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By SARAH ROTHWELL, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 9, 2008

NORTH TAMPA - When Samantha Ashlee Bennardo, 21, hears a good beat, her wheels begin to turn. The Christian rap artist, known to her fans as Sicily, writes her own songs. She considers hip-hop a way to minister to youths and bring hope to troubled people.

As a teenager, Bennardo battled depression and suicidal thoughts. She credits Christianity and music with saving her life. Her debut album, “Tha Goddaughter,” focuses on the healing power of God’s love.

Bennardo lives in Town ‘N Country and attends Salem Baptist Church, 1712 E. Busch Blvd. She performs at churches throughout Hillsborough and Pasco counties.

Are you from Tampa?

No. I was born in Brooklyn. I moved to Florida when I was 8 years old. My mother thought it would be a better life for me down here.

Were you raised in a Christian household?

I was raised in a Catholic household. I started going to a Protestant church with a friend when I was 15. I went for two years before I started really living for God. At 17, I gave my life totally to God. It just felt right to me. It felt perfect.

Did you grow up loving music?

I did. It was my thing. As a kid, my mom always had music on in the house. She listened to ’70s disco, jazz and R&B. I listened to all that. When I moved to Florida, I started listening to hip-hop.

When did you decide to combine your passion for music with your faith?

After I gave my life to God, I started thinking about the music my friends were listening to and how there was nothing really positive about it. It was all about sex and drugs and going to clubs. I thought, “Why not make music about the word of God?” I wanted to show young people there’s more than what they see on TV, that there’s someone out there who really does love them, whose love is more powerful than even a mother or father could give.

Did you start out as a solo artist?

I started in a rap group at a church, Zion Pentecostal. It was me and a bunch of guys. Then, the producer from 2ice-Born records heard me rap. He contacted me and said I was ready to make a CD. I went into the studio in 2005. My album, “Tha Goddaughter,” came out October 13, 2007.

Was the CD-making process what you expected?

It was a struggle at times. There were so many things that needed to be done. I wrote all my own lyrics. God gave me the words. I mostly wrote from my own experiences. Sometimes, it was hard, but I felt like God was saying, “You have to share this because there are people who need to hear it.”

What subject matter does your music deal with?

I deal with depression and other real-life issues. I rap about things people actually go through.

Is it difficult being a female in the Christian hip-hop business?

I’m not going to lie. It definitely is. Some men think rapping is a man thing, but females need people to speak for them, too. A lot of other rappers don’t talk about issues girls go through, like depression and abuse, like feeling worthless. I talk about those issues and say, “There’s a way out of this.” When I perform, I’m ministering.

Where do you perform?

I perform all over. I perform at Crossover Hip Hop Church a lot. I’ll be rapping at my church soon, Salem Baptist Church. … There’s a new youth program. I’m excited to rap there.

Are you trying to get your CD picked up by a major label?

I’m trying to get it picked up for distribution. I’m already on the radio. My song “Runaway” is on Spirit FM in Tampa.

Have you met any fans who say your music impacted their lives?

I actually have. People come up and say, “This really made a difference in my life.” For that, God gets the glory.

What do you do when you’re not making music?

I chill with friends. I go to movies. I don’t drink or go to clubs. Those things don’t interest me. I goof off and have fun.

Do you plan on making hip-hop a full-time career?

I’m writing my second album. As for whether or not I’ll make music my lifetime career, we’ll see what God’s will is.

HEAR SICILY

To purchase “Tha Goddaughter,” click on the “Music” link at MySpace.com music and enter the keyword “Sicily” or stop by the Crossover Hip Hop store at 7809 N. Orleans Ave. For show dates and booking information, call (813) 892-0610.

Sarah Rothwell can be reached at (813) 865-4845 or srothwell@tampatrib.com.

By popular R&B standards, Chris Brown’s 2005 radio hit “Run It” was brilliant: the singer oozed over a big, chunky dance beat that propelled him to the song’s swooningly melodramatic bridge, and vowed, seductively, that you’d never believe he was just sixteen. Since, he has dropped the equally successful songs “Gimme That,” “Kiss Kiss,” and “Wall to Wall,” all of which combine peppy backing tracks with singing that’s unctuous, melismatic, and filled with double entendre. Because he can actually sing, Brown has managed to remain a hit whereas most of his ilk make it to the radio once and go the way of Los del Rio. The artist presents himself as a disciple of Prince and Michael Jackson, and for the most part, he can justify the comparison.

