas and Issues commissioner, talks with Concerts Commissioner Josh Terry about the group’s upcoming events. BY HOLLY DUTTON THE GAMECOCK % Carolina Productions allowed Vance McNabb, now a USC grad uate, to go from the organiza tion's Concerts commissioner to the tour manager for Jump, Little Children, then for John Mayer. Josh Terry, third-year public relations student and current Concerts commissioner, hopes to do something similar. He wants to springboard off his experience with Carolina Productions as well and one day work at a book ing agency or marketing promo tions for major labels. Terry’s in volvement in Carolina Productions has piqued his in terest in the music industry. “I started off (majoring) in % print because, when I was in high school, I did student news paper. i found out through Carolina Productions and other outlets that I was more interest ed in the promotional side of things, so I switched” majors, Terry said. Terry heard about Carolina Productions when he was a freshman and showed up in the office one day to ask how he could help. He started off work ing on a Jimmie’s Chicken Shack show, and he has been in volved with the organization ever since. Last year, he booked the band Better Than Ezra, and he recent ly co-promoted the MTV Clipse and Ms. Jade concert with Special Programs Commissioner Scott Sowell. Segments from the concert aired on MTV several weeks ago and are now rerunning on MTV2. “I am very pleased with the Clipse and Ms. Jade concert we had recently,” Terry said. “It was great to see such high attendance numbers and to see students re ally having a great time at the concert.” Carolina Productions has six commissions besides the Concerts Commission: Cinematic Arts, Homecoming, Traditional Events, Ideas and Issues, Special Programs, and Cultural Awareness commissions, all of which bring various groups and entertainment to campus. Second-year liberal arts stu dent George Raad, Ideas and Issues commissioner, along with last year’s Ideas and Issues com missioner, Chris Maner, orga nized the Oct. 30 marijuana de bate. The debate featured Steve Hager, editor in chief of High Times magazine, and Robert Stutman from the Drug Enforcement Agency. This event SURFYOURSELF To find out more information, see: www.sa.sc.edu/cp brought so many students to the Russell House Ballroom that some people had to be turned away. “The one thing that amazed me was that people were willing to give it a chance,” Raad said. “It wasn’t a lecture. It was a lecture performance. The guys were both entertaining and informative, which is a rarity. Everyone loved the marijuana idea.” And for this Wednesday, Raad has planned the J-Spot, which he said will feature “a sex educator who tells all.” The Carolina Productions office is located in the Russell House, suite 235. Suggestions, as well as volunteers, are needed to help plan events. The organization is ac cepting applications through Nov. 20 for next year’s commissioners. “It’s a great way to see how events are put on from behind the scenes,” Terry said. “You would never know how much work goes into bringing a concert, comedi an or lecturer without seeing how the whole process works.” Raad said: “Students, please come to the shows; this is your tu ition. If you’re not satisfied with what you’re seeing, please get on the staff. We welcome any criti cism.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com MOVIE REVIEW /«*» ‘8 Mile’ doesn’t go the distance “8 MILE” Starring Eminem, Brittany Murphy, Kim Basinger ★★ out of by pat cauley the gamecock ^ When dealing with controver sial superstar Eminem, anything is possible. His latest jab at society is the film “8 Mile,” a loose but in spired biography of his rise to glory — the story of an unknown trailer park rapper trying to be heard. The movie opens with Jimmy Smith Jr. (Eminem) freezing up and getting booed offstage at an un derground freestyle-rap tourna ment. The rest of the film deals with Jimmy’s trying to stir up enough courage to compete again. Along the way, Jimmy falls for a girl named Alex (Brittany Murphy), who is also trying to get away from her underprivileged life in Detroit. Alex hopes—as if we haven’t heard this before—to go to New York and make it as a model. Kim Basinger plays Jimmy’s al coholic mother, Stephanie, who is struggling not to be evicted from her trailer-park home and has to deal with an abusive boyfriend. The film also tells the story of Jimmy and his best friend, Future, played by Mekhi Phifer. Future tries to inspire Jimmy and keep him motivated to succeed in his rapping dreams. “8 Mile” features marvelous act ing from Basinger; Murphy, of W “Clueless” and “Don’t Say a p|Ts| Word” fame; and Phifer, who 1 f starred in “Clockers” and “O.” It is wasted, however, because their story lines are the most I underdeveloped elements of ! the film. Jimmy and Future seem to almost make a deeper connec tion during their conver sations, but they never do. The rap per’s relation ship with his mother is un clear. Jimmy even catches Alex having sex with another man, but her infidelity never becomes a big deal. Eminem’s performance is pitch perfect, but why shouldn’t it be? Jimmy (also known as Rabbit) is almost a dead-on self-portrayal and, therefore, does not require much acting talent. The uneven script from Scott Silver (“The Mod Squad”) seems like one big profanity. It becomes a task for the viewer to decipher the dialogue among all the swearing. The script also involves a lot of pushed humor in an attempt to keep the audience interested; this strained coihedy is painfully obvi ous when one of Jimmy’s friends shoots a gun in his pants. This is something of a letdown, coming from Oscar-nominated director Curtis Hanson. It sometimes appears that if all the Eminem hype were taken away, the movie would be utterly useless. The ending is abrupt and open-end ed. Also, the complications between Jimmy and Alex, as well as between Jimmy and his previous girlfriend, are never resolved. Still, with outstanding acting from some key players and a num ber of humorous freestyling mo ments, “8 Mile” is worth a look. It’s far from a classic, but it is not a bomb. The potential for a great film is there. For Eminem fans, seeing “8 Mile” is a must. All other moviego ers can wait until it comes out on video. