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October 21, 1992...The Portland Observer...Page 5
Portland Observer
’ ______________________ _______
ENTERTAINMENT
R L
Lo-Key?
Lo-Key? will be known as the group
that put the “ fun” back into “funky.
At a time when many artists from
the streets are m aking p o litic a lly
charged “street” music, full of anger
and attitude, the Midwestern group Lo-
Key? has leaped onto the scene with the
audacity to have a good time with their
music.
As group member “D” says: “ I
grew up on the street. I understand the
street. And I know you can have a good
tim eon the streets, too. Somebody needs
to step in and talk about things that
aren’t so serious. Y ou’re gonna laugh
name. If you hear one of their smooth
ballads, like the single, T got A Thang
4 Ya,” you tell yourself that this group
is low-key... hotbutsublle, like candle
light. But why, you may ask, do they
include a question mark in their name?
W ell...that’s because Lo-Key? is actu
a lly a n y th in g b u t lo w -k e y on
stage...and off.
Every m ember of the group is full
of energy and personality. Each has a
distinctive look. Each has a sense of
humor. And together they’ve created
their own little world, with a style,
point of view and even a language o f
their own. It’s so sophisticated that
they have a dictionary o f Lo-Key-
isms.
One side of their album reflects
this personality. That’s the Lo-Key?
side (spelled with a question mark).
That side opens with “W here Dey At,”
which sounds like a live performance
at a nightclub. Before the next song,
the group performs one o f many brief
comic bits on the album. In this sketch,
late one night a man tries to get his
girlfriend to invite him to her place,
indicating he’d like a taste of her
“ milkshake”-a Lo-Keyism that isn’t
defined in their dictionary, the lyric o f
“Milkshake” is boldly direct; “ Yo, I
can’tfront. I ’m on a hunt./Y o derriere
is what I want.”
when you hear our record. Because
somebody out there wants to have a
good time.”
Songwriter-producer Prof. T. adds:
“Right now , things are bad. It don ’ t take
a G.E.D. to figure that out. O ther artists
are expressing how they feel about things
(by protesting). It gets depressing to us.
It’s obvious what the problems are.
W e’re trying to write about solutions.”
As y ou’ll hear on their debut al
bum, W here Dey At? Lo-Key? is a
group that can be silly and serious at
the same time.
W hich ex p lains their unusual
“You see, rap is now an art, don’t
take it for a game. I made this lyric slow
so it can seep into your brain.”
“The A pproach”/M erlin
From the opening salvo, “The A p
proach”, which lays down the rules for
how this game is gonna be played,
Merlin throws down with a vengeance,
letting everybody know and leaving no
doubt that this is the one rapper who has
no time for soft rhymes and lightweight
thoughts. W ith his debut W arner Bros,
album, Merlin is poised, ready and will-
ing to show all doubters, cynics and
pretenders to the throne that his seeth
ing and melodic brand o f UK rap is for
real, serious and very hard-core.
At the age o f 19, M erlin has al
ready chalked up a lifetime of living.
Bom in London and raised in the m elt
ing pot Brixton district. Merlin got into
music early on and, by age eleven, was
singing and playing at this church. “It
was a funky sort of church” he says.
“We had drum machines and synthesiz
ers.” His first band was a group o f teens,
calling themselves the Juveniles, who
played school dances. By the time he hit
the ripe old age of 14, Merlin had
hooked up with some local rappers, in
particular, future partner MC Blade.
The duo entered a big rap com pe
tition and won. their appearance caught
the ear o f DJ Master Mix, who was
impressed by youthful M erlin’s micro
phone technique and his wise-beyond-
his years savvy. Merlin was quickly
signed to Rhythm King Records. Find
ing that he worked best as a one man
crew, he released “B om Free,” which
was produced by the British house/rap
posse The Beatmasters.
M erlin’s moody voice and fierce
raps were soon in demand. Other col
laborations included work with Bomb
|
I
N
the Bass and S ’Express, whose resulting
records all hit the British T op Ten charts.
It was after this first rush of success
that M erlin’s youth caught up with him.
“W ell, I went into prison,” M erlin says
slowly, still hesitant to speak about that
period in his life. “ It’s a long story, but
1 can say that I was innocent. But”, he
states m atter o f factly, “I was up to
naughty things and I suppose if I hadn’t
gone then I would have gone another
tim e.”
After his six month detour aw ay
from music, M erlin had com e to a few
conclusions, the first one being that he
wanted to leave Rhythm King. He was a
man without a label when W arner’s
Craig Kostich “cam e to the rescue” and
signed Merlin to W arner Bros, in the
United States.
D on’t go looking for fluff about
cars and gold rings from this rapper;
Merlin do n ’t play like that. “A lot o f
rappers, they abuse the position that
they are in,” M erlin declares defiantly.
“A rapper is supposed to be a poet. I
think that a lot of them have becom e
very lazy. You can explore words, they’re
wonderful things! T here’s so much you
can do with them. A lot of these rappers
aren’t even thinking o f what they’re
doing.”
There’s A Ho-Ho-Whole Lot Of
Holiday Excitement At The Walt
World Vacation Kingdom
•> *!
ictured here with Next Issue are Peabo Bryson (center left) and LeBaron Taylor. Senior VP of Sony Music
The ’92 holiday season shines
brighter than ever as guests take in the
sights, sounds and the spirit o f the
season on special “Christm as w eek
ends” beginning Nov. 26 (Thanksgiv
ing w eekend). Among the highlights
o f the holid ay s is the traditional
“M ickey’s Very Merry Christmas Pa
rade” which winds through the fes
tively-adorned streets of the Magic
Kingdom and the magic and mystique
o f the all new “A laddin’s royal Cara
van” at the D isney-M G M Studios
Theme Park.
The new holiday preview w eek
ends are the perfect opportunity for
guests to watch the streets of the Magic
Kingdom, Epcot Center and the Disncy-
MGM Studios Theme Park undergo an
enchanting transformation into a holi
day wonderland with towering fir trees
studded with lights and ornaments, ani
mated ship windows and all the trim
mings of the joyous season.
Special holiday shows, tree-light
ing ccrcm oniesandother seasonal treats
arc part of the festivities that begin w ith
the Thanksgiving holidays and con-
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1
»
tinue through year’s end.
Magic Kingdom
Mickey Mouse him self is in the
festive holiday spirit and is hosting his
own holiday parade in the Magic K ing
dom. “ M ickey’s Very Merry C hrist
mas Parade” will wind its way down
merry Main Strceton“Christmas week
ends” (Nov. 26-29, Dec. 5-6, Dec 12-
13, Dec. 19-20 and daily Dec. 21-31.
On C hristm as Day, “ M ickey’s
Very Merry Christmas parade” be
comes the centerpiece o f a two-hour
live television network broadcast.
Pictured here along with Next Issue are Congressman Ron Dellums, (D.CA) (center Left) and Mary Wilson
(former Supreme) (center right).
Class Act: The nation's best gathered at the D.C. Convention Center for the congressional Black Caucus
Foundation’s 22nd Annual Legislative Weekend. Sony Music Entertainment Inc. co-sponsored and elegant post-
dinner gala where politicos savored the sounds of Epic recording artists Next Issue and Columbia recording
artist Peabo Bryson.
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