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UVMONT GRAVES, 22, RAPS free-style Tuesday afternoon at N-DA-MIXX music store, 2712 Y St. Graves
is working with Kenneth Johnson,the store’s manager, who is producing a song with several artists in
Lincoln.
Hip-hop scene strives for unity
By Diane Broderick
Staff writer
Lincoln and New York aren’t that different
The R&B and hip-hop talent encapsulated
in both places is considerable and comparable
- but the degree of competition is what sepa
rates them, said Tim Coleman, a Lincoln native
working to start a record label.
Coleman spent his childhood in Lincoln
and attended UNL for a year, then went to New
York where he worked as a Broadway per
former, most recently on “Jekyll & Hyde.”
He recently put the finishing touches an
album in Texas, and now he’s back in Lincoln.
Coleman is putting work into starting Stone
Dancer, his upstart record label, in a city that he
says is rife with hip-hop and R&B talent
“I’ve met a lot of people who could survive
with the big boys once they saw what the other
side was like,” Coleman said.
But Lincoln is secluded, and therein one
problem lies. Competition is key to driving
artists to be better, but it’s not plentiful in
Lincoln.
I could only understand a piece of that
(before I went to New York),” Coleman said.
Here, if artists are average, Coleman said,
people will get to know them, like them, and
their music will do reasonably well. It can be a
good thing, but it leads to complacency.
“In New York, if you’re kind of good, (the
audience) can’t be bothered. You have to be
great,” Coleman said “You work harder.”
Lincoln’s hip-hop scene is actually quite
diverse, and features a little bit of East Coast,
West Coast and Midwest sounds, said Kevan
Griffin, a member of local group Beyond.
But not only does this differentiation pre
vent the scene from standing as a cohesive
whole, it works to distinguish the groups from
one another so they aren’t directly competitive.
Another problem is that Lincoln’s small
size prevents it from having a large, thriving
hip-hop scene because the demand isn’t there
to call for it, said Arnell Watson of th^
Blackshirts, another local group.
With notable exceptions, a certain amount
of apathy is run-of-the-mill in Lincoln, said
Kenneth Johnson, owner of local record store
N-Da-Mixx.
Johnson does what he can to energize the
R&B and hip-hop scenes by organizing con
certs and after-hours parties, usually at
Temptations, that give the community a
chance to hear local music and give artists a
chance to perform.
Community is very important to him, and
Johnson strives to give back to it, donating pro
66
The alternative scene
supports local music a
lot better than the
hip-hop scene does.”
Kevan Griffin
member of Beyond
ceeds from his shows to Lighthouse, an organi
zation for youths, and the Malone Center, a
community recreation center, among other
charitable causes along with working with
local groups to help them prosper.
“This is a good guy here,” Coleman said
about Johnson. “He looks out for everybody.
That’s not something you find.”
Johnson spends most of his day in N-Da
Mixx, where local artists come to him to work
on projects. His store is small, located in the
back of the Oasis Barbershop at 27th and Y
streets, but its place in Lincoln’s hip-hop scene
is vital.
At any given moment, Johnson is doing
about three things at once, ordering music for
his store, organizing next week’s event at
Temptations and producing a song that brings
local artists together.
Along with owning N-Da-Mixx and
DJing, which he has been doing for about two
years, one of Johnson’s goals has been to pro
duce music, and he has been working with
groups and “putting them out there” as well by
acting as an agent.
He works hard, he says, because Lincoln
isn’t overly receptive to the hip-hop scene.
“There’s a lot of people who don’t want to
see you come up,” Johnson said.
When people try to start clubs, often the
required permits and regulations serve only to
stifle anything that could have succeeded, he
said.
And though both Johnson and Coleman
have their eyes toward leaving Lincoln and fur
thering their careers, their intentions are to
keep Lincoln close to their hearts.
Johnson wants to move on with his career
in producing and would like to open a club, but
he plans on staying in Lincoln until he can
build a strong base here, one that will keep
art^ts in the hip-hop community working
together and helping each other out.
When it comes time for him to leave,
Johnson plans to leave his store and the ser
Please see SCENE on 13
Play s goal to reach, heal abused women
.V ■1 '■ i
u
We want programs
that show victims that
its not theirfault, and
that it's OK to stop
being a victim ”
Tolandra Coleman
Women’s Center project assistant
By Danell McCoy
Staff writer
One in every four college women
has been sexually assaulted. The
tragedy worsens as most of them do not
seek help. On Thursday, the UNL
Women’s Center is sponsoring the play
“Womyn With Wings” in die hopes that
the women of these statistics will see
the production, come forward and
begin the process of healing.
“We chose this play because it deals
a lot with healing,” said Tolandra
Coleman, project assistant at the center.
“We want programs that show victims
that it’s not their fault, and that it’s OK to
stop being a victim. We hope to get that
message to the students through the
play”
“Wonayn With Wings,” written b>
Janies Chapmyn, is a play that explores
the trials and tribulations of three
women from diverse backgrounds. One
woman is a rape victim, cme is an inees)
survivor and one is facing the horrible
fear oftaeast cancer.
The play presents each woman’;
life and shows how die women deal
wife their situations, evolving as friends
and as survivors of their experiences.
“This play deals a lot with sell
acceptance,” Coleman said. “It’s ar
expose of womanhood as we move inte
die next century.”
Coleman hopes that bringing this
play onto campus will help people real
ize that sexual assault is happening, and
it does need to be addressed. _
“We want diem to know that these
are people willing to help them,” she
said. “It’s important to reach out to
these women and let them know that
they can get the help they need.”
This is the first play sponsored by
die Wbmen’s Center since 1997.
Coleman said that toe center hadn't
been very successful in bringing in
speakers, so they decided to try a new
medium to convey information.
“We think that bringing in a play
instead of a speaker will help because
instead of having someone speak at
you, you have characters that speak
with you and take you through the emo
tions of the ordeal.”
What: WomynWith Wings
When: Nebraska Union
When: Today at 7:30 p.m.
CoefcFpe
The Skinny:The fives of three women
Mends who grow from victim to smMvor
Debrar Chapman, Coma Almon
and Ay anna Johnson, all from the group
Living the Dream, Inc., will be per
forming the play. There will be a recep
tion with the cast members following
the play.
