Rap concert draws crossover crowd

By ANGELA MOORE

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 3, 2000

TAMPA -- Back in the early '90s, gangsta rapper Dr. Dre and his group N.W.A. set a new tone for the genre with the CD, Straight Outta Compton. But the scene outside the Ice Palace on Wednesday night at the "Up in Smoke" concert featuring Dre, Snoop Dogg and Warren G looked more like it was straight outta Carrollwood.

The crowd flowing into the much-hyped but far from sold-out show was overwhelmingly young, white and suburban. Blond adolescent girls sported fake leather pants and halter tops; guys topped off their Fubu gear with Adidas hats and visors worn at angles that could get them kicked out of certain shopping malls. They looked the part, but were they real hip hop fans or just wanna-bes?

According to 30-year-olds Annie Solomon and Cammilla Hooks, African-American women who were big-time rap fans when they were younger, hip hop has always had plenty of white fans. They're just a lot more visible now than 10 years ago.

"It's different, for a rap concert," Hooks said, scanning the crowd. "Whites are starting to like our music even more."

"I mean, I even like country, and that's fine," Solomon laughed. "I watch CMT."

"You do?" Hooks gasped.

Concert-goers have changed in the past decade. But so have performers. In the early '90s, the only white rapper around was Vanilla Ice, and we all know what happened to him. Now, rap includes white acts like Kid Rock, Limp Bizkit and Eminem. Eminem is part of the "Up in Smoke" tour.

Eminem has created almost as much controversy among feminists and gay rights activists for his lyrics as Dr. Dre did years ago among law enforcement with N.W.A.'s single, F--- the Police. That didn't stop JoAnne Miller from driving her 11-year-old son, Manhar, all the way from Vero Beach for the show.

"I think they could have just as good music if the language wasn't as rough," Miller said. "But as far as it having a bad influence on him, that doesn't concern me.

"He's got good, strong values, and as long as we talk about things, I'm not worried," Miller said.

Manhar said most of his friends' mothers aren't as open-minded; none of them got to go.

"They wish!" he said of his friends.

Minutes before the show, 18-year-olds Nikki Cooper, Amy Anderson, Michelle Thomas and Colleen O'Neal had one free ticket between the four of them -- a free one from a radio station.

They liked the music but said they came to the Ice Palace from Carrollwood more to check out the scene than the concert. If they got in, fine.

"But no way were we going to pay $50 for a ticket," Cooper said. "That's way too much."

The young women would probably be called "b------" in even the mildest Eminem song, yet they defended the rapper.

"I saw his whole life story thing on MTV," Anderson said. "He had a horrible childhood."

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