THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, AUGUST 21. 2007
JESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2007
NEWS
3A
ENTERTAINMENT
Crux offers unique lyrics, sound
Local hip-hop group plans to release second album by winter break
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Local hip-hop group Crux formed in 2005. Members include Ricky Thrash Jr., Kalmazaro, Mich., right (right), and KU alumnus Trey Allen (bottom). Kris Kennedy, 2007 KU graduate (left), helped found the group and still contributes to its music.
BY MATT LINDBERG
mlindberg@kansan.com
While many local rock bands have gathered attention in the past, students are starting to take notice of 2006 KU graduate Trey Allen and Ricky Thrash Jr., Kalamazoo, Mich., senior, who go by the stage names spa3 and Rick Luv respectively. Together, they make up the hip-hop duo Crux and they are currently working on their second album, "The Answer."
Thrash, who grew up as a KU basketball fan, decided to attend the University because of the school's sports reputation.
Allen came to KU after graduating from Wichita East because he received a full scholarship and wanted to be close to his high school friends.
"This second album is going to be so much better than the first," Allen said. "If you play it, you will definitely get something out of it."
Although Crux didn't form until 2005, Thrash and Allen knew each other since 2004 when Allen moved into Lewis Hall. Fellow group founder Kris Kennedy, 2007 graduate, also lived in the residence hall.
"We all got close when we learned we had a lot of the same views on music." Thrash said.
Allen said Lawrence had more of a rock and indie music scene, but Crux was bringing hip-hop to the city.
"I always told myself when I got to college I would find some kind of outlet for my poetry and writing," Allen said.
From there, Allen began to produce his own beats and formed Crux with Kennedy.
Thrash already had a strong musical background.
"My dad raised me to do it all. I joined the children's group Baby Faze and put on a bunch of different performances that would air on local cable access shows." Thrash said.
Thrash recorded an album during high school with his cousin and a friend, but moved to Lawrence to attend the University right after it was released. Initially, Thrash resisted joining Crux because he didn't think he was a good rapper.
"You are your own worst critic." Thrash said.
Crux put out its debut album, "The Question," in 2005. The group consisted of Allen, Thrash and Kennedy and two of their friends. They recorded the album in just more than a month.
"We would go through the beats and ask 'does that sound good?' or 'who would sound good on this?' We narrowed the beats down and came up with lyrics on the fly. An example is the song 'Get Loose,' Allen said.
'Get Loose' was the group's first single and both Allen and Thrash said it was their favorite song on the debut album.
After the release of "The Question," the group began performing many benefit shows such as Crux Against Cancer.
Kennedy's younger brother had
cancer and Allen's mother died from the disease.
"It's why I do the shows and why it's so special," Allen said. "It's my way of letting her know how I'm doing and to help give money to finding a cure."
Personal experiences are a primary source of the duo's original lyrics.
"Our lives aren't what BET represents. Life isn't grills, spinners or a thug life. It's regular. So our music is just about anything we are feeling." Allen said.
Thrash said the black community portrayed in the media frustrated him and had a large effect on his lyrics.
"My music is just about my life experiences whether it's girls or the fact that people can do better." Thrash said.
The group's second album will feature a collection of individual tracks from both Allen and Thrash, with guest appearances from Kennedy and a few collaborations between the duo.
"The first album was forced in that we were trying to get everybody on equal tracks," Thrash said. "On this one, we both have our own styles. Sometimes it was hard to do a certain track with certain members because I wanted it to be harder than it sounded. This time, we get to do what we really want to do."
Both Allen and Thrash produce and write all their music.
In addition to the second album, which is slated to be released by winter break this year, the guys are hoping to have multiple concerts, including the homecoming halftime show and benefit shows.
Thrash and Allen said they were hopeful that the second album would receive more play time from local venues.
"There is a certain piece of our music that fits everybody," Allen said. "Whether it's our lyrics, beats—it can touch somebody."
》 OBITUARY
Roger Kaesler retired in 2006 after teaching at the University for more than 40 years
Geology professor dies at 70
During his time at KU, Roger Kaesler, professor emeritus of geology, taught classes of all levels and led a summer field camp in Campanion City, Colo. Kaesler, who died Aug. 11, retired in 2006.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
BY SARAH NEFF
"Roger Kaesler was a tremendous asset to the University of Kansas."
sneff@kansan.com
Roger Leroy Kaesler, professor emeritus of geology, died Aug. 11 at the age of 70.
Kaesler received many awards during his tenure at KU. He was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; of the Paleontological Society (USA), and of the Geological Society of America. Kaesler also received the Geological Society of America's Distinguished Service Award and the Haworth Distinguished Alumni Award from both the KU geology department and from the Colorado School of Mines.
