Page 6
The Behrend Beacon
Jay-Z bites o
he can chew
commentary by Olivia Page
Jay-z, a.k.a. Shawn Carter, a.k.a. Jig.g.a, a.k.a. "Number
One Biter.
Yes, Jay-Z is the "Number One Biter - according to Issue
No. 45 of "XXI, - Magazine. ! low is this so?
Imagine yourself in a car. listening to a Jay-7 CD in your
You sway your head to the commercial heats and you
notice a verse that sounds like something you have heard
before
Most likely, you have heard the verse before and it is also
likely it's just slightly altered version from 'Fupac or Biggie.
Sometimes the verses on a Jay-1 track are even the exact
same as those by the rap superstars.
Now, don't misunderstand. This lyric swapping is not
sampling. Sampling is when a recording artist pays an
other recording artist for beats or lyrics. In Jay-Z's case,
lyric biting is more like copyright infringement.
One of the most noticeable Jay-Z biting sagas took place
this year with Jay-Z and Beyonce's "Bonnie and Clyde."
This controversial "remake" of Tupac's "Me and my Girl
friend" turned the rap classic into a commercial hip-hop
track. Both songs not only mention driving and other scenes,
but also have a very similar chorus, with only a one-word
difference.
Tupac's version has "bloody end, - while Jay-Z's has "very
end." Jay-Z also switched some pails of Tupac's lyrics such
as "turn this house into a happy home" to "let's lock this
down, like its supposed to be. - Basically, the only origi
nality of the Jay-Z song is having a girl, Beyonce, singing.
Jay-Z "dissed - Tupac on the 1999's "Reasonable Doubt
album in "Brooklyn's Finest, - a song with Biggie. Tupac
in turn "dissed" Jay-Z in "Bomb First" and "All Out. -
Tupac is not the only one on Jay-Z's bite list. The Noto
rious 8.1. G is not only referenced, hut also hit from, on
numerous Jay-Z songs.
Jay-Z changes Biggie's "I see some ladies tonight that
should he/ having my baby ...hahy. - Jay-Z has "I see some
ladies tonight that should he rolling with Jay-Z, Jay-Z. - On
Dancing the night away
Shen-and-Bones dance group will perform
inH3O.
by Dana Vaccaro
staff writer
Water consists of three simple atoms,
two of hydrogen and one of oxygen.
What would happen if an extra hydro
gen atom were to appear? Does H3O
make sense to anyone? There may not
be such a formula in the chemistry world,
but in the theatrical world, it makes sense.
Shen & Bones Performance Group,
along with Joseph Allen Popp's Weirdo
Theatre, presents "H3O a Hectic Collabo
ration in Three Parts," at the Erie Art Mu
seum Annex, 423 State St., at 8:30 p.m.
tonight and tomorrow.
H3O is a collaborative piece of dance
theater, which lasts 45 minutes, split up
into three parts
Lani Fand Weissbach, the artistic di
rector for Shen & Bones Performance
Group, as well as the yoga teacher at Penn
State Behrend, said dance is not very vis
ible around Erie and "H3O" is "a unique
theatrical performance for this arc..."
She considers her approach to dance
as eclectic and contemporary and thanks
that dancing is "kind of experimental in
using the body in different ways."
The dancing techniques that will he
used in the "1-130" combine western con
staff writer
temporary with influence from the east,
such as Japanese Butoh. Tthe eastern
dance will be used throughout the presen
tation. Weisshach explains that with west
ern contemporary style "the body moves
in a more harmonious way," where as the
eastern style is "more of a meditative slow
movement."
Butoh, she said, "is versatile, flexible,
and meaningful for the movement of the
body."
"F
-I30" is focused toward Erie with the
theme of water and industry. Weissbach
says that there are both funny and serious
parts during the performance. The danc
ing and music is expressed in more of a
poetic way, versus a narrative way, which
would be used more in a play. The pre
sentation will not only move the audience
but also create a poem.
The movements. along with the music,
are choreographed and improvised.
"Even though Ithe dancers] are impro
vising movement, it has to he structured,"
said Weissbach. She is not only the dance
director for this performance, but she is
also directing the Weirdo Theatre.
While directing both dancers and mu
sicians, she has been busy and said that
this has been a learning experience for her.
Shen & Bones Performance Group,
which was, which was formed in 1989,
more than
Master "biter" Jay-Z
"Squeeze First," Jay-Z says "that's why I squeeze first, ask
questions last,that's how gangstas pass." Big's "Hypnotize"
has the same verse. Jay-Z also has a verse in "Give it to
Me," which is basically the same as Big's "The World is
Filled."
Jay-Z even copied Nas, another contender on his "diss"
list aside from Tupac, with "Never Change." Nas's verse
on "Verbal Intercourse" is very similar.
Jay-Z also has some very similar verses when compared
to Dr. Dre, Mase and Snoop Dogg.
