The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 24, 2003, Page 11, Image 11
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10
poking out for all to enjoy.
And don’t think Mars 111 doesn’t
show love for the secular hip-hop it
is shelved with in the hip-hop sec
tion — “Backbreakanomics” fea
tures Blueprint and Bigg Jus: two
giants in the world of underground
hip-hop.
Over gritty beats supplied by
Dust, Manchild flexes his distinc
tive blend of tongue-twisting word
play and heart-wrenching topics
with relative ease. No matter how
many syllables or words Manchild
tries to cram into one line, you
never hear him take a breath — or
-1' notice a studio effect that would
cover up his breath. This further
cements Manchild’s reputation as
a brilliant emcee and further dis
tinguishes himself from the ma
jority of Christian hip-hop artists.
On “Alpha Male,” he raps about
the deadly consequences of male
chauvinism by assuming the role
of a deadbeat husband who cheats
on his wife and beats her down
when he so pleases. This may sound
similar to an Eminem track, but
Manchild balances the song with
lyrics about his healthy relation
ship with his wife on the last verse.
Fortunately, Mars 111 does man
age to include songs that don’t re
quire a tissue and an anti-depres
sant to perk the listener up.
The album’s first song and sin
gle, “Breathe Slow,” is an addic
tive anthem that will immediate
ly have the listener nodding his
head to the words and the beat.
The song demands to be played
loudly, and one can instantly pic
ture a concert hall full of fans
chanting the mnemonic chorus.
“PSA#428” takes a sure-to-be
deemed-blasphemous outlook on
the elements of hip-hop. Manchild
■ confesses that graffiti art and
break dancing just don’t do it for
him and that he’s sick of feeling
obligated to shouting both ele
ments out at shows. He raps “the
b-boys could care less about the
way you flow or rhyme/ They
don’t even listen to any rap after
1989” and “graf-writers, well let’s
be honest/ You don’t really like my
music, and I can’t read the words
you’re bombing.”
This album is good. It is solid, it
is consistent, and it displays a
monumental leap for the music of
Mars 111 and hip-hop in general.
Don’t let the fact that the group is
unabashedly Christian deter you;
Mars 111 balances its unending love
for Christ with its genuine love for
hip-hop — giving the listener
something to think about as well
as enjoy.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com
Naess
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10
Naess’ most recent record, sim
ply titled “Leona Naess,” comes
across as refreshingly tender.
It is a “girly” album — after all,
the CD is pink — but not in a
feminist, Ani DiFranco sort of
way.
Naess does not choose to wax
over her fragility, nor does she
bemoan it. Rather, she simply
explores love, loss and every
thing in between, imparting a
comforting sense of familiarity
through her songs. She depicts
recognizable emotions and real
world relationships instead of
painting lyrical ideals. From the
achingly beautiful piano ballad
“Ballerina” to the waltzing
rhythm of “He’s Gone,” Naess’
tuneful sentiments, vary some
what in style but remain uni
formly captivating.
Naess relates recognizable re
sponses to both being in love and
tumbling out of it through her
lyrics. In “Star Signs” she
mourns the end of relationship,
confessing, “I still feel out of
place/ In crowded rooms/ And
the silence of space.”
In “Christmas” she expresses,
“I want kisses and dresses/ A
late-night message that cradles,
halos me to sleep.” Such admis
sions may not be the usual signs
of inner strength that female
singer-songwriters try to sus-'
tain, but they are all the more .
honest as a result. Naess does not
neglect the humanity of her ex
periences in an attempt to seem
unshakable like many of her fel
low female performers.
Overall, Naess’ self-titled third
album turns life’s trials into a
montage of expressive images
and straightforward music.
Although she momentarily
mines a lyrical cliche or two in
a few songs, her lyrics are gen
erally clever and always candid.
The classic rants of the female
songsmith that are set on aveng
ing the world may be all well and
assertive, but ultimately a con
fessional album such as Naess’
proves more relatable. She ap
peals to the flawed, human side
in all of us with her truth-laden
tunes.
