TopDawg14

Boyz II Men are one the true talents in R&B. It's a shame that their last "studio" CD, Full Circle didn't even do decent numbers in the U.S.(although I believe they went platinum in Japan). It justs goes to show that fans in the U.S. are so fickled while fanbases around the world tend to remain more loyal. I hope that they'll be able to do a little production here in the States for the new album. i really admire them for continuing to make music despite what's going on in the music industry. They truly love to make music and that's what's sorely needed in music today. I wish Michael could still be with the group but I definitely understand his health situation. I wish the best for all of them.

It's a shame when truly talented artists/songwriters like Boyz II Men are ignored by the industry while crappy music is constantly played on radio. If it weren't for me searching my blogs then I wouldn't have known that they have new music out. For those who are interested, here's the link to download it: Boyz II Men - The Remedy Hopefully, they'll release it in the U.S.

Carl Banks was a Pro Bowl linebacker with the N.Y. Giants. I believe he was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was one of my favorite linebackers from back in the day. I would have been excited too.

Why am I not surprised at this. I think Reggie is right on this one. Here is Jay-Z, the head of the "premier" hip-hop label and he treats people like that? It sounds like a broken record but he too is about the money and nothing else. When will it end and get back to essence? Just another case of rap moving one more step forward to being completely pimped out. :shakehead:

Let's be honest - Def Jam is no different than Sony, Universal, BMG or any other major label. Def Jam is about numbers not quality. Now in defense of Jay-Z, LL's album was not very good and although he is a pioneer in hip-hop a trashy album is a trashy album and it should not be hyped. My "beef" with Mr. Carter comes from not giving proper promotion to good albums from the Roots or Method Man while hyping "artists" who aren't really all that talented. I've said it before and I'll say it again - it's time for artists to go independent. You won't get the big budget promotion and advances but you will show these big labels that you don't need them to sell records. With the internet and technology it's not that hard to make and sell music these days. You can make songs and beats on your computer now. You have websites like MySpace to promote yourself. To the artists - STOP WHORING YOURSELVES JUST SO YOU CAN BE ON A BIG LABEL!! SHOW THESE EMPTY SUITS THAT YOU DON'T NEED THEM!!! Sorry, I just get really pissed when it comes to the music industry.

Yeah it's really sad that quality albums like Food & Liquor and The Evolution of Robin Thicke are doing bad numbers. Like I said, internet downloading may be part of the blame but that doesn't explain why some artists' CDs sell while being bootlegged on the internet. It's all about the industry and its sole desire to make money and say "to hell" with quality.

1 DIDDY PRESS PLAY 170,483 999 422 170,910 2 EVANESCENCE OPEN DOOR 112,430 -31 164,042 725,418 3 JOJO HIGH ROAD 108,053 999 113 108,198 4 TIMBERLAKE*JUSTIN FUTURESEX/LOVE SOUNDS 99,017 8 91,969 1,368,048 5 BENTLEY*DIERKS LONG TRIP ALONE 82,448 999 67 82,530 6 STEWART*ROD STILL THE SAME... GREAT ROCK C 79,037 -57 184,304 264,058 7 HINDER EXTREME BEHAVIOR 75,726 -1 76,204 1,047,986 8 STUDDARD*RUBEN RETURN 70,501 999 147 70,653 9 BENNETT*TONY DUETS: AMERICAN CLASSIC 67,590 -35 104,589 502,813 10 KILLERS SAM'S TOWN 61,715 -39 101,657 479,246 Other Notable Artists: 12 LUDACRIS RELEASE THERAPY 55,352 -26 74,388 552,160 14 NICKELBACK ALL THE RIGHT REASONS 52,607 -4 54,606 3,812,461 15 BANKS*LLOYD ROTTEN APPLE 46,906 -67 142,587 189,980 16 MAYER*JOHN CONTINUUM 43,453 -25 57,627 698,948 20 BEYONCE B'DAY 36,576 -13 41,983 996,561 21 FERGIE DUTCHESS 35,970 -19 44,207 368,555 28 JACKSON*JANET 20 Y.O. 26,723 -37 42,240 443,076 - Underwhelming numbers for her 32 AGUILERA*CHRISTINA BACK TO BASICS 23,497 -3 24,129 837,790 34 DANITY KANE DANITY KANE 22,619 -13 26,126 662,538 38 HI-TEK HI-TEKNOLOGY V2 21,763 999 234 22,003 39 DYLAN*BOB MODERN TIMES 21,737 -20 27,034 607,002 46 ROSS*RICK PORT OF MIAMI 17,748 -25 23,614 563,397 50 XZIBIT FULL CIRCLE 16,659 999 375 17,418 51 RAE*CORINNE BAILEY CORINNE BAILEY RAE 16,395 -32 24,253 446,031 - Underrated album of 2006 56 CHINGY HOODSTAR 14,733 -29 20,631 172,600 61 RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS STADIUM ARCADIUM 13,950 -4 14,603 1,466,978 63 FIASCO*LUPE LUPE FIASCO'S FOOD & LIQUOR 13,738 -21 17,392 163,978 - This is a travesty 64 FURTADO*NELLY LOOSE 13,178 -9 14,496 809,165 73 BLUNT*JAMES BACK TO BEDLAM 12,558 -7 13,539 2,244,693 76 YUNG JOC NEW JOC CITY 12,015 -10 13,349 788,559 77 HAMMOND*FRED FREE TO WORSHIP 12,007 -32 17,717 55,043 80 THICKE*ROBIN EVOLUTION OF ROBIN 11,532 -17 13,851 45,601 - Best Pop/R&B album of year 90 BROWN*CHRIS CHRIS BROWN 10,664 8 9,871 1,610,543 94 YOUNG*CHRIS CHRIS YOUNG 10,053 -39 16,357 62,736 102 JENNINGS*LYFE PHOENIX 9,332 -18 11,444 337,680 107 OUTKAST IDLEWILD 8,734 -21 11,112 423,320 117 SAMMIE SAMMIE 7,945 -60 20,053 28,023 118 RIHANNA GIRL LIKE ME 7,921 -17 9,504 1,029,194 120 BUBLE*MICHAEL IT'S TIME 7,856 -6 8,362 2,066,339 129 SIMPSON*JESSICA PUBLIC AFFAIR 7,206 -14 8,403 234,704 132 LETOYA LETOYA 6,908 -25 9,164 450,319 137 NE-YO IN MY OWN WORDS 6,746 -17 8,154 1,347,983 140 INDIA.ARIE TESTIMONY:VOL.1,LIFE & RELATIO 6,616 -10 7,391 509,938 144 METHOD MAN 4:21 THE DAY AFTER 6,431 -13 7,416 161,338 145 EMINEM CURTAIN CALL 6,413 19 5,381 2,554,303 148 BLIGE*MARY J. BREAKTHROUGH 6,203 -13 7,161 2,619,258

