The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 09, 2005, Page 6, Image 6
CD REVIEW
Sophomore record serves up
total knockout for Kanye
“Late Registration"
Kanye West
★★★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆ *
James Prince
FOR THE GAMECOCK
On Tuesday, Aug. 30,
rapper Kanye West went toe
to-toe in a lyrical boxing
match against his long-term
opponent, “The Hater,” with
his second album, ' “Late
Registration.” This was the
fight his fans have been
looking forward to since his
arrival in the rap game with
the release of his debut album,
“The College Drop-Out.”
“The College Drop-Out,”
although a good first effort,
cannot compare to what he
brought to the ring with the
release of his sophomore
album. Now that he owns his
own label, West’s ability to
stand on his own is clear
through his hard-hitting
rhymes.' With “Late
Registration” he proves to be
the next Muhammad Ali of
hip-hop.
The battle begins with
“Heard ‘Em Say,” which will
be a crowd-pleaser. As Adam
Levine of Maroon 5
harmonizes against high-pitch
piano chords and low notes on
brass instruments, West
delivers lines about a black
community where young men
become confused about life
because they idolize drug
dealers. He also explains how
drugs are distributed in these
communities and who
perpetuates the cycle of
imprisonment of these young
men.
With “Touch the Sky,” he
hits the Hater through
samples from R&B great
Curtis Mayfield. He strikes
with lyrics such as, “gotta
testify, come up in the spot
looking extra fly, before the
day I die, I’m a touch the sky.”
West displays the confidence
any real fighter needs.
The battle continues as
West slows it down for the
crowd and for his opponent
who, even at the sixth round
out of 21, is dazed from his
continued lyrical blows.
“Drive Slow,” featuring Paul
Wall, is one of the smoothest
tracks on the album.
mica witn DacKgrouna
saxophones and repetitive
drumbeats, it tells how West
was protected by one of the
most respected names in the
community when he was
younger. This explains to his
opponent that he has been
trained by the best and how he
maintains his confident
demeanor.
With a little help in the
eighth round from West Coast
rapper The Game, West
delivers a powerful uppercut"
through “Crack Music,”
sending his opponent reeling
with rhymes such as,
“sometimes I feel the music is
the only medicine, so we cook
it, cut it, measure it, bag it,
sell it, the fiends cop it,
nowadays they can’t tell it,
that’s that good s—t, we ain’t
sure man, put this CD on
your tongue, yeah that’s pure,
man!” The Hater almost
passes cut from the truth that
West delivers.
West hits his opponent with
a jab to the right with “you
see, if you ever wanted to be
anything, it’ll always be
somebody that’ll shoot down
any dream, that’s the way it is”
and he yells that Hater-men
marry Hater-women and have
Hater-kids. The beat grows
faster and West passionately
delivers a lyrical jab with “but
they gonna have to take my
life before they take my
drive.”
The bell rings and a new
round begins with “We
Major,” featuring Nas. After
the Hater collapses to the
ground Nas delivers the final
blow—”1 heard the beat and I
ain’t know what to write ...
about (girls) or the ice ... rap
about big paper or the black
man’s plight... look at the pen
and pad and jotted what I feel
... and I love to give my blood,
sweat and tears to the mic.”
Total knockout. In “We
Major” Nas summarizes
West’s entire reason for
fighting the battle. The new
champion is Kanye West.
After the win, West thanks his
mother, celebrates with his
new son and continues to spit
more degrading words to The
Hater along with Rap
comrades Cam’ron,
Consequence and Really Doe.
He had these last words to
say.
“(I’m) feeling better than
I’ve ever felt today ... you
know what this is, it’s a
celebration b—hes, grab a
drink, grab a glass.” With his
altruistic nature and fighting
spirit, West definitely has
something to celebrate.
Comments on this story ? E-mail
gamecockfcatnres@gwm.sc.edu
Special» THE GAMECOCK
Local rockers Baumer released an album on the Astromagnetics label of Eyeball Records.
‘Come On, Feel It’
with boys of Baumer
Dance rockers begin transition
from local clubs to national stage
John (Hurray
THE GAMECOCK
Most bands spend their
existence struggling to make
ends meet, and after coundess
years in the local bar scene,
many decide to call it quits.
But not only have
Columbia-based, pop-rockers
Baumer gone above and
beyond the success of most
local bands, but they have their
sights set on a much higher
calling. Don’t believe it? Just
take a look at their contract and
see that their target audience is
anyone and everyone and they
“want to take over the world.”
To kick off its conquest and
satisfy its desire for world
domination, the band had a
CD release party Wednesday at
New Brookland Tavern.
Playing for a capacity crowd of
friends, family and new fans,
the band celebrated the release
of its new album, “Come On,
Feel It,” which will be released
nationwide Sept. 13.
Signed to a three-album deal,
the band’s CD will debut on
Astromagnetics, a label owned
by Eyeball Records and
founded by Thursdays lead
singer, Geoff Rickley. On Oct.