But you wouldn’t really know that from watching a recent, nearly sold-out show at Oakland’s ORACLE Arena, which emphasized fancy pyrotechnics and Vegas-style chorus lines over actual singing. Entirely mediated by technology, the show was visceral and in-your-face enough to give the illusion of intimacy — hence its unintentionally ironic title, the “Up Close and Personal Tour.” In addition to gunfire sound effects and flashy stage sets, it featured virtual guest appearances by Rihanna, T-Pain, and Lil’ Wayne, who performed in video form. Being there was tantamount to stepping inside a Chris Brown music video: the assaultive hip-hop backbeats caused little girls to cover their ears, parents winced whenever a fiery geyser erupted from the stage. In fact, the only thing missing was the music — which might not have mattered, given that the mostly teenage crowd came up in an era of DJs and backing tracks, and probably had never seen a live band, anyway.

The two opening acts, Jamaican-American crooner Sean Kingston and SoundClick.com phenom Soulja Boy Tell Em, had little to offer in terms of musical depth, either. After Kingston’s fifteen-minute opening set, wiry seventeen-year-old Soulja Boy catapulted on stage to perform his signature hit, which is not only the most popular song on KMEL, but probably the most honest portrayal of American rap music’s current cultural mores: Soulja Boy up/In dis ho/Watch me crank it/Watch me roll/Watch me crank dat Soulja Boy/den Super Man dat ho. It’s probably what the troops in Baghdad are listening to on their iPods. Whilst singing, Soulja Boy did his signature dance — a kind of slowed-down krump style that had him bopping from side to side, doing a flappy Roger Rabbit thing with his arms. The Superman reference came with its own special move, in which Soulja Boy swooped down onstage with outstretched arms, like a beautiful swan.

But the show really belonged to Brown and Bow Wow. The latter started his 55-minute set with a wallop, descending from the top of the stage in a giant aircraft with butterfly doors. Skinny, shrimpy, twenty-year-old Bow Wow resembled a wannabe vato in his wifebeater T-shirts and royal blue bandanna (he started out in a black-and-yellow postal uniform and went through several costume changes), but he held court nonetheless, posing for cell phone pictures mid-song, joshing with his hype man, and prancing around the stage with a chorus line of Ciara-lookalikes. Also featuring a guest appearance by Bay Area titan E-40, the set closed with a commercial shown on two giant video screens for Face Off, Bow Wow’s current collaboration with Top 40 crooner Omarion.

Brown’s entrance took roughly ten minutes, starting with a four-minute commercial projected on several giant video screens for Sync, a Microsoft voice-activated phone and digital car stereo made exclusively for Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln vehicles. Then came an animated superhero sequence in which a cartoon Brown had to rescue a beautiful woman from a rogue group of “haters” and still make it to the show on time, his cell phone bleating SOS warnings all the while. Brown floated down from the rafters in black fatigues and a bullet-proof vest, his dance squad positioned behind him like a row of Rhythm Nation cadets. They launched a spectacular, Disneynified performance complete with a cameo from Bay Area rapper Keak da Sneak; giant screensaver projections; and special break-dance sets by Brown’s sidekicks, nine-year-old Miles and eleven-year-old Scooter (who also busted a cute but seemingly interminable rap of his own). Midway through his set, Brown and two hype men left the stage and magically reappeared on a rotating, melon-shaped platform in the middle of the coliseum. Girls gazed adoringly as they performed a lurid version of Brown’s “First Time,” complete with dry-hump moves. Parents and boyfriends in the audience looked comatose.

Amid all this high-tech spectacle, the music seemed like an afterthought. Brown performed with a live drummer and DJ, but the rest of his band — an arsenal of horns, keyboardists, and string players — appeared on video only, the screens stacked in chic vertical panels. In fact, the different band members were actually Brown in multiple guises, faking all the instruments. Brown did a duet with Rihanna, who appeared as a life-size video, and launched a break-dance battle with a video version of himself. Even his voice seemed canned, especially in the moments when he pulled the microphone away from his mouth but retained a crystalline, full-toned sound.

It’s still not clear whether Brown actually lip-synched his entire set. Perhaps the only people who noticed — or cared, for that matter — were the curmudgeonly old folks who could remember a time when slick dance moves and hyphy DJ mixes didn’t steal the show. For a generation raised on Autotune software, regurgitated samples, and live shows that spawn from the same KMEL playlists heard all day on the radio, authenticity isn’t that big of a deal. The thing that elicited most applause that night was a mix of 2004 throwbacks spun by Brown’s DJ Babey Drew.

