Contact Us

Advertising

Comics

Crossword

The Arizona Daily Wildcat Online

Catcalls

Policebeat

Search

Archives

News Sports Opinions Arts Classifieds

Thursday April 12, 2001

Basketball site
Tucson Riots
Spring Fling

 

PoliceBeat
Catcalls
Restaurant and Bar Guide
Daily Wildcat Alumni Site

 

Student KAMP Radio and TV 3

Arizona Student Media Website

In your face

Headline Photo

By Vanessa Francis

Arizona Daily Wildcat

Racial issues shape lyrics, audience reaction to local rap group

Black men have generally dominated the rap scene with only a few white acts like Marky Mark and Eminem snaring a bit of the spotlight.

Now Arizona is making its contribution to musical diversity with Shawn "Pale" Carlily, a white member of the rap group The Hated.

"When people see our band perform live, after hearing us, they are like 'Oh shit, he's white,'" Carlily said.

The three-person southern Arizona-based group including Carlily, Tyrone "Skeet" Harrington - a 1997 University of Arizona graduate and former member of the UA football team - and Bobby "Booz" Brown, open for rappers Ice-T and Evil E at the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St., Saturday night.

The group has recently compiled its debut album, Coming out of the Woodwork.

The Hated is often recognized locally for its song "Who wants to battle with the cats?" written for the Wildcats' bid in the 2001 NCAA basketball championship. After the team's loss to Duke in the final game, The Hated decided to nix the song from any future albums.

"It's like OK, just forget about it now," Carlily said.

Despite the overly positive messages conveyed in the song, members of The Hated said they want people to know that much of their other work is not as "flowery."

"We were like 'Fuck the Wildcat song' - it's not us, it's not our style," Harrington said.

The Hated has had to deal with issues of race as well. Carlily said that because he is a white male in a rap group, he has had to cope with negative feedback from the public stemming from the legacy left by other white rappers such as Vanilla Ice. He said he and the other members of The Hated - a name chosen specifically because of this negative feedback - have reacted to that attitude with an "all out" approach to their music.

"It's like this - people are gonna hate us, and that's fine," Carlily said. "Go buy our albums, then run out and run over them with your car. Or go to our concerts, and then flip us off."

Carlily added that since he is the only white member of the group, The Hated is often negatively received by listeners because of his ethnicity.

Harrington added that he does not understand how difficult it can be for a white rapper like Carlily.

"People perceive things differently, and I don't know what it's like to be white and rap," he said. "I realize it probably is hard, but Shawn does an awesome job, and the hatred (he receives) probably makes him better."

But it's not just listeners who have harsh comments to donate to the band. Harrington acknowledged that the group's lyrics are often confrontational.

"Some people aren't comfortable getting in people's faces and telling someone to 'kiss my ass.' We are." he said.

Harrington said his favorite line in the song "Loved and Lost," for example, is "It had to be love - us pissing in the shower together and farting in the tub."

He added that he attributed this "in-your-face" style to the members' dislike of local bands.

"No one likes local musicians, so we are prepared to be hated (by audiences)," he said.

Often, the group will open its shows with the song "Meet The Hated" accompanied by a mantra of "fuck you, fuck you" directed at the audience.

"It gets them into the right mood," Carlily said.

The group formed several years ago when Carlily was hanging out with a group of 30 - mostly black - males at a house in Tucson.

"They would rap and free-style, and I just watched," he said.

Carlily, who had been composing rap lyrics since the age of 12, said he did not feel comfortable joining in at that time.

As the years passed, and most of the people moved to other areas, Carlily realized he had to make his talent known.

"I called Skeet (Harrington) and just free-styled to him and he was like 'Uh, why didn't you tell me you could do that?'" he said.

Carlily said his style of rap is similar to that of controversial, white rapper Eminem.

"I mean, lyrically Eminem can't be touched, but I wouldn't compare us to him totally," he said. "We are a combination of styles, and often it's really hard to be blatantly honest in your music."

Carlily added that The Hated mixes sounds from East Coast and West Coast rapping. Many of the group's songs include live guitar instrumentals.

"It's gives an even edgier quality to the song," Carlily said.

Brown attributes the quicker-paced style of Carlily to East Coast rap, but the slower tempo of both him and Harrington is closer to a self-described Southern style of rap, used by groups like Nelly.

"I would actually call us Southwestern style because, well, that is where we are from," Harrington said. "I think it's time the Arizona bands get represented."

The Hated will get that representation at Saturday's concert alongside big-time rappers.

"I am so excited. I have been talking about it all week," Brown said. "I'm trying to get all my friends and family from Phoenix to come."

The Hated, along with Ice T and Evil E, perform Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St. Advanced tickets are $25 and available at all Zia Records stores. Call 798-3333 for more information.


Stories