« « <»»<■» ♦ _ WJ ____ [ ► * *' * > ”* * * ’ . -. 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- QIPrtlDAM m wopr rfPOft