Apparently, what makes a good R&B show these days is the quality of the presentation. If the star appears “up close and personal” — albeit through the filter of an Imation or a video screen — then old-style musicianship need not apply. But if Brown’s career stays on track, he’ll perhaps overcome the mediocrity of hip-hop and R&B. You might come for the spectacle initially, but in the end, you’ll stay for the talent.

MIAMI, FL, Jan 09, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) — Fuego Entertainment, Inc. (OTCBB: FUGO) today announced it hasformed a new music division, Echo-Fuego Music, in a joint venturewith legendary music producer and promoter Jeffrey Collins. His musiccatalog of more than 2,000 tracks and 15 artists previously under theEcho-Vista label will be merged into the new joint venture, with amajority stake owned by Fuego Entertainment. Mr. Collins will managethe joint venture which plans to release at least two albums permonth over the next five years featuring artists such as KRS-One, Father MC, Ahmir, Marcus Allen, Eriq J’Mar, Don Connor, NoXcuse, RamSquad, Euricka, Papa San, Jeff Maddox, DJ No-Rap, Culture, MeekieRenee, C.W., World Carnival, Colonel Abrams, La Velle and TheL.C.D.’s. The joint venture Echo-Fuego is actively seeking to signexciting new artists under the new label.

Mr. Jeffrey Collins has spent nearly 40 years in the music businessand brings a wealth of knowledge and contacts and an alreadyestablished infrastructure within the industry. Hailing from London,England where he built a chain of retail record stores and awholesale distribution company in the 1970s & early 80s at that timehe also began producing and signing recording artists and developedhis first record company. He helped music moguls Richard Branson ofVirgin Records and Chris Blackwell of Island Records launch theirmulti-million dollar music labels. He has extensive experience inProduction, A&R, Wholesale and Retail and has been successful in thegenres of Rock, Pop, Disco, Reggae, R&B, Jazz, Dance and Hip Hop.

“This joint venture with Fuego Entertainment is a wonderfulopportunity for Echo-Vista to be able to release, promote andshowcase the many talented Artists that we have had the pleasure ofworking with over the years. Fusing all of the contacts of both ourcompanies makes for an exciting and winning combination,” quotesJeffrey Collins

“As our Latin Music Label FEMI continues to grow and continues itscourse to become a leader in the industry, we thought the time wasright to cross over into the Hip Hop R&B market. We have acquired avaluable music catalog and in the process created a diverse libraryof content that will propel our company into new grounds. I’m honoredto have Mr. Collins at the helm of our new music division, hiscontribution and leadership will be of great value to the overallsuccess of our company,” stated Hugo Cancio, President & CEO of FuegoEntertainment.

Echo-Fuego Music Catalog will be distributed in North America by KochEntertainment Distributor, one of the leading distributors of musicand entertainment content in the world. The first album, to bereleased under the new Echo-Fuego music division will be by legendaryartist KRS-One in January 2008. The CD is a collection of recentKRS-One recordings chosen to show a complete range of subject matters.

Financial details for this deal were not disclosed.

Fuego Entertainment, Inc. is engaged in the production, acquisition,marketing, sales, and distribution of entertainment products such asshort films, documentaries, television shows, music, and tourproductions. Also, through its subsidiaries, the Company providesmanagement and development of television stations, recorded music,and music publishing services worldwide. The music operations includediscovery, production, development, and distribution of recordedmusic. The Company also markets its music catalog throughcompilations and re-issues of previously released music and videotitles, as well as licenses tracks to and from other producers andrecord labels for various use, including film, documentaries, shortfilms and television soundtracks. For more information, please visitFuego Entertainment at www.fuegoentertainment.net

This press release contains statements, which may constituteforward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Actof 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended by thePrivate Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.Those statementsinclude statements regarding the intent, belief or currentexpectations of Fuego Entertainment, Inc., members of theirmanagement, and assumptions on which such statements are based.Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-lookingstatements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risksand uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially fromthose contemplated by such forward-looking statements.

Contact:Fuego Entertainment, Inc.Dan YorkInvestor Relations214 675-2531ir@fuegoentertainment.net

SOURCE: Fuego Entertainment, Inc.

mailto:ir@fuegoentertainment.net

Copyright 2008 Market Wire, All rights reserved.