Robin Thicke's album is definitely a must have for this year. It's been out since Oct. 3rd and I've only heard one of his songs(Lost Without You) on radio every now and then. It's a really great album with a good mix of ballads and mid to uptempo songs. My grade is A-.

I always have to preference what type of rap I like as well. There is a lot of trash out there being peddled as "good" rap & R&B when it's really straight garbage. I think you do have to tell people that you're a fan of so-and-so. I tell people that I like old-school hip-hop and artists like Cross Movement, Mos Def, Talib, Common and Lupe.

As I've said before, it's time for established artists to leave these labels. With the internet and places like ITunes and Rhapsody I would bypass the industry altogether. People can talk about how internet downloading has hurt artists(and it has) but how does that explain artists like Justin? His album was out on the internet a month before it went on sale and he seems to be doing just fine(to the tune of roughly 1.3 million copies). It is about the record labels and how wack they are. They'll continue to heavily promote crap but albums like Robin Thicke's Evolution(less than 50,000 copies to date) or Lupe's Food & Liquor(less than 150,000 to date) get very little promotion(or should I say no promotion). It seems quality albums are being pushed back or not promoted correctly. IT'S NOT ABOUT QUALITY WITH THE INDUSTRY!!!! IT'S ABOUT MAKING MONEY WITH THEM!!! They could give less than a crap about real music.

Name: C.J. Age: 31 Location: Chicago, IL. JJFP Fan since: 1987 Job: Just know I got one!!!!!

Blazing Dragons

The Last Dragon

Detroit Rock City

Night Of The Living Dead

All The King's Men

He needs to be in jail. This dude is a child molestor and needs to be put under the jail. I can't seem to understand why people were(and still are) ready to bury Michael Jackson for sleeping with 15 year old boys but turn the other way with R. Kelly? Where is the moral outrage and why don't we value our young women?

Monster's Ball

Black Hawk Down

Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back

About Last Night

Cry, The Beloved Country

"GEORGE BUSH DOESN'T CARE ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE." That statement was off the chain. When I first saw Kanye come on that night I knew some stuff was about to go down. He just had that look like he was going to go off and say something crazy. I especially loved the Mike Myers "deer-caught-in-a-headlight look". Simply priceless.

As a native Chicagoan, I'm very happy for Lupe. This is a step, albeit a small one, in the right direction for rap. I still thought he would sell 100K+ in his first week but I'll take what I can get. It's a great album but the only sore spot for me is the song he did with Jay-Z(the name of the song is Pressure). I liked the original version of the song better(called Trials & Tribulations that leaked earlier this year). The other sore spot is the silly Outro track which is about 11 minutes of shoutouts to various DJs, producers, A&R people and other artists. Standout tracks are: Real, Just Might Be OK, Kick Push, I Gotcha, Daydreamin', and American Terrorist Grade: A-

I've actually known about that Beyonce quote for almost a week but I didn't think anything of it. First of all it was a silly comment to make and then leave it up to the media to pour gas on a fire that's already burning. Sales went down 70% because of the comment? Please. Sales went down for 2 reasons: the album is getting bad reviews and word of mouth and the album was leaked before its release date. I never considered the music Beyonce makes "black music". She's at her worst when she steps out of character(i.e. "Soldier" and "Ring The Alarm"). She's a pop artist - plain and simple.