 While E-40 aka Charlie Hustle continues to blow up the spot, his younger charismatic sister Suga-T is making big moves of her own. I caught up with her the other night when she came through 106 KMEL for my Street Knowledge radio show. Here, she along with rap stars Rappin'4Tay and Vidal and G Stack of The Delinquents, joined elected officials and local activist to speak out and inform people of the serious implications of Prop 21, which is California's proposed, insidious The Juvenile Crime Initiative. Apparently Suga-T had some first hand experience of being a 'wild child' off sorts when she was coming up and was passionate about letting folks know that sending 14 year olds to adult prisons is not the way to go. She along with everyone else spoke about the importance of spending time with young people and being a consistent presence in their lives. She talked about the stedfast yet loving steps community elders took with her when she was a teen to help lift her out of Juvenile Hall and set her straight. She explained how she managed to parlay her wayward experiences into success both within and outside the rap field. Nowadays when she's not on stage busting rhymes with her Click family or running her image consulting business, she quietly spends time playing the role of 'Sista Girl' or 'Big Sista' with neighborhood youth. One of the things she's known for doing is putting together free career seminars and workshops to help up and coming youth. In fact she's in the process of tapping shoulders to get speakers to come on down to her next workshop which will be held the first week in February. She explained that its important for folks who have 'made it' in various professions to come back and allow themselves to be seen by young people in the community. Currently Suga T has just finished up her new album entitled 'Suga T and Friends' which features artists like MC Breed, Money B, Rappin'4Tay, Rodney O, Levitti, Celly Cel, Yo Yo and The Conscious Daughters. The night she came through the radio show, she was in the middle of recording a duet with her brother E-40 for their upcoming Click album which will be dropping in April 2000. However, Suga T's latest and perhaps biggest venture brings her to the doorsteps of MTV. Here she has just landed a role for their upcoming new series 'The Lyricist Lounge'. This new show can best be described as a cross between old hit show 'In Living Color' and 'Saturday Night Live' with a Hip Hop Twist. The show will feature weekly guests like MC Lyte, Snoop Dogg, Method Man and Xzibit to name a few. These rap stars will showcase their rhyme skillz and participate in humorous skits alongside the show's regular ensemble. Suga T is part of the regular cast. If you wish to catch up with Suga drop her an email by visiting her website at http://www.suga-t.com. You can also drop her an email at mailto:shaniq247@aol.com.  Longtime producer/rapper Def Jef is the man behind the music. I caught up with him the other day as he further elaborated on the show's concept. He explained that he spends a lot of time writing raps to fit the shows various skits. He said you will here familiar beats accompanied by new lyrics. There are very few parody songs although the show contains lots of humorous skits. As was mentioned earlier, one of the show's main focuses is to showcase people's rhyme skillz. Thus far 8 shows have been completed with the first one airing on February 8 2000.
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