STAINS, France — In the heartland of French rap music, Zahia Ziouani is striking a chord with struggling youths who flock to her music school in a Parisian suburb and are joining her symphony orchestra.

The 29-year-old woman of Algerian origin takes pride in her school in Stains, a town on the northern fringe of Paris, saying it is helping to change the image of young people leading dead end lives in France’s high-immigrant suburbs.

"People in the suburbs don’t like just hip-hop," said Ziouani, who four years ago took over the music and dance school where 400 students from 40 nationalities are enrolled.

"It’s classical music that draws most people. We can see it in Stains where our hall is packed for every concert," said Ziouani.

At the Stains music school, students take lessons in piano, violin, guitar among other instruments as well as voice and many are recruited to join the symphonic orchestra that Ziouani has been directing for the past 10 years.

Called "Divertimento," the 60-piece symphonic orchestra plays concerts in Paris, its suburbs and abroad, with half of its members drawn from the suburbs.

Since Ziouani has taken the helm of the Stains music school, enrollment has doubled, says Mayor Michel Beaumale.

"She brings great openness in music and teaching skills. She is talented and we are very lucky to have her in a little city like ours," said Beaumale.

With its rich mix of Arab and north African residents, France’s suburbs have been seedbeds for successful rap musicians like Joey Starr and Abd al-Malik, an up-and-coming artist who grew up in a Strasbourg housing project before going on to win France’s top music award in 2007.

Home to many mass-appeal artists, the suburbs have also produced a generation of angry young rappers, several of whom have ended up in court for their anti-establishment lyrics.

"It’s important to offer a musical heritage that is centuries old," said Zouani of her classical fare.

In Stains, families are at times in need of support to foster the musical talent of children at home but Ziouani said she has been able to find solutions to most of these challenges.

"I do want to raise awareness about the suburbs and have always sought to change the negative image of people who live in the suburbs," said Zouani who herself grew up in a Paris suburb.

Young people from the suburbs "need to know that they have potential and I want to show this," said Ziouani.

President Nicolas Sarkozy is set to launch later this month a master plan to help disaffected youth in the suburbs that exploded into rioting in 2005, France’s worst civil unrest in decades.

"It’s scandalous the way we perceive these fragile neighborhoods," said Christine Boutin, the housing minister in Sarkozy’s government, at a jobs forum late last year.

"France is aging and we need the energy and the creativity of these young people," said Boutin.

A trained guitarist and alto singer, Ziouani has directed a symphony orchestra in Cairo and last year was guest conductor of the national symphony orchestra in Algeria.

"I am very attached to this area. I know it well, I feel useful," said the smiling petite woman. "Even though I have come here at a difficult time because of delinquency, I am hopeful for the future."

VANILLA Ice may be seen as a joke but, nearly two decades after he became the first white artist on the rap scene, he’s still the one laughing.

Mention the name Vanilla Ice and you’re bound to hear sniggers.Even posters advertising the US rapper’s Australian tour have the word "seriously" printed after his name, lest people think it’s some kind of joke.

Not that the Ice Man — or Rob Van Winkle as his mum knows him — cares. He’s laughing all the way to the bank.

"Who cares? I don’t have an ego any more," he says from his Florida home. "It would take a lot more than that to offend me."

And to be fair, he’s copped a lot worse as the world’s first breakout white rapper.

Van Winkle shot to international stardom in 1990 with the single Ice Ice Baby, when he was a 16-year-old with a flat-top hairdo, enormous shoulder pads and baggy pants.

The single became the first hip hop song to hit No.1 on mainstream charts in the US. His rapid fall from grace also turned Vanilla Ice into something of a walking punchline.

Back then, despite topping the charts, Van Winkle was copping it from all angles. African Americans accused him of stealing black music, and Queen and David Bowie accused him of stealing their music (Ice Ice Baby sampled the hit Under Pressure).

But if you believe the tittle-tattle, they were the least of his problems at the time. Stories have circulated for years that Suge Knight, co-founder of Death Row Records, initially made his fortune by "persuading" Van Winkle to sign millions in royalties from Ice Ice Baby over to him.

According to legend, Knight dangled Van Winkle off a hotel balcony to convince him to sign.

But Van Winkle laughs at the story.

"I’m not a genius but I’m not a dumbass either," he says, explaining that when Knight turned up in his hotel room with some "friends" in 1990, he didn’t need to be dangled off a balcony before agreeing to sign over a portion of royalties.

"He was actually pretty nice about it," the rapper says.

"Yes, he illegally took money from Ice Ice Baby — whatever.