Notice when the artist Tupac, Biggie, Dr. Dre, Mase and
Snoop Dogg came out with verses that Jay-Z "bit," from, a
commercial rap was not even in, their vocabulary. Jay-Z is
prized platinum artist, known for commercialization. He
has the club heats matched with choruses that stick out. He
has also done numerous sampling in which he has followed
the copyright laws and paid just dues. Among songs he has
sampled from are Jacksons s's "1 Want You Back," in "Not
Guilty." and segments from the musical "Annie" in " Hard
Knock Life."
; •
~;
Friday, September 19, 2003
PHOTO BY SHEN-AND
BONES.COM
and Weirdo Theatre have performed to
gether several times at Forward Hall.
This is their first elaborate performance
together.
Along with Weissbach, Alethea
Bodine, Elizabeth Spadafore, and Doug
Lodge will be involved in the perfor
mance.
Weirdo Theatre consists of four band
members, Joseph Allen Popp (guitars),
Rob Gray (voice, theremin), Ken
Cornelius (bass), and Rick Lopez
(drums). They will also be playing a spe
cial after-show set.
Tickets for the performance are $5.00
for students and $6.00 for regular admis-
"H3O" wil be performed today and to
morrow at the Erie Art Museum Annex,
423 State St. The performance begins at
8:30 p.. m.
4 . 4
Joining the TV family
More gay characters reflect real life
by Donna Petrozzello
New York Daily News
Gay and lesbian parents looking at
the small screen this season will find
something rarely seen on TV--them-
selves
"This is one of the first times that
I've gotten to see someone like me on
prime-time TV," said Joan Garry, a les
bian, mother of three and the execu
tive director of the Gay & Lesbian Al
liance Against Defamation (GLAAD).
The fall lineup has several openly
gay or bisexual characters, some of
of "Six Feet Under's" Fisher family cast
them moms and dads. Among them
ABC's "It's All Relative" and Fox's "A
Minute With Stan Hooper," each fea
tures a gay couple in a long-term rela
tionship.
One of the characters on NBC's
"Coupling" is a bisexual Asian-Ameri
can woman.
CBS' "Two and a Half Men" stars
Charlie Sheen as a min whose es
tranged sister-in-law is gay.
While the number of gay or lesbian
characters has not increased dramati
cally--it's essentially even with a year
ago--they include the kind of family
based, realistic roles that has made
GLAAD take note.
For example, GLAAD cites ABC's
new sitcom "It's All Relative," whose
gay couple has a daughter, as a broad
cast-TV breakthrough.
"I hope ABC uses the show to give
people a closer look at some of the re
alities of the gay parenting experience
for both the parents and the kids,"
LEB Movie
'2 Fast 2
oblivion
After being arrested for illegal street racing, fugitive LAPD officer Brian
O'Connor (Paul Walker) is blackmailed into going undercover for US Customs
so they can take down the leader of a major drug cartel. Unbelievably ridicu
lous and infinitely stupid, this street-racing sequel makes the same mistake of
creating an inconceivable plot as the first film, only this time it does it without
Vin Diesel. Paul Walker and his onscreen partner Tyrese come off as too dim
witted to succeed in the task at hand, and only Eva Mendes has no problem
delivering the constipated dialogue. At least the plot is so completely dispos
able it rarely interrupts the killer racing scenes. Directed by John Singleton at
the lowest point of his post-Boyz N the Hood career. -- DJS
"2 Fast 2 Furious" will show in Reed 117 at 10 p.m. on Sept. 25-27. The cost
is $1 per student.
Daniel J. Stasiewski, A&E Editor
Garry said.
For years, GLAAD and other advo
cacy groups have urged the broadcast
networks to use gay parents promi
nently in prime time.
"It's All Relative," which begins Oct.
I at 8:30 p.m. EDT, stars Lenny Clarke
("The Job") and Harriet Sansom Har
ris ("Memento") as parents whose son
gets engaged to a woman who's been
brought up by two gay men, played by
John Benjamin Hickey and Christo
pher Sieber.
For executive producers Craig
Zadan and Neil Meron, who developed
"It's All Relative," the show couldn't
have come at a better time
With series such as Bravo's "Queer
Eye for the Straight Guy," HBO's "Six
Feet Under," Showtime's "Queer as
Folk" and NBC's long-running "Will
& Grace," Zadan said, viewers have
been primed to accept a wide variety
of gay characters on TV. "These shows
are all representative of people in gay
just another
take on it," Zadan said.
"We want to present families the way
that they exist in this world," Meron
added. "Families aren't defined by
blood anymore, they're defined by
love."
Despite its optimism over a handful
of shows, GLAAD notes that most of
TV's gays still are affluent white men.
"We're looking for more statics, more
dimension and more depth to gay char
acters," added Garry. "The media ab
solutely has a responsibility to reflect
the world around them."
of the Week
Furious'
behrcolls@aol.com
PHOTO BY HBO