18, the band will makes its
national radio debut. As if
things could not get any better,
the band will also release a
music video which will most
likely be aired on the FUSE
music channel.
All this is evidence the guys
are serious about their music,
and if they conquer the world at
the same time, they are OK
with that, too. This is an
admirable beginning for a
group that started off as a side
project. The members of
Baumer all came from other
successful bands in the
Columbia area.
Kenny McWilliams,
guitarist, and Chris Corley,
bassist, were originally in local
band Courage Riley. Bored
with that band, McWilliams
began to experiment with a
drum machine and his guitar.
Not much of a vocalist, he
asked his friend and recent
USC graduate Nate Boikin to
sing and play synthesizer. At the
time Boikin was in local band
Tigerbot Hesh. Surprised and
excited about the material they
were writing, they quit their
bands and rounded out the
sound by adding Caleb
Weathersby on drums.
With a full band in place and
a name to boot(“Baumer”
comes from a character in the
cult-favorite “The Royal
Tenenbaums”), the band played
its first show in May 2004.
Things progressed quickly from
there, as they landed a chance
to play in front of executives
from Columbia Records.
Although things did not
work out with Columbia, the
band’s budding notoriety drew
attention from Universal
Records, who showed more
interested. Through Universal
the band received its
distribution deal.
With its CD release, the
band is continuing on its
warpath.
Aside from inundating the
airwaves with catchy, dance
influenced melodies, Baumer is
planning its second wave of
assault.
The band will be featured in
the October issues of Guitar
Player and Alternative Press
magazines.
Comments tm this story ? E-mail
gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc. edu
Professor’s exhibit explains art through ‘mimicry and magic’
McKissick gallery showcases Voros’
inspired dark tones, strong contrast
Julia Sellers
FOR THE GAMECOCK
Lovers of art might lack a
sense of the artist’s message —
either the artist is dead or
refuses to offer an explanation
about his or her work — but
USC art professor David Voros’
exhibit, “Mimicry and Magic,”
gives viewers a rare chance to
see an artist’s explanation for
his work’s references.
McKissick Museum chief
curator Jason Shaiman said the
exhibit was created with panels
offering explanations of the art
for the viewer.
“There is a lot of symbolism,
and we felt it was necessary to
talk to him about inspirations
for works. To use it as food for
thought,” Shaiman said. “We
use the passages that relate to
the painting more than just
visual understanding, but to
literary, art, psychologically and
social (understanding).”
Shaiman said Voros leaves
vagueness in his work that allows
the viewer to “look into the
piece,” but knows Voros is
drawing on life experiences to
create the art.
“You don’t sense that it is
autobiographical; it is
something he is familiar with,
but shying away from giving
you the whole story,” Shaiman
said. “He lets the viewer
interpret it on their own
terms.”
Shaiman said Voros’ artwork
contains religious context and
symbols, drawn from the
literary references from Dante’s
“Inferno,” but it is not overt
iconography.
“What David has done in
some works, by using surface
level of religion, he is hiding his
identity,” Shaiman said.
Voros mainly uses a tenebrism
style for his works. Tenebrism, a
process of using a strong contrast
of light and dark tones, creates
an emotionally evocative and
mysterious piece. Much of
Voros’ work reflects the baroque
time period when tenebrism
developed.
“I like the look of
(tenebrism),” Voros said. “It was
a way to direct people’s attention
to things and away from things
that weren’t important.”
Although Voros’ work takes
on a different time period in
composition, the context of his
work still resonates with modern
life. Voros’ influences include his
Hungarian-American family
literary works.
The painting “Ecce Homo,”
meaning “here is the man,”
remains widely used in
McKissick’s published materials
about the exhibit. Shaiman said
it is one of Voros’ most well
painted pieces, showing real
sorrow. It creates a contrast of
emotion and embraces the
meaning of the exhibit.
“It encourages people to not
just be a viewer, but a
participant,” Shaiman said.
Voros said although he drew
on personal experiences for his
work, he likes to make literary
references because it takes him
out of the picture.
“(The references) sort of cloak
it,” Voros said. “Surely other
people can appreciate this story.
There is this intimacy, and they’ll
go along on the journey.”
Most of Voros’ exhibit was
produced in the 1990s with
some from last year.
The first part of the exhibit
in the gallery hallway presents
graphic-photo art with
collages, presenting Dante’s
“Inferno.” The six pieces from
his Inferno series are the most
recent.
Shaiman said he did not
expect students to have to see
the exhibit for class credit, but
he received many inquiries
about the exhibit. He hopes it
will be something people can
look at as visual art, separate
from literal art.
“I like his style, and I wanted
to investigate his tenebrism
style,” third-year drawing and
painting student Evelyn Wong
said. “The tones and values are
one of the hardest things to get
right.”
Voros’ exhibit is on display
through Oct. 15 in the North
Gallery.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc. edu
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