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com Hr - PHOTO BY KEVIN TANAKA/KRT CAMPUS Emblem plays his first leading role, as an unknown rapper „ trying to make It big, In the movie “8 Mile.’’ The Latin connection Batanga Web site plays music rarely heard anywhere else BY KAMILLE BOSTICK THE GAMECOCK With the playlist of popu lar music stations running a little low on less-than-main stream artists and music, Latin-music lovers now have Batanga, an online resource where they can hear the songs they enjoy. Batanga, at www.batan ga.com, features 16 genres of Latin music and allows 24 hour access to hits and re quests from fans of every thing from mariachi bands to hip-hop and reggae acts to salsa groups. Available online in ei ther Spanish or English, the site lets visitors tune in to music that is mostly un heard on other media venues. Based in Greensboro, N.C., Batanga began two years ago and has quickly become one of the world’s leading online Latin-music broadcasters; it reaches nearly 1 million listeners, many of them young Latinos. Nancy Torres, an intern with Rogers and Cowan, a public-relations firm that represents Batanga, said one reason the site has become so popular is its variety. “There are only a few broadcasters out there for Latin music, and typically they play only two different types of Latin music,” she said. “Batanga plays all types: top 20, merengue, sal sa, baladas. It’s very versa tile.” While Torres said versa tility sets Batanga apart from the other Latin-music broadcasters, she said there are other factors that also at tract its visitors. “The biggest draw is that it can be accessed from any where and it’s free,” Torres said. “It’s excellent for col lege students.” Torres said the Web site also serves a greater pur pose. “It’s a great way for stu dents and people to get more of Latin music,” she said. Torres noted the Latin com munity is the fastest-grow ing community in the United States based on U.S. Census figures for 2000. Torres said that, by 2006, the Latino population will equal the African-American population and that, by 2010, it is predicted that Latinos will have become the largest minority group. ♦ BATANGA, SEE PAGE 6 CD REVIEW Original rhymes set emcee apart “ORIGINAL PIRATE MATERIAL” The Streets ★★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆ BY JUSTIN BAJAN THE GAMECOCK Sometimes, when a unique new artist or group arrives in the main stream, critics draw comparisons between the new artists and more established musicians. This pro cess helps critics better relate to their readers, but ultimately un dermines the artist’s creativity. When Nas came out, critics proclaimed him the second com ing of Rakim, although Nas’ lyrics and approach were nothing like Rakim’s. Coldplay was unjustly compared to Radiohead, and Bruce Springsteen to Bob Dylan. So when a wily garage kid from England named Mike Skinner, aka the Streets, came to disturb the pop equilibrium, the compar isons migrated with him. Rolling Stone magazine called Skinner the British Eminem. This comparison is sound only because Skinner is a white male and he does rap. But the Streets does little to perpetuate world wide protest and rarely gets an gry enough on, his debut, “Original Pirate Material," to murder his wife or mother. Skinner does move the listener with his unorthodox style of em ceeing. He disregards rhythm and focuses on his wry jab-and move delivery. This uncharac teristic cadence allows the lis tener to absorb every line Skinner delivers. SKinner men comomes synco pated two-step beats with his al ready offbeat delivery to further dizzy the listener. The result is paradoxically pleasant as Skinner chooses piano loops, sampled string arrangements and rhythm-and-blues musings to take listeners from their head phones to the club. But Skinner does more than provoke the listener to dance; he also offers drug-flavored intellec tualism — juxtaposing getting high and playing PlayStation while he raps about the criminal justice bill passed in his native Britain. For example, he raps on “The Irony of it All,” “I take pride in my hobby; I home-make bongs using my engineering degree.” What’s most intriguing about Skinner is his unrapperlike voice, a voice that sounds more likely to be singing British punk or hosting the “Naked Chef’ on the Food Network. Skinner does little to hide his accent and his punk influences; he says “oi” on almost every song on “Original Pirate Material,” confusing the listener about whether Skinner is a punk singer or an emcee. xxri_a. m.j_i _ 1. _ _11 iiui unium,i iJ, 10 « vy cxx rounded artist—he does his own production, and his lyrics cover a variety of topics. On “Let’s Push Things Forward,” Skinner ad dresses the stagnant world of pop music, charging artists to be cre ative. On “Don’t Mug Yourself,” he addresses the problem of guys trying to pick up girls, a struggle that sometimes makes males try too hard. And on “Stay Positive,” Skinner offers the listener hope on a bad day, ending the album on an uplifting note. “Original Pirate-Material” ex cels because of the artistic hybrid that is the Streets, with Skinner combining brash rhymes, two step beats and a punk rocker’s sensibility. The album stretches the genre of hip-hop, but also re tains the genre's rebellious spirit. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com