September 2 6 ,1990--The Portland Observer-Page 5
BERRY, ONE STOP
CONTINUED FROM PAGE
B e rry-” Yes they can. You can get
gospel, jazz, reggage, blues, old blues,
you can get 45’s, C .D .’ s, tee-shirts, and
there is a game room for your children to
play in while you’re listening to music
and shopping. I t ’s truly a One Stop.”
Portland O bserver-W hat type o f
music do you sell the most?
Berry- ” Right now, we are selling a
lot o f rap music. Rap and R & B (rhythem)
could be about 50-50 and gospel is about
twenty-five percent. Jazz rounds it out,
but most o f what we sell is rap and R &
B .”
Portland O bserver-W hat social
impact has rap music had on America,
especially the black community?
B e rry -” I think that i t ’ s the way
young people o f today express them­
selves. In the sixties, we expressed our­
selves oneway and this is their way o f
communicating to each other. Before the
One Stop came along, you couldn’ t get
as much rap as you do now. This is some­
thing that we set the tone fo r in this mar­
ket. For example, I remember when we
were stocking L L Cool J long before the
other stores in the area. As a matter o f
fact, the distributor that we use to carry
only one percent rap music and now they
carry tw enty-five percent.
P o rtlan d O bserver-D o you see rap
music having any social value? Some o f
the lyrics are really disrespectful and
nasty .Berry-
*‘ That’ s a tough question to answer.
A long time tim e ago, we had Moms
Mabley and Pigmeat Markham and other
entertainers who had suggestive lyrics or
think more black businesses should have
this attitude because too many times
they end up in areas where none o f their
people are. Its ’ very important to be
based in the comm unity.
P o rtlan d O bserver-D o you have a
vision for North/Northeast Portland in
terms o f economic development?
B e rry-” I think more African-Ameri­
cans need to take advantage o f this area.
This w ill be a striving area, but I don’ t
know whether it w ill be retail outlets or
residential. I see it going more into in ­
dustrial development, unless people who
are indigenous to this community start
buying property. I f you don’ t buy prop­
erty, you can’ t control what happens. As
a matter o f fact, a couple o f partners and
m yself are proposing a m all on M L K
Blvd.real soon. You can’ t dictate noth­
ing i f you don’ t own nothing.”
Portland Observer-How do you get
people into a business mentality .especially
black people since we are basically stere­
otyped as materialistic and basically con­
sumers?
B e rry -’ ’Education and role mod­
els. We have to start educating our kids
in lower grades about economic p rin ­
ciples and business. I f you don’ t catch
them early, chances are you are going to
lose them. W e also need to promote our
role models, One thing A frica n-A m eri­
cans don’ t do is put ourselves on the
back. I t ’ s hard being in business any­
where fo r an African-Am erican. So, the
ones in business and the ones who arc
surviving should be highlighted and ac­
knowledged. We are examples that you
can make it in Am erica and Portland,
Oregon. I ’ m involved as a member with
the Fam ily & Consumer Committee for
the Portland Public Schools. What we
try to do on that committee is make sure
kids learn about balancing checkbooks,
make money,and pay bills. We teach the
importance o f business ownership, also
instead o f employment because em ploy­
ment, in my m ind, w ill become a thing o f
the past in the future.”
Portland Observer-How do you get
those points over to a youngster, who
might be tempted by the quick money o f
the streets, peer pressure, and gangs?
B e rry -’ ’ W hat you do is teach them
that fast money w on’ t last forever. Fast
money is o nly temporary. You must live
by the laws o f the society in which you
live. I f you read the newspaper, you can
read about the drug dealers everyday
receiving ja il tim e or getting caught.
You don’ t make money in ja il.”
Portland Observer-You see young­
sters in the record store everyday, what
are their biggest fears and concerns?
B e rry -” M o s to f them tell me that i f
they had opportunities, especially the
ones going wrong or are on the border­
line, they wouldn’t do what they’re doing.
Some go so far as to say that they have no
alternative but to live the fast life. The
fast life is the only way, in their minds, to
gel the nice gold, cars, etc...So, we as a
comm unity must figure out a way to get
these young folks interested in math and
business. I ’ m a businessman and I enjoy
it because it allows me to do what I ’ m
capable of. We need to teach these young
people the same thing.”
P o rtlan d O bserver-W hat should
people know about you that they m ight
not know already?
B e rry -” That I ’ m a com m unity
minded businessman. I ’ m com m unity
minded first and a businessman second.
A ll o f my businesses are located in the
areas where I want them to be, the black
community. This does not mean that I
don’ t do business in other communities.
We have a traffic control company that
takes us as far as Bend, Oregon and many
other towns. I feel a certain responsibil­
ity as a black businessman to serve as a
role model and to make sure that people
in Northeast Portland know i t ’ s possible
to succeed. As a businessman, I ’ m not in
it for just the money. I ’ m more interested
in leaving something for m y kids and
others to work w ith after I ’ m one.”
One S top Records is located at 1615
Northeast K illingsw orth, Portland, Ore-
gon-503-284-2435.
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music having any social value? Some o f
the lyrics are really disrespectful and
nasty. Berry-
“ That’ s a tough question to answer.
A long tim e time ago, we had Moms
Mabley and Pigmeat Markham and other
entertainers who had suggestive lyrics or
words in their shows. So, I see groups
like 2 L ive Crew, as exercising their
rig ht o f free speech. We don’ t have to
buy the music. I w ouldn’ t let m y daugh­
ter listen to the 2 L iv e Crew. She’ s nine
years old. I try to make sure that people
under the age o f eighteen don’ t buy this
type o f music, but that does not mean we
succeed all o f the time. On the other
hand, there is some positive rap music
out today that is great for young people
to hear.”
P o rtla n d O bserver-So, w hy is it
that we hear so much bad press about rap
music and groups like 2 L iv e Crew?
B e rry -’ ’ 2 L iv e Crew is m aking a lot
o f money, that’ s m y personal opinion.
' Everybody suggested that rap music was
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going to be here today and gone tomor-
jo w , but it is staying around. I t ’ s just a
matter o f economics, I think.
Portland Observer-Is there any type
o f music that you refuse to sell?
B e rry -” I can’ t recall the artist o ff
the top o f m y head, but there are some. I f
it is not helping the young kids, I w ill not
sell it. There are ethics that go into sell­
ing music and buying music fo r m y store.
T hat’ s w hy we stock gospel m usic.”
P ortland O bserver-How important
is music to black people?
B e rry -” M usic is very im portant to
black people. A fte r being in the music
business for the last five years. I ’ve learned
that black people w ill buy music before
they buy other things and that’ s not a
negative.”
Portland Observer-How do you see
the role o f black businesses/business-
men in ligh t o f givin g something back
and leadership?
B e rry -” I see our role as establish­
ing employment in the com m unity and I
think that it is very important that we hire
the people who live in the neighbor­
hoods where we own businesses. Also,
it ’s im portant that black businesses en­
hance the neighborhoods and create a
positive impact. M ost o f m y businesses
are in areas where no one else w ill go.
We go into those areas and try to the best
o f our a b ility to rehabilitate the place as
w ell as make it a better place to live. I
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