Page 8 April 19, 2000
Music
CONTRIBLTED STORY
The question was asked last year,
“What chu gonna do when Big
Punisher comes knocking at your
d o o r? ” N o th in ’! T he a m m o ’s
poppin’, the panties are droppin’
and all bets are placed as to how
long Pun will once again reign as
hip-hop royalty. Now calm down.
There ain’t no beef. The biggest
thing in hip-hop since the late Frank
M.H. W hitejust wants to make sure
nobody’s been sleeping on his couch
while he’s been gone. Making sure
that no one’s been occupying his
throne during his down time and
that no one has “borrowed” his
unique way o f making hits - as in hit
records, that is.
A fte r ta k in g tim e from his
hibernation, the poppa bear o f rap
will once again make a thunderous
presence with his highly anticipated
Loud Records sophomore release,
Yeeeah Baby.
Yeah Baby is an intense collection
o f high quality gem s that are
destined to withstand the test o f
time and will undoubtedly prove
that Big Punisher is well on his way
to becoming a professor in the art of
2 1 “ century emceeing.
Pound for pound, rhyme for rhyme,
Big Pun covers more ground than
Focus > -------------------
thuxh ffibemœr
Big Pun introduces Latin hip hop
any other rapper in the game tooday.
It’s no secret that Pun is capable of
pulling lyrical feats that reach an
u n c h a rte re d level o f ly rical
amazement. On Yeeeah Baby, Pun
takes the time to entertain the
countless ears that have suffered at
th e ex p en se o f tim e -w a stin g
wannabes. It’s that amusing side o f
Pun that helps make songs like
“Laughing At You,” an entertaining
middle finger anthem for the young
and teased. Pun explains, “Laughing
At Y ou' iswhere I’m trying to show
that rap aint’ just rhymes and beats.
It’s more than that. It’s a song with
meaning - put together with a
concept. It’s for people that were
too short, overweight or a class
clown that eventually blossomed at
a later age and made it.”
With a rapid-fire rhyme style that
c o m b in e s h a rd c o re w ith a
charismatic persona, Big Pun was
first inroduced to the rap world via
another Latino rap delegate, FatJoe
in 1996. Pun instantly made a strong
u n d e rg ro u n d
im p act
w ith
m em o rab le a p p e a ra n c e s on
FunkMaster Flex Mix Tape Vol. 2
and Fat Joe’s LP, Jealous O ne’s
Envy.
His 1997 Loud Records debut,
C a p ita l P u n ish m en t is Big
Punisher’s crowning achievement.
The double platinum beautifully
Jefferson from page 2
was sent to live at another plantation,
where he took on a new name.
H isto ria n s, h o w e v e r, ca n n o t
confirm this account, and Byron
Woodson has traveled across the
country, spending countless hours
pouring through county records
trying to establish a connection
between this slave child and Thomas
Jefferson.
Both Thomas and Byron Woodson
also have submitted to blood tests
in an attempt to prove that their
long-dead ancestor was fathered by
the late president.
“African Americans, a lot o f them
are very sensitive because their
w hite grandparents and great-
grandparents didn’t acknowledge
their children,” Byron Woodson
says. “It was painful to people. And
that p ain seem s to run dow n
generation after generation.”
When Byron W oodson’s blood test
shows that his DNA does not match
that o f Je ffe rso n , he rem ains
undeterred. “I’m still very interested
in tel I ing people our story,” he says,
“because it’s a story that needs to be
told, needs to be heard by all
Americans.”
