Courtesy Photo
Best known for 1990’s “The Humpty Dance,” The Digital Underground
has recently resurfaced with the help of established rap artists KRS
One and Biz Markie.
Digital Underground
“Who Got the Gravy?”
Jake Records
Grade: B
If Digital Underground has any
one claim to fame, it’s “The
Humpty Dance,” a song that tore
through pop music and became an
anthem of sorts - a song that near
ly everyone could sing along with.
Unfortunately, “The Humpty
Dance” also pigeonholed the
Oakland-based hip-hop group’s
legacy into the embarrassing musi
cal genre of one-hit wonders.
And as a result, the group’s
subsequent albums and singles
have been virtually ignored by the
pop music community at large.
“Who Got the Gravy?” tries to
change that. The Undergound’s
new album is full of short, to-the
point songs with hummable cho
ruses and thick backing tracks.
And to help the cause, the
Underground recruited a host of
guest stars, most notably Biz
Markie and KRS-One, to lend
their voices and production skills
to the effort.
The result is a mixed bag, a
collection of songs that sound as
though they were designed to be
singles, not a part of a full album.
Whereas “Sex Packets” (the
group’s impressive debut) sounded
like a cohesive and masterful blend
of tracks, “Who Got the Gravy?”
stutters from one song to the next,
continuing no common themes,
sounds or even styles.
That being said, the songs on
the album are often individually
solid. The opening and closing
tracks (“I Shall Return” and
“Cyber Teeth Tigers,” respective
ly) feature the stripped-down,
hard-rhyming technique of KRS
One, making for sonic exclama
tion points at both ends of the
recording.
“Cyber Teeth Tigers” especial
ly warrants mention, pulling its
chorus and bass line from the
Holland-Dozier-Holland classic
“Smiling Faces Sometimes,”
which breaks up the
Underground’s typically unrepen
tant re-working of Parliament
Funkadelic sounds.
Other standout tracks include
“The Odd Couple,” an old-fash
ioned MC battle between Biz
Markie and Humpty-Hump, and
“The Mission,” which features a
guest rap from Big Pun.
“Blind Mice” stands as the
Undergound’s lone up-front politi
cal statement on the album, lam
basting the state of the nation and
the apathy of the people who live
in it. But in the context of both this
album and the entire legacy of the
Digital Underground, politics
sound a little out of place.
Maybe the Shock-G/Humpty
Hump camp would be better off
sticking with funk jams and silly
rhymes.
In other words, maybe they
should just shut up and dance.
That’s what made them famous in
the first place.
—Jeff Randall
■-----1
www.unl.edu/DailyNeb
The Nebraska Humanities Council Presents:
Dr. Stephen Ambrose
the 3"* Annual Governor’s Lecturer in the Humanities
“Courageous Leadership: The Story of Lewis & Clark
and the Opening of the American West ”
September 17,1998 • 7:30 p.m.
Kimball Recital Hall
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
FREE • OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Madonna upsets world’s Hindus
Her use of symbols at MTV awards angered many
LOS ANGELES (AP) -
Madonna has offended Catholics
and fundamentalist Christians
with her provocative use of
Christian symbols in her music
videos. Now, the Material Girl has
angered Hindus.
Wearing a see-through blouse
and a Hindu facial marking,
Madonna performed her song
“Ray of Light” at the MTV Music
Video Awards last week.
“Madonna’s MTV stage per
formance, which combined
Eastern mysticism with Western
hedonism, did not sit well with
sincere Hindus, Vaishnavas and
yoga practitioners around the
globe,” the World Vaishnava
Association said in a statement.
During her performance,
Madonna wore a “Vaishnava
tilak,” a holy facial marking that
“undermined the principles of
purity the markings represent,”
said Tusta Krishnadas, spokesman
for the association, an umbrella
group for the Vaishnava branch of
Hinduism.
“By wearing this sacred mark
ing while wearing clothing
_u u __:__
iuiuu^u nuivu uvi uippivo vvvi V
clearly visible and while gyrating
in a sexually suggestive manner
with her guitar player, Madonna
offended Hindus and Vaishnavas
throughout the world,”
Krishnadas said, demanding an
apology from Madonna and MTV
Madonna received similar crit
icism from Christians several
years ago over the use of religious
symbolism in her “Like a Prayer”
video.
Friends’ star sacrificed
favorite food to lose weight
NEW YORK (AP) - Before
she was a big star, Jennifer
Aniston was a little, uh, big. To
lose weight she had to give up her
favorite food: mayonnaise on
white bread sandwiches.
“I didn’t even know I was
overweight until someone told
me,” the “Friends” co-star says in
the October Redbook magazine.
“I hate it that your self-worth is
metered by how much you weigh.”
Giving up her most cherished
foods, getting on a diet plan and
exercise helped Aniston drop 30
pounds a few years ago. Now the
5-foot-5-inch tall actress is down
to 112 pounds, a weight she main
tains without cutting out all fun
foods.
