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Music
Da Brat is Back
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completely disappear (hey that’s
quintessential Brat), one glance at
the sexy CD cover is just a hint of
what to expect in the grooves. Listen
to the suggestively thirst-quenching
“Pink Lemonade,” featuring Debra
Killings, and the flirty “W hat’chu
Like,” featuring Tyrese, to get a
better X-rated, or make that R-
Rated, picture.
Confidence is not the only quality
Da Brat’s not lacking. She possesses
anabundanceofcreativity. Though
sh e ’s alw ays w ritten her own
rhymes, on “Runnin’ OutOfTime,
featuring soulful songstress Kelly
Price, Da Brat even penned the
emotionally-charged hook. “I just
thought about some o f the things
I’d been through, the things my
friends had been through and it just
came out o f me.”
O f c o u rse h e r “big b ro th e r”
Jerm aine D upri produced the
majority o f the funkdafied cuts on
Unrestricted including So So D e f s
inew theme song, “We Ready” . But
i i t ’s D a B rat h e rs e lf w h o ’s
i responsible for introducing her
I fellow Chi-Town native, the up-
CONTRIBUTED STORY
for
T he P ortland O bserver
D on’t call it a comeback. Though
it’s been three years since Da Brat’s
last album, Anutha Tantrum, Da
Brat’s been more visible than a lot
o f h er fem ale contem poraries.
Adding her flow to Top 10 singles
with the likes o f Mariah Carey and
Missy Elliot and featured often on
MTV as a popular celebrity judge
or as the host o f the highly-viewed
“TRL” (“Total Request Live”), the
Chicago native has managed to stay
in the spotlight. Who can forget the
show -stopping presentation she
made at last year’s “Soul Train
Awards” or her sassy dialogue at
U P N ’s h ig h ly -ra te d “ S o u rce
Awards” honoring fellow hip-hop
a rtis ts ? A ll th is h ig h -p ro file
exposure without a current CD in
roation?! Just imagine w hat’s to
com e w ith th e re le a s e o f
Unrestricted, her third C D ...D a
Brat’s revealing everything. W itha
little b o rro w e d from M illie
Jackson’s album o f the same name
(who drops a few lines on the into
by the way!) not only is Da Brat
J
showing a tad more skin, but she’s
showing o ff lyrically as well.
and-coming producer Aaron “The
Hitman” Pittman on this project.
T he S outh Side p ro d u c e r is
resp o n sib le for the tracks on
“Breeve On Em” and "Runnin’ Out
O f Time.” He’s down with her
entertainment company, Thowin’
Tantrums along with 22, another
Chi-town MC, who appears with
Da Brat on “Breeve On Em.”
Though Da Brat’s slowly peeling
the layers off to reveal both her
beauty and her talent, there’s still
plenty o f rawness to draw fans back
tot he first solo female rapper to go
platinum. She’s the perfect female
MC still coming on hardcore while
remaining undeniably feminine.
“I’m still gonna be the same Brat no
matter what,” she says.
“I’m gonna keep on paying. I’m
gonna hold my head high, even if I
fall on my face. I’ll pick myself
back up. Learn and start all over.
The only thing I won’t do is give up.
This third album is like a kick-off
album for the rest o f my life.” With
the arrival o f Unrestricted, life’s
lookin’ real good for Da Brat-ta-
tat-tat.
Though the big-shirts-baggy-
jeans-and-braids look will never
Featuring Famous Cajun Flavor !
Jagged
from page 2
through, a lot o f them are
close to us.”
D on’t think for a second that
Jagged Edge can’t get a party
started. After all, their group
m o n ik e r
h as
alw a y s
symbolized their penchant
for being smooth, but a li’l
rough around the edges. JE
Heartbreak comes equipped
with some beat-driven party
jams that are ripe for summer
Jeep c ru is in ’. “ D id She
Say?,” the premier single,
busts a bum pin’ Beatnuts-
looped groove that could fill
any dance floor, w hile it
doesn’t get any more jam m in’
(or jig g y ) than “ H ouse,
Money & the Keys to the
Range.” “Girl Is Mine,” after
a B obby B row n-inspired
intro, brings the fellas to a
funk-fused ‘90s sound that
features the gruff, streetcore
mic stylings o f D e f Jam
rapper Ja Rule. “W ell, Ja, JD
and Jay-Z are all tight,” says
Brian o f how they connected
with the b lazin ’-hot MC.
“Ja’s style works; that’s why
he’s on every R&B thing right
now. I ain’t mad at Ja.”
»
T
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