I never went to the police because I knew who he was. He was a serious guy."

On the up side, Knight used the money he scored from Van Winkle to fund recordings by then up-and-coming artists such as Tupac, Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre.

"Indirectly I’ve contributed to some of the best hip hop in history," Van Winkle laughs.

He eventually reached agreement with Bowie and Queen, but found it more difficult to make peace with the music establishment. Fellow white rapper Eminem had a swipe at him, but Van Winkle is adamant he blazed the trail for Slim Shady.

"It doesn’t need to come from my words, it’s just written in history. Of course I paved the way. Before my record came along rap music was all pretty much a black audience, you know. The truth is 85 per cent of rap music sold today is to white kids."

In any case, Van Winkle says he’s at peace with things. Though his life ran off the rails in seven years of hard partying that followed his success, he made some wise investments and was still financially stable when he cleaned up his act 10 years ago.

"I tattooed a leaf to my stomach to symbolise being straight and finding my purpose in life," he says.

He’s now happily married with two daughters, aged 10 and 7. And he has an active music career.

"I’ve had three albums out since Ice Ice Baby and all of them have sold more than a million copies. I play all my new music all over the States. Most of my fans are 16 to 24. I don’t even play Ice Ice Baby."

Of course, he knows he couldn’t get away without playing the classic hit Down Under, but he also hopes to introduce his new non-radio friendly stuff to a new audience. He’s already thinking of another tour and even a move to the Gold Coast.

"I have a bunch of friends who moved over from California; I might even get me a place out there (the Gold Coast). It’s beautiful. My friend sent me pictures of Surfers Paradise. He has this place on the ocean."

In fact, Van Winkle has some surprising connections with Australia. He’s good mates with Aussie country-music star Steve Forde (who will be attending all of Van Winkle’s shows) and he has a pet red kangaroo/wallaroo cross — named Bucky Buckaroo — at his home in Florida.

Bucky made international headlines when he escaped when his owner was out of the country in 2004 and was found roaming the streets.

Van Winkle said he returned home to see coverage of the missing kangaroo on TV, but the story exploded when he claimed ownership.

"It just put a smile on everyone’s face that a kangaroo went missing and then it turned out to be Vanilla Ice’s."

Vanilla Ice, Roxanne Parlour, Level 3, 2 Coverlid Place, Jan 10, $47.50 plus booking fee. Visit www.moshtix.com

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Lil Wayne. Lil Jon. Lil Bow Wow. Lil Flip. Lil Romeo. Lil Kim.

In a musical genre famous for lyrical Lilliputians, Marlon Favorite, a.k.a. Big Fav, is an anatomical anomaly.

At 6 feet 1, and 295 pounds, the LSU Tigers’ junior defensive tackle and resident rap impresario is almost as wide as he is tall, a cypress trunk in cleats.

Former LSU Coach Nick Saban once described Favorite by stretching out his arms side to side. ”He’s maybe this wide across the top,” Saban said in an awed voice that only a defensive football coach could appreciate.

Indeed, there is little ”lil” about Big Fav, LSU’s run-stuffin’ rapper, or, as Favorite prefers, its rappin’ run stuffer.

”Football is my first love, and that’s where my heart is, and that’s what I’m pursuing (as a career),” said Favorite, the front man for the amateur rap group Black Vynm. ”Music is more of a hobby for me. I thank God every day for the way things have turned out. God has given me these gifts and the opportunity to display both of my talents. I am truly blessed.”

Favorite has emerged in his third season as a regular along LSU’s defensive line. He has also has blossomed into one of the emotional leaders for the Tigers’ SEC championship team.

The trench battle between the Tigers’ dominant front four and the powerful Ohio State offensive line will be one of the key matchups in the BCS championship game Monday night at the Superdome.

It’s a battle Favorite has relished since the day he learned the Tigers would play for the title. In the days after the BCS invitation, he and Black Vynm partners, Chad Varnado and Rhynell Washington, wrote a rap song dedicated to the Tigers’ season and their date with destiny.

Around here, winning is a tradition, Winning is a habit, winning’s how we’re livin’ Notice my lyrics, it’s really my experience as Tiger, Grindin’ on the gridiron and pumpin’ all this iron Jump into the jungle with the wildness of the giants Turn the biggest dog into a little team of giants We’re makin’ big moves in the Southeast Conference Comin’ up the steps like scene from Rocky Cocky in our structure but they’re quick to call us cocky We be on the cool and the others want to copy Really on that hustle tip, ballin’ cause I’m lovin’ it Regardless of the garbage we’re the hardest of the hardest Big Fav the baller did more than Big Fav the rapper to me That’s just food for thought When you goin’ to eat? West Bank, stand up, holla at me The group debuted the rap in front of players, coaches and family members at the team’s New Year’s Eve party earlier this week.