As she melodically states in
the album’s closing track, “One
Kind of Love,” “Try to drag it
[love] dpwn/ And change its
name/ But it’s always gonna be
love and it will mess/ You up all
the same.” Such candor causes
Naess to stand out for creating
songs that sink in.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com
Going Greek
• PHOTO BY MORGAN FORD/THE GAMECOCK
^ The Goya Dancers perform during the 17th Annual Greek Festival, which took place Thursday through Sunday at the Greek
Orthodox Church at 1931 Sumter St. The festival offered entertainment and had a wide assortment of Greek food as well as
vendors selling anything from jewelry to Grecian urns.
Nontraditional Sandman series
returns for Gaiman’s new novel
BY DEEPTI HAJELA
THE ASSOCIATED I’HESS
NEW YORK - It’s a fan’s dream
come true: the Sandman is back.
Seven years after he stopped
writing his groundbreaking, his
tory-making comic book series,
author Neil Gaiman has returned,
again telling stories about
Morpheus, the King of Dreams,
and his six siblings, collectively
known as the Endless.
“The Sandman: Endless Nights”
was released last week as a graph
ic novel to mark the 10th anniver
sary of Vertigo comics, the pub
lisher of the series during its run
in the 1990s.
The new book is a collection of
seven short stories, one for each
member of the Endless, illustrat
ed by artists from around the
world.
Since the series ended,
• Gaiman has published a story
' about Morpheus. But “Endless
Nights” is a return to the comic
book form. He acknowledged a
slight case of nerves when he
started back, but said he soon felt
right back at home with the char
“I felt, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve missed
you people. This is so much fun,”'
Gaiman said in an interview with
The Associated Press.
Gaiman started writing the
Sandman comics in 1989, and fin
ished in 19% after 75 issues. Along
the way, he revolutionized the
whole genre, introducing work
that stood out for its quality writ
ing and adult themes, rather than
superheroes in costumes.
“’Sandman’ has been the key
book that really got Vertigo no
ticed, and not only Vertigo but lit
| erary comics in general,” said
Karen Berger, vice president and
executive editor at Vertigo, which
is part of DC Comics.
“When you look and you say,
‘Can comics be considered as lit
erature?’ you look at Sandman
and say yes,” Berger said.
The series attracted nontradi
tional fans, such as women, to the
comic book world. It won every
major comic book award and it
still sefts big.
“It was a demographics-buster
in terms of the normal comic book
i i
fan you think of,” said Matt Brady,
editor ofNewsarama.com, a Web
others got short shrift,” he said.
And it was also a chance to
site dedicated to
the comic book
world. “It really
helped to open
the doors for
comics as they
are today.”
“For me, it’s
something that I
started 14 years
ago,” Gaiman
said. “But for so
many people, it’s
“It was a
demographics-buster
in terms of the
normal comic book
fan you think of.”
MATT BRADY
EDITOR OF NEWSARAMA.COM
step away trom
the novels he’s
been writing
since the series
ended.
“When I’m
writing a novel, I
find myself miss
ing comics,” he
said.
After working
on “Endless
Nights” for the
completely new, and people are
coming to it all the time.’.’
For the new book, Gaiman was
able to work with artists who had
never worked with him. He also
moved away from solely focusing
on Dream to telling tales from the
perspective of the other members
of the Endless - Death, Destiny,
Destruction, Desire, Despair and
Delirium.
“When I was writing Sandman
... I always felt that sometime the
last two years, Hannan is Heading
back to straight novels. He is con
tracted to write two books, which
means saying goodbye to Dream
and the Endless for at least the im
mediate future.
“I have to put'my novelist hat
back on,” Gaiman said. But
“when my novelist hat comes off
again, I will look around and
blink and call Karen (Berger) and
say, ‘OK, what are we doing
now?’”
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The student Business Incubator Center Is looking for students
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