(The
Big Punisher (aka Christopher Rios) died from an apparent heart attack. He was pronounced dead at
approximately 4 pm. on Monday, February’ 7, 2000. Big Pun died at the young age o f 28. Tragically, the young
entertainer who was steadily making his way into the homes o f people that might not have given any thought
to Latino hip-hop.
photo by
D aniel H astings
captured the unique mixture o f
rhyme, flow and characteristics that
made Pun a headline superstar
c a p a b le o f e x c e e d in g
all
expectations. The single “Still Not
A Player,” with its unifying adlib -
“Boricua, Morena” was the key that
ultimately opened the door to the
wider recognition o f Latino artists
on the radio, and in the process, set
off the Latino invasion on the music
charts. Pun later helped the cause
again by guest appearing on Ricky
M artin’s remix o f “Livin’ La Vida
Loca” as well as teaming up with
Bronx bombshell, Jennifer Lopez
for her multi-platinum LP, On The
6 a lo n g sid e Fat Joe. C apital
Punishment also went on to earn a
Grammy nomination for “Best Rap
A lbum ” at the 1998 Grammy
Awards.
“I’m gonna rhyme about sex, money
and whatever else I rap about,” Pun
says. “But I don’t rhyme about
drugs. That’s not my thing. I don’t
be putting that in kids’ heads,
because I still wanna be able to
bring flavor to the game. Now hip-
hop is twenty years older, my fans
are older. I can’t rhyme to them
about getting high on the comers -
w atchin’ out for the cops and
slinging crack. I can’t rhyme about
40’s and a blunt. We don’t do that
anymore. W e’ve got families and
kids. W e’re on lap tops trying to do
this and that - trying to expand our
business up.”
Beenie from page 8
Recent DNA tests have all but
proven that P resident Thomas
Jefferson, had a long-standing
relationship and several children
with a woman who was his slave.
Jefferson apparently lived a dual
life, sharing his house with his white
daughter and grandchildren while
his unacknowledged mistress, Sally
Hemings, and his children by her
worked in the same house as slaves.
"Jefferson's Blood, "airs Tuesday,
M ay 2, a t 10 pm . on PBS,
FRONTLINE.
P hoto by T he G ranger C ollection , N Y C
queens and reggae ragamuffins can
be experienced during Brooklyn,
N Y ’s Annual West Indian Pride
Week. The states have their own
circuit o f Carnivals. From Canada,
Florida and finally, New York in
September.. .you too can experience
dance hall riddims for a domestic
price. During my years living NY,
Brooklyn celebrating with these
residents from the decent o f West
Indian countries like Trinidad,
Jamaica, Grenada and Belize have
been the best way to experience
first hand what makes the annual
seven day and non-stop dancehall
& reggae club circuits so jam packed
& jum pin’.
From the Ja m a ic a n & T rin i
dancehall jams, to Soca, to reggae
riddims, Brooklyn opens and packs
its clubs to feature artists like Beenie
M an, L ady Saw , and o th e rs
representin’ dancehall, reggae &
it’s culture. The streets stay packed
from people club hoppin’ and
packin’ the streets just to pay their
$30 or so to get in. Believe me, if
you experience the week long
concerts, then please note that’, this
is just a taste o f how this cultures
dancehall divas and kings represent.
Dancehall divas & kings are like
honey to a bee. How sweet it
is. When you visit the Pride Week &
Labor Day Parade to see N Y ’s
imported and yes, very abundant
population o f Caribbean culture in
Brooklyn, it isn’t of the ordinary to
see a Beenie Man, a Buju Banton or
a SuperCat. From the carnival
callaloo, coconut bread, curried
goat, roti, and rice & peas, to the
subway that you catch at 1 am to get
to, yes, the beg in n in g o f the
dancehall party.. .the aproxímate 2
million residents & visitors chanting
in the dancehall and the rhythm o f
reggae will keep you dancing from
dusk ‘til dawn.
Performing his hits o f “Tell Me”,&
“Who am I Sim Simma”, Beenie
made sure his fans understood who
B eenie
is and
w h at
he
represen is...Sim simma. who got
the keys to my Bimmer
Who am I? The girls dem sugar/
How can I, make love to a fellow ?
In a rush, pass mi the keys to my
truck/Who am I? / The girls dem
luck/ And ! and I will make love to
Precious
Irie!