”They did a few of his new songs, and we really had a crowd,” LSU defensive end Kirston Pittman said. ”The guys really enjoyed the performance.”

Favorite hopes the song will help motivate his teammates.

”It’s going to be extremely competitive,” Favorite said. ”I’m a team guy. I think of the team first. I’ll do whatever I can to help us all out.

”Last year, I was overwhelmed playing in my first Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. So now to play for the BCS national championship in the Dome? I can’t wait. I’m just ecstatic. I can’t describe the feelings I have.”

Favorite rarely is at a loss for words. He’s shown musical talent since his days as a youth in the choir at St. Joseph the Worker Church in Marrero.

Music has always been a part of the Favorite household. Favorite’s mother, Mary, played musical instruments growing up and has always been a member of the church choir. His father, Mel, was a regular participant in talent shows at West Jefferson High School.

Favorite’s musical heritage began in the church choir, where he sang tenor. St. Joseph the Worker musical director Clark Knighten recognized his talent and asked Favorite to write and record songs for the choir’s gospel CD ”Created Anew.”

That first recording session at the age of 14, Favorite’s interest grew. He gradually became more interested in rap music and joined forces with Varnado (a.k.a. Chay Dutch), a former all-district defensive back at West Jeff, and Washington (Young Phaht), a distant cousin, to form Black Vynm in 2003.

The group appeared at numerous talent shows throughout the state and region and released theirits first CD, ”Sophisticated Hustlas,” in 2006. They have performed at halftime of LSU men’s and women’s basketball games and competed in a charity talent show in 2005 to benefit the Robyn DesOrmeaux donation fund, created to aid the former LSU soccer player with cancer treatment.

”He’s really good,” said Pittman, who also writes music and collaborated with Favorite on a tune called ”Hip Hop and R&B” last summer. ”He’s a really talented guy. A lot of guys listen to his music. He takes it really seriously. He really enjoys both (football and music). I’d say he has a future in both.”

Favorite makes it clear, though, that football comes first. At this stage in his life, music is strictly a hobby, a release from the day-to-day pressures of playing football and juggling class work at a major college power.

”This isn’t easy, being a collegiate football player,” Favorite said. ”If you can find a peace of mind it will definitely help you. Most people can just go to a journal and write what they went through that day or just go fish and clear their mind. I just put it all into rhyme and rhythm and put it on wax. It’s a peace of mind. Some guys go play video games in their off time. I just go to the studio and drop a couple of bangers. That’s what music does for me.”

Favorite calls Black Vynmenym’s work ”feel-good music.” Citing influences like Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls, he insists the message of the group’s music not betray his gospel roots, a notion that also satisfies his mother.

”I’m not into rap music,” said Mary Favorite, a guidance counselor in the Jefferson Parish school system. ”As a mother, I’m interested in the type of message he’s putting out there. I told him if you’re not putting something helpful into your music, if you’re not sending a positive message to young people, then it’s not worth doing.”

Favorite came to LSU as one of the most decorated recruits in the famed 2004 recruiting class. However, the depth chart along the defensive line was stacked thanks to a string of stellar recruiting years by Saban. Favorite redshirted his freshman season and played sparingly in 2005 while future NFL draft picks Claude Wroten and Kyle Williams finished their careers.

He became a part-time starter in 2006 and emerged as a regular this season, where he is part of the most talented interior rotation in college football.

Favorite started six games at right defensive tackle this season and recordedhad 28 tackles and five quarterback pressures. He made a career-high six tackles against South Carolina and Auburn and had four tackles against Florida. A sprained ankle sidelined him for the SEC championship game, but he’s expected to be at full strength against Ohio State.

A projected second- or third-round pick in the 2009 NFL draft, Favorite is rated as the No. 7 defensive tackle next season by NFLDraftScout.com, an online scouting service.

”Despite what people think, Marlon is not a big spotlight guy,” Mary Favorite said. ”He’s very team-oriented. He’s had to wait his turn, and he’s accepted that. I think he’s really looking forward to having a fun year next year and taking a leadership role as a senior.”

