GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE January 16, 2009 www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com

eveningsout

ONLY

THE

LONELY

GARY ZEBRUN

Cleveland rapper's album just might make you gay

by Anthony Glassman

Hip-hop can be a homophobic place to live.

So can rock, punk, R&B and any number of other musical genres, but much has been said about the homophobia in hiphop, and much more needs to be done.

One of the first responses to anti-gay lyrics and attitudes was the rise of queer rappers, acts like Deep/Dickollective, God-des and She, Katastrophe, Deadlee and scores of others.

Websites like Gayhiphop.com and Outhiphop.com sprang up, along with tours and festivals.

Like with mainstream hip-hop, much of this seems centered around New York and California, but first appearances can be deceiving. Rappers from Detroit, northwest Ohio and now Cleveland are making their mark and fighting homophobia.

The latest is Captain Magik, whose album Young, Gay & Proud is now available, and whose title track made it big on Logo's Click List video show.

The disc presents an intriguing dichotomy. It plays into rap stereotypes of smoking blunts and rampant braggadocio while combining gay-positive messages and humor. "Side Effects" claims the FDA has issued a warning that the album might make you gay, and "Bathroom Stall" is about Sen. Larry Craig and his "wide stance."

Musically, much of the CD sounds strangely dated. A number of the songs seem like they were Magikally transported from 1997, and a few seem to use the same template from one to the next.

Looking at the album, one does not expect much from Captain Magik's flow, and that is the biggest, and most pleasant, surprise. He spits out lyrics like a champ.

He's no Del tha Funkee Homosapien, but he's got at least as much skill on the microphone as Kool Keith. He's less scatological than the latter, but also less amusing.

What he is, however, is Cleveland's own gay rapper, making it big out in the cold, hard world of hip-hop, having just appeared in Los Angeles with Salvimex, Bry'Nt and others on the Street Cred 101 show. For more information, go to www.myspace.com/CaptainMagik.

A NOVEL

Son's promise to his father may be hard to keep

by Terri Schlichenmeyer

If someone close to you asked you to do something important, would you?

Would you give up your dreams to fulfill a wish, or would you give lip service to a promise and do what you want in the end, knowing that a corpse can't make you follow through?

In the new novel Only the Lonely by Gary Zebrun (Alyson, $14.95, paperback), a man makes a promise to his father, but he can't keep it. His brother holds the key to the reason why.

When he was five years old, Asim Zahid caught his father naked in the projection room of the Bethlehem Theater. Asim heard voices and he knew his father was in the room with that goofy Russian woman, Sonia. Strangely, it isn't until after his father's death that Asim actually speaks to the woman. But she is now wracked with tremors from Parkinson's disease, and a bit addled in the head.

Asim's father had once asked him to take care of Sonia if something bad happened. He also asked Asim to run the Bethlehem Theater. Showing old movies is a good living, and it seems like there are always people who want to see a film. Even Sonia shows up, every opening night.

But if keeping an eye on a dotty old woman isn't enough work, Asim has to deal with his brother, Tarik. In a drawer of his dead father's desk, Asim finds a plane ticket to Afghanistan in Tarik's name, and Tarik pressures Asim to follow him on a jihad.

Asim, though, has no intention on following an imam or a jihad or anything like that. He had only promised his father that he would take care of Sonia. Besides, for the first time in his life, Asim has finally found love.

The Irishman peeking out of the window of the bar across from the Bethlehem couldn't be missed. Billy has a shock of red hair and he is older than Asim. After a few nights of back-and-forth watching, Billy approaches Asim and kisses him.

With careful eyes, Sonia watches, bemused. She misses Asim's father, and she misses her Nicky. Is she wrong to remember that Nicky loved heror did he love Asim's father more? As the movie screen flickers with stars she barely remembers, she ponders what she can't recall.

Then, on the morning of September 11, 2001, Tarik returns . . .

Much like the old black-and-white movies that Sonia loves, Only the Lonely reads a bit like an old, artsy film. The novel is very much like a modern-day update of The Glass Menagerie, with characters who all cling to yet somehow reject-pasts that are only partly based in reality: Asim acknowledges his gayness but has never had a lover; Tarik embraces the religion his family has eschewed; and Sonia's memories are confused yet heartbreaking.

Although it's a quick read, be aware that Only the Lonely is rather hard to get into, but once you start, you won't stop. For noir novel lovers, this book shows promise.

CAPTAIN

Magik

ANMAY 21