Mischevious Confessions: Spilling Your Guilty Guts Online

Page 20 THE RETRIEVER WEEKLY November 4, 2003

New Comic: Kilroy Was Here makes it’s debut 29 Punishing The Platter Expounds upon Buffalo Wings. 25 Elf Teaches Personal Values With Hilarity 22 Features O. A. R. Prepares to Dive Into Mainstream Music 29 K and Semaj: UMBC’s Very own Mixtape MC’s

KENNETH MALLORY dis “SuperUgly” about rhyme Retriever Weekly Staff Writer nemesis Nas, which was leaked to the hip-hop world via a mix- Hip-hop aficionados here tape? Similarly, there is a good on campus may have a general chance one still remembers familiarity with the mixtape. female rapper Foxy Brown’s One may have a sufficient scathing dis, “Get Off Me”, understanding of the essential directed at fellow fememcee role mixtapes play in making or Eve on yet another mixtape breaking the careers of rappers release. and hip-hop DJ’s. Names such For those who do not have as DJ Clue, Kay Slay, and DJ a thorough understanding of Envy may indeed ring bells as the mixtape, here is a short these DJ’s have left their signa- “Mixtape 101”: A “mixtape” is ture shout-outs on records by a tape or CD of a rough “mix” big name artists such as Mariah of hip-hop music (original or Carey and Fabolous. While the sampled) on which rappers flex antics of MC’s like Jay-Z, 50 their lyrical skills, vent their Cent, and Foxy Brown may gripes about other rappers, or leave an indelible impression leak new music to fans. In this on those who are mixtape fans- Lara Fahey/Courtesy Of commomeffect.com Who can forget Jay-Z’s sordid see MCS, page 28 Change Of Venue: The boys of common effect rock out much in the same way they did this past Friday at the commons terrace. Freebie Friday’s Common Effect Brings Out A Halloween Crowd

GARY HUDIBURGH III watched both and was treated to a The show had started when I Retriever Weekly Staff Writer great show. arrived, there was a comfortable The band everyone had come to crowd there, more than fifty people Beating drums cut into the late see was Common Effect, who are at one point when I counted. fall afternoon. Soon they were used to playing venues ranging from Common Effect was playing and joined by bass and guitar, helping to friend’s basements to being on the putting on a show. Unlike previous shake the remaining leaves off the Warped Tour. The group is made up Friday Freebie acts they did not rely trees. Some UMBC students gath- of four guys from Northern Virginia. so much on theatrics as on mastery ered to watch a band rock yet anoth- They are: Andrei who plays guitar of their instruments and good lyrics. er Friday Freebie. It was tough to and sings, Zak who beats the drums, They played for the full hour, decide what to watch - the band or Gary who is on guitar and admits playing songs from their two CDs the crowd - as many students had that he screams a bit and Adam on out now and their third as yet unre- Coutesy of WMBC come in costume, with each costume bass. They can and do bring a great Mixtape Madness: Recording and dubbing UMBC’s many rap. R more extravagant than the next. I show. see COMMON , page 30 & B, and hip hop artists. Mischevious Confessions: Spilling Your Guilty Guts Online

STEVE WILEY couldn’t be simpler: a column move as far away from here as I Retriever Weekly Staff Writer along the left contains the main can...” “When I was 14 I stole content- a random 9-digit number glow in the dark lipstick from the Guilty thoughts: we all have and a brief text message; on the drug store…”) to the utterly sick them, but not all of us are willing right are the site’s motto and and bizarre (the guy who puts to share them. What makes some basic information: “the idea is for bacon bits in a dog-owning room- of us more predisposed to spilling anyone to anonymously confess mate’s furniture, wanking into the the beans on our most shameful, to anything. It actually feels kind shampoo bottle, assorted restau- shocking secrets? And if of good to know that someone rant nastiness), which on a regular anonymity is guaranteed, are peo- will read it.” basis stretch the limits of one’s ple more likely to be completely This promise of anonymous ability to believe (not to mention honest with their sordid pasts, or catharsis is what has drawn to hold down one’s lunch). will they abuse this privilege by countless surfers to the site, with It’s impossible to know how stretching the truth with exagger- the hope to release their inner many of the entries on Grouphug ation or cover-ups? demons across the World Wide are legitimate; per the site’s rules, One website, www.grou- Web. The results of this mass one must follow the guidelines of phug.us, poses some of these confession are occasionally confidentiality and honesty. questions, offering a cross-sec- funny or scary, often pitiful, but There are checkers, but the most tion of guilt and shame, a portrait always strangely fascinating. they can do is filter out the most Spilleth Over: The anonymous online confession craze is of remorse, laid out over the They range from the simple obvious of lies and urban leg- sweeping the nation, tempting net surfers everywhere to share course of over 400 pages. The and almost clichéd (“I want to their guilty, and as is often the case - funny, secret shameful acts. layout of the site, still in “beta,” leave my wife, quit my job, and see CONFESSIONS, page 23