And if music and football somehow don’t work out, Favorite has other options. He’s scheduled to graduate in May with a degree in interdisciplinary studies and plans to begin work on a master’s degree next season.

”I see him broadcasting on ESPN News at the end of his career, not rapping,” Mary Favorite said.

Few players on Monday night will be as emotional as Favorite. He attended Saints games at the Dome throughout his youth.

He’ll have a large support group in town for the game. Since his limit of six tickets will go to immediate family members, his father has organized a huge tailgate party to accommodate the throng of friends and family members who want to be a part of the experience. They have secured a spot in a vacant parking lot at the corner of Poydras and Loyola streets and plan to celebrate with the families of several LSU teammates.

Like many New Orleans rappers, Favorite is unabashed in his love for the Crescent City. He references New Orleans in most of his songs and punctuates each big play on the field by forming a ”W” with his fingers, a tribute to the West Bank community thatwhich helped raise him.

”I’m definitely a product of my environment,” Favorite said. ”I thank God every day for the way I was raised by my family and my church community. They did a good job with me. I’m only 21, and I feel like I have a lot ahead in life.

”We recorded our first CD in 2006, and I saw myself growing as a player and as an artist at the same time. It’s worked hand in hand. So far, it’s worked out extremely well.” ??

Jeff Duncan can be reached at jduncan@timespicayune.com or (504)-826-3404.

For quite some time now, BET has been completely scrutinized and often blamed for contributing to as well as promoting hip-hop music videos that many white and black Americans as a whole consider demeaning.

As a result, last year BET implemented a three-part panel discussion to address the controversial issues that surround Hip Hop, known as “Hip-Hop vs. America.” Because of the intense blame that is often placed on rappers and even BET, the goal of the panel discussion was to help rappers and scrutinizers forge a relationship where they can come to a common ground on how they can reshape or alter the language and images so that rappers can still rap, without demeaning others.

Ashley Pledger, a black female from Cleveland, Ohio believe that Don Imus incident called for BET to implement the series “Hip Hop vs. America” to look at the good and bad in hip hop that intellectuals and even the public believe caused Imus to feel it was okay to say “nappy-headed hoes,” since many rappers make hit singles off demeaning women.

Therefore, BET thought it was their job to explore its faults and the impact that rap music and videos have on Americans as a whole, whether they’re white or black.

According to Raysean Autry, “People are using BET as a scapegoat for America’s problems.”

Yet, when one would have thought that because “Hip Hop vs. America” consisted of well-known panelists coming from a widespread spectrum of individuals including, rappers, intellectuals, music producers and single mothers, the discussion would have been focused more on trying to resolve the animosity and conflict. But the discussion turned into a debate that resembled an intense wrestling match aimed at who will take home the title, thus resolving nothing.

“It seem like each panelist was not respecting one another’s opinion because they were so biased on what they believed that they didn’t even care to hear what the next person had to say.” Brittany Johnson, a black female student at Columbus State Community College. “I was very disappointed in T.I because when Michael Eric Dyson was talking about how videos are often demeaning to African American women, T.I was laughing and I felt very offended because it seem like he was not taking the discussion serious.”

However, since the discussion turned more into a debate where panelists seem to turn on each other, trying their best to defend their stance, instead of respecting each other’s opinions and trying to resolve the problem, the question is then:

Who should be blamed?

Rapper T.I stated that because it starts in the home, that the parents should be held accountable for their children actions because they are responsible for allowing their children to watch hip-hop videos that are on T.V.

Nelly also complied with T.I that parents should be monitoring what their children watch, it is not truly their fault if people’s children aspire to act or dress like the artist they see in the videos.

While, Michael Eric Dyson states that because rappers produce and make millions off the music that are not only degrading to women but to blacks as a whole, they should bear some sort of responsibility.

Anglea Donaldson, a student at Bowling Green State University states, “Because rappers contribute to the making of these videos that are disrespectful to many people and since there are many parents that do allow their children to watch these types of videos or even listen to the music, both parents and rappers should be held responsible.”

Al Sharpton later states in the show that the discussion in many ways may have confirmed the idea that African Americans are truly looked at as a group and not as individuals. Many people may link his idea to the whole notion of African Americans being looked at as a group and not as individuals.

Sharpton states,“…We should not approach this discussion wondering what white America think about us, but rather what we think about ourselves.” “The whole notion of how we are embarrassing the race to whites, the real core of that is white supremacy like they have some rule over defending what is good or bad.”

