Published October 2000

Rachel Ferrell

Where do you put an accomplished singer/songwriter/pianist with a vocal range spanning six octaves of both beauty and power, and who has managed (on the success of two albums alone) nearly eight years of international touring? Where do you put a woman who's shared company with such jazz greats as George Duke, Quincy Jones, and the immortal Dizzy Gillespie, while receiving much praise from contemporary r&b stars like Deborah Cox, Angie Stone, and Isaac Hayes? Where do you put Rachelle Ferrell?

Cuba Gooding Jr.

" Show me the money!" has been his lion's call since it won him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Cameron Crowe's Jerry Maguire. But four years later, it also seems to have become his modus operandi when it comes to selecting movie roles.

GURU

Guru, the mellow-voiced half of hip-hop vets Gangstarr, has a new baby. Matter of fact, he has two: Keith Casim Elam, who was born at the end of July, and his Jazzmatazz: Street Soul project that arrives in stores October 3. He's clearly hyped about both and talks about them animatedly during an interview in Virgin Records' New Yor headquarters.

  Maurice Malone

At first glance Maurice Malone, his trademark locks recently lopped off, seems quiet, soft-spoken. "I'm going for the nappy afro look," he explains, his brown hands wrapped around a freshly popped Heineken as we relax on the rooftop patio of a popular Queen West club and restaurant. This self-taught progressive 35-year-old, one of the Council of Fashion Designers of America's most promising designers, stands squarely up against other cosmopolitan creators with much to say when it comes to urban fashion. It's a tough world out there but Malone has been doing it his way from the get-go with the constant spport of loyal buyers who loved his style.