“I don’t have a big diet plan
anymore,” Aniston said. “I watch
what I eat, but I don’t not eat a
cheeseburger, because life is no
fun living on salads and fruit.”
Co-star says Tim Allen
much improved after rehab
NEW YORK (AP) - Tim Allen
is back on the set of “Home
Improvement,” clean and sober
after a tough court-ordered alco
hol rehabilitation program.
“It was a boot camp,” Allen
says in Sept. 19-25 TV Guide. “It
was horrible. But (rehab) is the
best thing I have ever done.”
Allen was arrested last year in
Michigan by police who clocked
him doing 70 mph in his Ferrari in
a 40-mph zone. He pleaded guilty
to drunken driving, was fined
$500 and got a year’s probation.
Allen checked into the California
tpViqK ppntpr in Anril ac nart Viic
---1-r — - w --
sentence.
“Home Improvement” co-star
Patricia Richardson has noticed a
dramatic change in Allen’s per
sonality on the set. Before, “he
would fume quietly, and it would
come out in a mean streak of
humor,” Richardson said.
Now, he’s “sober in more ways
than not drinking. He’s more
grounded. He doesn’t back off or
go away and fume,” she said. “The
fact he could make such a major
life change in the middle of all
this is a miracle.”
In 1978, Allen was convicted
on drug dealing charges and
served 28 months in a federal
prison. He went on to become one
of the richest entertainers in
America, ranking sixth on Forbes
magazine’s latest list with $77
million in 1998 earnings
Shots fired outside nightclub
where Shaq promoted album
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) -
A gunfight erupted outside a
nightclub where basketball star
Shaquille O’Neal was promoting
his new rap album. There were no
injuries.
The 26-year-old Los Angeles
Lakers center was inside Aldo’s
Night Club on Friday night when
gunfire broke out, police Lt.
Archie Scott said Saturday. Seven
men were taken into custody.
“Shaq was inside the nightclub
doing whatever he does. ... Units
in the area heard multiple shots
being fired from the vicinity just
west of the building,” Scott said.
The men, who ranged in age
from 19 to 32, were arrested for
the investigation of various
charges, including participating
in a criminal street gang and
assault with a firearm.
Two handguns were found at
the scene, but the shots fired may
have come from a passing car.
“I don’t think it was related to
the function. They just had a dif
ferent agenda and showed up to
cause problems,” Scott said.
Spike Lee recalls days as
struggling film maker
DANVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Spike
lcc icmciiioers me goou oiu uays
when he was a struggling film
maker.
“When we were making my
first film, ‘She’s Gotta Have It,’
we were all saving empty soda
cans and bottles to turn in for
nickels. That’s how we got money
to buy film,” Lee said at Center
College on Saturday night. “I can
tell you about having my phone
and electricity and gas cut off
when I couldn’t pay the bills. And
that experience was good for
me.”
Lee credited his parents for
encouraging him to follow his
dream.
“Now I count my blessings
every day because I’m making a
living doing what makes me
happy,” he said. “Ninety-five per
cent of the people in this world go
to their graves never getting to do
what makes them happy.”
Lee’s films include “Do The
Right Thing,” “Malcolm X” and
“He Got Game.”
The Lincoln Journal Star and /IjPy^""N y j| 1 ft. I
Triathlon Broadcast mmmmmmw
BS^iA'iiSaif
mUsI
Wed., Sept. 16th, 1998,
11:00 am - 7:00 pm
Bob Deyaney
Sports Center
1600 Court St.
BSBB modis
fv | **m*mit nJliBWK
_ ewncAMPcoi».
%J=VONMAUR ftfe&s
yC V t >1 Alegent Health
_Star! ifflBUg *Ai“ % " iSi c™“**sta, fe
Accounting Resources
American Express Financial
Advisors
AmeriCorps
Anderson Ford
Advantage Personnel, Inc.
Celebrity Services
Centurion International
Convergys
Deeter Foundry, Inc.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Experian
Farmers Insurance Group
First Care Health Services
First Commerce Technologies
First Data Enterprises
First National Bank Of
Omaha
Health & Human Services
System
Integrated Health Systems Inc.
J.C. Penney
LensCrafters
Lincoln Plating
Lincoln Police Dept.
Lincoln Public Schools
Manpower/Manpower
Technical
Mature Resources
MDS Harris
Modern Woodmen of
America
Mutual of Omaha
MSP Resources
Nebraska State Personnel
Norrell Staffing Services
Northwestern Mutual Life
Old Navy
Pamida Inc.
Primerica Financial Services
The Principal Financial Group
The Prudential
Prudential Preferred Financial
Services
RHI Consulting
Russwood Chrysler Plymouth
Saint Elizabeth Regional
Medical Center
Software Technology, Inc.
State Farm Insurance
Union Bank & Trust Co.
Union College
Unipac
U.S. Air Force Officer
Accessions
U.S. Army
Waddell & Reed
Don't miss this opportunity to meet area businesses and explore their employment opportunities.