Kaesler was born on June 22, 1937. He earned his bachelor's degree in geological engineering from the University of Colorado School of Mines in 1959, where he later received the Distinguished Alumni Award and the van Diest Gold Medal. Kaesler then earned his master's and doctoral degrees in paleontology at the University of Kansas. Kaesler became a faculty member in 1965 and retired in 2006. He taught classes at the non-major, undergraduate and graduate levels. He also led a summer geology field camp in Canon City, Colo.
Chancellor Robert Hemenway said in a press release. "For more than 40 years, Roger served as a professor in the geology department and was a mentor to countless students and colleagues. On behalf of them and the University, I want to extend my deepest sympathies to Roger's family and friends."
Kaesler is survived by his wife, Jerelyn Boudreaux Kaesler; brother Walter Kaesler Jr. of Golden, Colo.; son Stephen Kaesler of Wichita; daughters Jane Kaesler Stotts of Topeka, Andrea Kaesler of Topeka, and Susanne Broussard Grossoehmie of Baldwin City; and his five grandchildren, Conner, Gabriella, Drake, Cade and Emma.
Kaesler was editor of 13 volumes of the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology. Robert Goldstein, chair of the geology department, said Kaesler's accomplishments were one of the main reasons KU's geology department ranked in the top 10 in the US Reports and Rankings.
"He had a great sense of humor," Goldstein said. "He was famous in his field. As a colleague, he was just a great guy and a mentor to lots of young faculty and students."
A memorial service will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sept. 4 in the Natural History Museum.
Edited by Tara Smith
Associated Press
Already experienced in real estate before her marriage, Helmsley helped her husband run an enterprise that included managing the Empire State Building, as many as 27 hotels and thousands of apartments.
》 OBITUARY
BY RICHARD PYLE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Leona Helmsley, a real estate tycoon who became known as the "queen of mean" during 1989 tax evasion trial. died Monday at 87.
Real estate billionaire called'queen of mean dies of heart failure
Helmsley died of heart failure at her summer home in Greenwich, Conn., said her publicist, Howard Rubenstein.
She became a household name in 1989 when she was tried for tax evasion. The sensational trial included testimony from disgruntled employees who said she had terrorized the help and the executives at her hotels and homes.
NEW YORK — Leona Helmsley; who ran a $5 billion hotel and real estate empire with her husband but sealed her reputation as the "queen of mean" during her 1989 trial for tax evasion, died Monday. She was 87.
She was 51, with the good looks of a former model and already a successful seller of residential real estate in a hot New York market, when she married Harry Helmsley in 1972.
That image of Helmsley as the "queen of mean" was cemented when a former housekeeper testified that she heard Helmsley say: "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes."
For the better part of a decade, a glamorous Leona Helmsley smiled out of magazine ads dressed in luxurious gowns and tiara, advertising that the Palace was the only hotel in the world "where the Queen stands guard."
Helmsley denied having said it, but the words followed her for the rest of her life.
She clearly enjoyed the luxury of her private fortune, flying the globe in a 100- seat jet with a bedroom suite. She and her husband's residences included a nine- room penthouse with a swimming pool overlooking Central Park atop their own Park Lane Hotel; an $8 million estate in Connecticut; a condo in Palm Beach; and a mountaintop hideaway near Phoenix.
Yet Helmsley nickel-and-dimed merchants on her personal purchases, stiffed contractors who worked on her Connecticut home and terrorized both menial and executive help at her homes and hotels, detractors say.
Earlier this year, Forbes magazine ranked her as the 369th richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion.
"Leona Helmsley was definitely one of a kind," said Donald Trump, whose rivalry with the Helmsles made headlines in the 1990s. "Harry loved being with her and the excitement she brought, and that is all that really matters."
The Helmsleys' financial excesses overshadowed millions in contributions for medical research and other causes. In recent years, she contributed $25 million to New York Presbyterian Hospital, $5 million to Katrina relief and $5 million after Sept. 11 to help the families of firefighters.
When her husband died in 1997 at age 87, Helmsley said in a statement: "My fair tale is over. I lived a magical life with Harry."
In 1980 he made her president of Helmsley Hotels, a subsidiary which at the time operated more than two dozen hotels in 10 states, including the Park Lane, St. Moritz and Palace in New York and the Harley Hotels. Harley was a contraction of Harry and Leona.
He was 63 and one of the richest men in America.
The press portrayed them as an adoring couple, with Leona calling Harry "gorgeous one" and "pussy-cat." Friends and acquaintances described her as generous, charming, playful and having a good sense of humor.
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