POCUS
(Elje Jînrflartit © bseruer
TOP 10
CDS
1 Live at Luther College
Dave Matthews & Tun Reynolds
2The Miseducation ofLauryn
Hill -Lauryn HUI
3 Surfacing
Sarah McLachlan
4 Spirit -Jewel
SUpUpUpUpUp
-Ani DiFranco
6 Blues on the Bayou
-B.B. King
7 WAY I
-T h e Music.
Vol. 3 Various artists
8 The Best of 1980-1990
(limited edition)
-U2
9 Whitey Ford Sings the Blues -
Everlast
lOWideOpenSpaces
-Dixie Chicks
B C is about to take o f f o n his
first Solo flig h t the nam e o f his
debut album and an adventure in
its ow n right. The form er lead
singer for IV X A M P L E , th eR & B
group best know n for the 1994 hit
single. I ’d R ather B e A lone, B.C.
has spread his w ings and crafted a
richly layered, dynam ic album
w hich possesses a sophisticated
m u sical v ocabulary and b ro ad
sonic palette that belies the artist’s
age. F rom the soulful rom antic
ballad A n A ngel to the sexy, no c­
turnal groove o f the first single.
W hy O h W hy to the unabashedly
gorgeous I Prom ise, Solo takes the
listner on a rem arkable experiential
journey, a journey that for B.C.
started practically at birth. “ M y
fam ily is musically oriented,' ’ B .C.,
w hose first nam e is B obby, ex ­
plains. “M y dad and m om used to
be in a band - m y m om played the
drum s and m y dad played the gui­
tar and sang.” B ut fate took a turn
and his father lost his voice, giving
w ay for the offspring to pick u p the
baton. Living in L os A ngeles, the
“entertainm ent capital," B.C. and
his siblings (tw o brothers and four
sisters) all discovered their ow n
unique m usical and artistic talents.
Page 5
SHAMIR
S H A M IR is a d r iv in g fo rc e
b e h in d th e n e w u rb a n m u s ic
tr e n d . U g a n d a n b o rn s in g e r /
s o n g w r ite r , K im e r a S e n g e n d o
h a s s u c e s s f u l ly b l e n d e d th e
s tly e s o f H ip H o p a n d R e g g a e
to c r e a te h is s ig n a tu r e s o u n d .
S H A M IR e a sily m o v e s b e tw e e n
m u s ic a l g e n re s a ttr a c tin g a u d i­
e n c e s lo y a l to b o th . T h e b a n d ,
S H A M IR , is b a s e d in P o rtla n d
a n d c o n s is ts o f g u ita r s , k e y ­
b o a rd s , d m m b s se t, p e rc u s s io n ,
a lto a n d te n o r s a x , tr o m b o n e
a n d tru m p e t. K im e r a ’s le a d v o ­
c a ls a n d p u n c tu a te d b y a p o w ­
e rf u l s tr o n g , y e t s w e e t e n to u ­
ra g e o f b o th m a le a n d fe m a le
v o c a lis ts . M o s t tu n e s in th e
S H A M IR
re p e rto ire
a re
K im e r a ’s o r g in a l s o n g s a n d a r ­
ra n g e m e n ts . K im e r a s in g s in
b o th S w a h ili a n d E n g lis h as h e
w a v e s th e s to r ie s o f h is life in
s o n g . H is m u s ic c o m b in e s th e
p o p u la r c u ltu r e fe e l o f H ip H o p
a n d R e g g a e w ith th e tr a d itio n
o f h is U g a n d a n h e r tia g e . T h e
r e s u lts a re a n e v e n in g o f e n te r ­
ta in m e n t s u ita b le a n d a p p e a l­
rh y th m w h e th e r th e y a re s i t ­
tin g in th e ir c h a ir s o r s ta n d in g
o n th e d a n c e flo o r. K im e r a
S e n g e n d o c o n s id e r s h im s e l f a
m e s s e n g e r o f fr e e d o m , a title
e a rn e d th r o u g h y e a rs o f
s tru g g le a n d flig h t fro m p o liti­
c a l o p p r e s s io n F o r c e d a t an
e a rly a g e to fe n d fo r h im s e lf,
h e h a s le a r n e d th e h a rs h le s ­
s o n s o f th e s tr e e t a n d m a n ­
a g e d to w ra p th e p o s itiv e m e s ­