MEET Madonna’s competition at the Grammys - two mates from Sydney who thought the fruits of their labour were dead and buried.

Dean Bates and Reuben Field scored a nod last week for music’s most prestigious award for their DVD showcasing Cuban rap music, Liberacion - The Songs of the New Cuban Underground.

The nomination in the category of "Best Longform Music Video" pits them against the DVD of Madonna’s Confessions tour and R&B megastar R. Kelly. It also makes them the only Australians in this year’s awards.

Madge magic: Trace the Material Girl’s amazing career in our Madonna gallery.

"You can’t believe that you’re up against someone like Madonna," said Bates, the producer half of the duo’s small Darlinghurst film company, Starchild Productions.

Field, the director, said: "As far as we knew the project vanished, fell off the face of the Earth 18 months ago. We hadn’t heard a word about how it went in the US. It was literally dead and buried."

Then Chris Murphy - the former INXS manager who shot more than 100 hours of footage in Cuba before handing it to Bates and Field to make into a film - rang with the incredible news.

"He called up and basically said, ‘I told you to stick with me. You know I’m hard work but now I’ve got you nominated for a Grammy’," said Field, 25, the youngest nominee in his category.

Field then tried to tell Bates, who was too busy working on a new project (the upcoming ABC comedy series Review) for it to sink in.

"He just kind of ignored me," Field said. "A lot of people go, ‘Oh that’s great . . . hang on, a Grammy?"

The DVD explores the strange world of "Reggaeton", a strain of music invented by Cubans listening to rap music on Miami radio using illegal long distance antennae.

"Much of what I did was just get- ting missing chunks of everything," Field said.

"It was like an old dinosaur because we only had some of the bones. We had to go through archival footage of Cuba. We ended up learning about the Cuban revolution.

"We tried to, as intelligently as we could, mix it in with the music."

Now the pair will jetting to Los Angeles in February for the Grammy Awards ceremony.

"We’re not expecting to win since we weren’t expecting to be nominated," Field joked.

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Rap mogul JAY-Z has stunned the music world by announcing his decision to step down as Def Jam Records president in 2008.The hitmaker, real name Shawn Carter, retired from making music when he took the executive job in 2005.He has since returned to the charts, and now plans to release more material once his three-year contract expires in 2008.In a statement released on Christmas Eve (24Dec07), Jay-Z said, “It’s time for me to take on new challenges. I am pleased to have had the opportunity to build upon the Def Jam legacy, helping to move the company into a new era of artistic success.”Jay-Z will remain one of Def Jam’s top artists.

TOKYO - Japanese monks and nuns hit the catwalk in Tokyo on Saturday in a bid to spread Buddhism among younger people in this rapidly aging society.

The fashion show opened with a Buddhist prayer set to a hip-hop beat at the centuries-old Tsukiji Honganji temple, where nearly 40 monks and nuns from eight major Buddhist sects showed off elaborate robes in an effort to win back believers.

Five monks from each school walked on the runway, then chanted prayers and wrapped up in a grand finale with confetti resembling lotus petals.

Buddhist monks traditionally wear simple black robes. But to appeal to more fashion-conscious youth, the monks wore green and yellow clothes, some with gold embroidery. Others wore elaborate, multilayered robes.

“Their robes were gorgeous,” said Sayaka Anma, one of the audience in her 20s, after the monks’ show. “I was a bit surprised in the beginning, but it was very moving.”

More than 1,200 years after it first arrived from mainland Asia, Buddhism in Japan is in crisis, priests say.

Almost three-quarters of Japan’s population of 120 million are registered as Buddhist, but for many, the only time they enter a temple is to attend a funeral. That has sent many of the country’s 75,000 temples into financial trouble.

Japan’s aging population has meant more funerals, but the declining population and birth rate means fewer young people to share the bill to keep temples afloat.

“We wanted to show the young people that Buddhism is cool, and temples are not a place just for funerals,” said Koji Matsubara, a chief monk at Tsukiji.

The Tsukiji Honganji offers theological seminars in English for foreign visitors, and has fitted its main hall with a pipe organ for western-style weddings to attract young couples. Some other temples have also introduced cafes, art galleries and other innovations to reach out to young people who are interested in a different lifestyle.

“Many of us priests share the sense of crisis, and a need to do something to reach out to people,” said priest Kosuke Kikkawa, 37, one of the organizers of Saturday’s event. “We won’t change Buddha’s teachings, but perhaps we need a different presentation that can touch the feelings of the people today.”