thedrifter
05-05-07, 08:33 AM
Newspaper questions rapper's military history
POP MUSIC: There's no record of his service, Marine weekly says
12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, May 5, 2007
By THOR CHRISTENSEN / The Dallas Morning News
tchristensen@dallasnews.com
Dallas-based rapper Steve Austin the Bioniq MC claims to be an ex-Marine sergeant who fought in Operation Desert Storm. But questions have arisen as to whether he made up his military career.
The rapper, who recently hit the Billboard charts with the song "Bussa Move," refused to answer questions from the News about his military service but said, "I've done nothing illegal."
His Dallas-based publicist, Bridgette Cush, acknowledged a "discrepancy" in the rapper's claims of a military career but declined to elaborate.
"I can tell you there's a direct association between Steve Austin and the Marines, but that's as much as I can say," said Ms. Cush. "I don't want to get into an all-out battle between what part is the discrepancy and who's responsible for it."
The issue was first reported April 25 by the Marine Corps Times after the weekly newspaper received a press release saying Mr. Austin wanted to talk about how his Marine career influenced the music on his new CD, 800 Lb. Gorilla.
The National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, the official keeper of all military records, told the Times it had no record of the rapper ever serving in the military.
Speaking with The Dallas Morning News on April 23, the Louisiana-raised rapper claimed he joined the Marines before attending Southern University in Baton Rouge. But when asked for details, he refused to elaborate.
"I have some personal issues with it," he said.
This week, when the News asked him to respond to the Marine Corps Times story, he refused to comment and referred all questions to his publicist, Ms. Cush, who released a prepared statement Friday saying, "Steve Austin is a hero, regardless of his military past or any decision he chooses to exercise in not further elaborating on it."
The rapper released the CD Built for This in 2002 and won the Dallas Observer's Rapper of the Year award in 2006. On April 24, he released 800 Lb. Gorilla on Dallas-based YMC Records, a label run by contemporary gospel musician-producer Chris Christian. YMC is also the label behind Support Our Troops: Support Their Sacrifice, a country-compilation CD scheduled to be sold at 7-Eleven stores starting May 18. Representatives from YMC did not return several calls asking for a comment.
Mr. Austin's single, "Bussa Move," is currently No. 8 on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales chart.
Ellie
POP MUSIC: There's no record of his service, Marine weekly says
12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, May 5, 2007
By THOR CHRISTENSEN / The Dallas Morning News
tchristensen@dallasnews.com
Dallas-based rapper Steve Austin the Bioniq MC claims to be an ex-Marine sergeant who fought in Operation Desert Storm. But questions have arisen as to whether he made up his military career.
The rapper, who recently hit the Billboard charts with the song "Bussa Move," refused to answer questions from the News about his military service but said, "I've done nothing illegal."
His Dallas-based publicist, Bridgette Cush, acknowledged a "discrepancy" in the rapper's claims of a military career but declined to elaborate.
"I can tell you there's a direct association between Steve Austin and the Marines, but that's as much as I can say," said Ms. Cush. "I don't want to get into an all-out battle between what part is the discrepancy and who's responsible for it."
The issue was first reported April 25 by the Marine Corps Times after the weekly newspaper received a press release saying Mr. Austin wanted to talk about how his Marine career influenced the music on his new CD, 800 Lb. Gorilla.
The National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, the official keeper of all military records, told the Times it had no record of the rapper ever serving in the military.
Speaking with The Dallas Morning News on April 23, the Louisiana-raised rapper claimed he joined the Marines before attending Southern University in Baton Rouge. But when asked for details, he refused to elaborate.
"I have some personal issues with it," he said.
This week, when the News asked him to respond to the Marine Corps Times story, he refused to comment and referred all questions to his publicist, Ms. Cush, who released a prepared statement Friday saying, "Steve Austin is a hero, regardless of his military past or any decision he chooses to exercise in not further elaborating on it."
The rapper released the CD Built for This in 2002 and won the Dallas Observer's Rapper of the Year award in 2006. On April 24, he released 800 Lb. Gorilla on Dallas-based YMC Records, a label run by contemporary gospel musician-producer Chris Christian. YMC is also the label behind Support Our Troops: Support Their Sacrifice, a country-compilation CD scheduled to be sold at 7-Eleven stores starting May 18. Representatives from YMC did not return several calls asking for a comment.
Mr. Austin's single, "Bussa Move," is currently No. 8 on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales chart.
Ellie