s a g e s o f th o s e le s s o n s in to
th e ly r ic s o f h is s o n g s . A fte r
y e a r s o f s a c r if i c e , tr a v e lin g
m a n y m ile s , th r o u g h s e v e r a l
c o u n t r i e s , h is f a m i l y w a s
g ra n te d p o litic a l a s y lu m in th e
U S A . K im e r a jo in e d his sch o o l
c h o ir a n d im m e d ia te ly fo u n d
th a t h is v o ic e c a p tu r e d
p e o p l e ’s a tte n tio n . It w a s a t
th is p o in t th a t K im e r a k n e w
h is m e s s a g e w o u ld b e c a rr ie d
th r o u g h m u s ic . S H A M IR h a s
o p e n e d f o r in te r n a tio n a lly r e ­
n o w n b a n d s s u c h a s B u rn in g
S p e a r, S h a b b a R an k s, T he
I t a l s , T h e W a i l i n g S o u ls ,
a m o n g o th e r s . H is m u s ic is
in g to a u d ie n c e s o f a ll a g e s.
T h e m u s i c is i n f e c t i o u s ,
is n p r a tio n a l a n d c o m p e ls e v ­
e ry o n e to m o v e to th e i r o w n
e n e rg e tic a n d m e m o ra b le . A f­
te r o n e n ig h t w ith S H A M IR
y o u to o w ill fin d y o u r s e lf s in g ­
in g th e s o n g s o f fre e d o m .
w hich each has since g one on to
cultivate. “C learly, I ’ve alw ays
been around the m usic. It w as ju st
in m y blood.” B.C. shares. “M y
dad alw ays said he k n ew he w as
going to have som e sons w h o will
sing.” Indeed he d id an d B obby
w as the kid w hose voice propelled
him into the limelight. “O n ed ay m y
d ad w a s liste n in g to u s ,” h e
shares,” and m y dad w as listening
to M arvin G aye and I w ould be
hitting the notes. H e thought,
‘m an, this is m y little singer right
h ere.’” B y the tim e h e hit high
school, B o b b y ’s m use w as in full
sw ing. K icking into gear as an
aspiring rapper, he quickly began
adding m elodies to his rap hooks.
“M y dad kept telling m e, you have
a singing voice, you should sing,"
e x p la in s th e a rtis t w h o c ite s
B abyface, H ow ard H ew ett, R.
K elly, and T he A rtist F orm erly
K now n A s Prince as am ongst his
greatest influences. “I still fool
around w ith rap, but it’s ju s t m ore
ro m an tic w h en y o u sin g ,” he
opines. “A nd since G o d d id bless
m e w ith the vocals, I m ight as well
use them .” His voice, coupled with
an entrepreneurial spirit, fueled
B .C ’s early career. Still in school,
y i
&
f ___
lO
_______
B C B io g r a p h y
he m ade a tape w hich he titled High
School B lues, packaged and m ar­
keted it. H anding o u t flyers to
advertise, B obby sold the entire
initial run in his first and second
period classes. “T eachersbrought
'e m and everything, so I had to get
m ore. I eventually m ade a couple
o f grand," he proudly rem em bers.
U pon graduating from high school,
he got a jo b at Sam G oody. A fter
hours, he spent his tim e w orking
o n m aterial at his brother-in-law s
preproduction studio and rehears­
ing w ith a b and he h ad form ed, a
short-lived p roject w hich he gave
up in ord er to jo in his b ro th er’s a
capella group. T h at em bryonic
group.IV X A M PLE.not only show­
cased B o b b y ’s inim itable voice,
but provided a forum in w hich his
innate flair fbrpromotion again flour­
ished.
“ I try to w rite som ething people
can relate to,” B.C. offers. “I f the
m elody’scatchy, they mightlike that
first, even before they start listening
to the w ords, and then they think,
the w ords are good, to o ..
B.C. gets it. H is voice is heaven­
sent and the sky’s the limit.