TopDawg14

That's cool that Will is #2 on the East Coast. The fact that he has the 6th best hip-hop CD without help from the industry(an industry that is dumb-downed and irrelevant to me) is proof that good music always finds a way to the people.

The problem with adding Sprewell is... where do you play him? That was the problem with the Fakers last year. They had too many perimeter players and not enough low post help. You already have ball hogs like Odom and Kobe and now you're adding Spree? I don't care if Phil is there or not, the Fakers will suck again!

My picks are as follows: NFC North: Minnesota Vikings NFC East: Philadelphia Eagles NFC South: Atlanta Falcons NFC West: St. Louis Rams NFC Wildcards: Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers AFC North: Pittsburgh Steelers AFC East: New England Patriots AFC West: San Diego Chargers AFC South: Indianapolis Colts AFC Wildcards: N.Y. Jets, Baltimore Ravens NFC Champion: Philadelphia Eagles AFC Champion: Indianapolis Colts Super Bowl XL Champion: Philadelphia Eagles You can call Nostradamus later.... :lolsign:

Who do you think is going to take each game? Sunday, Sep. 11 Chicago at Washington - Redskins(it breaks my heart to pick against my Bears) Cincinnati at Cleveland - Bengals Denver at Miami - Broncos Houston at Buffalo - Bills New Orleans at Carolina - Panthers N.Y. Jets at Kansas City - Chiefs(only because the Chiefs are at home) Seattle at Jacksonville - Jaguars Tampa Bay at Minnesota - Vikings Tennessee at Pittsburgh - Steelers Arizona at N.Y. Giants - Cardinals Dallas at San Diego - Chargers(The Cowboys SUCK!!!!!) Green Bay at Detroit - Packers St. Louis at San Francisco - Rams Indianapolis at Baltimore - Colts(but barely) Monday, Sep. 12 Philadelphia at Atlanta - Eagles

I think I know a few off the top of my head but I'll go with the ones I definitely know. Some of these questions I could answer if my memory was better. 1. breakfancing, graffiti, emceeing, dj-ing 9. Kurtis Blow 21. The Treacherous Three feat. Kool Moe Dee 23. Sheila E. 25. Run-DMC at the very 1st MTV Video Music Awards 33. Guru... but don't quote me on that. 39. NWA feat. Dr. Dre 40. La Raza? 88. Public Enemy

KANYE FIRES OFF AGAIN KANYE WEST is firing off at America's white leaders again a week after he shocked TV viewers on a Hurricane Katrina telethon by claiming President GEORGE W BUSH was a racist. The rapper ignored the telethon script and attacked Bush for not acting quicker to save African-Americans stranded by the storms in Mississippi and Louisiana. And he isn't finished yet - appearing on ELLEN DeGENERES' US television chat show this morning (09SEP05), West insisted Bush and other politicians knew America's Gulf Coast couldn't withstand a hurricane a year before Katrina hit. He said, "Back in the days when it was time to clean the kitchen I would try to sweep the dust under the kitchen sink instead of really taking care of it, and if you spilled something on that floor all that dust came right up in front of your face. That's basically what the flood did. "They have been trying to sweep us (African-Americans) under the kitchen sink and it was so in people's faces and so on TV... that they couldn't even hide it any more. "Down there, people are living below the poverty level to start off with, before this happened. "A year ago I was on tour with USHER and we had a hurricane hit Florida and everybody was saying, 'If this hurricane went to Louisiana, if it went to Mississippi, they wouldn't be able to handle it.' (That was) a year ago - and there was nothing done about it." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Again, whether you agree with Kanye or not, respect the fact that he has the guts to speak out on something he feels is wrong. This is a great country but America has got to understand there are problems concerning race and class in this country.

This is of no surprise to me. BET is a part of the industry that is seeking to dumb down its audience. It's all politics and bottom line. You have to kiss butt and dumb your lyrics to get airplay on radio and TV. Yeah, you'll get a Kanye or a Lauryn Hill to slip through the cracks from time to time but the reality is that nonsense rules the day in music. BET is getting a lot of heat for its programming. I don't really watch BET anymore since its news department was gutted. It's really a shame because some people will look at BET and use it as a representation of black people.

The best bet out of these is Tonight He Comes. Affirmative Action is pretty much dead as Ben Affleck has a number of movies (including one where he is directing) which have been given the green light.

That's kind of shocking to see ATL give Will that much love. I haven't heard PS on radio yet here in Chicago but that's not surprising. To answer Tim's question, it has to do with what it always has to do with - bottom line. It's all about ratings, ratings, ratings. You play who the program director tells you to play and the p.d. gets his cue from the record labels. As I've said before hip-hop is dead and the industry killed it. Everything's watered-down and dumb. Party Starter is too smart for radio. There's no mention of ice, Bentlys, or half-naked chicks.

It's about time he retired. Yeah he was the G.O.A.T. at wide receiver but he was simply getting too long in the tooth. I guarantee you that if he would have made the squad in Denver he wouldn't have retired. He retired before the Broncos could cut him. Don't get me wrong, Jerry Rice was the truth but it's time for him to step down. He had a great, great career. First ballot Hall Of Famer.

Whether or not you agree with what Kayne said or when he said, you'll all have to agree that it's sparking the debate on race which is long overdue. I think the frustations coming from African-Americans are valid. The images on television are distorted and coming from a certain point of view. The fact is that there will probably be more than 10,000 dead. Everyone from President Bush to the mayor of New Orleans dropped the ball. The mayor is at fault for not coming up with a strategy to get people out. The governor is in charge of the National Guard and waited too long to deploy troops. The president failed because he didn't step in take control when the mayor & governor proved to be ineffective. What Kayne said is that there is a general mistrust of the government by African-Americans. We have endured 400 years of slavery. After the Civil War ended, we still endured nearly 100 years of Jim Crow. We have endured beatings for nothing(Emmitt Till), hangings and lynchings(James Byrd). While the hangings and lynchings have stopped, the racism still exists on an subconscious level. Have you ever been pulled over by the cops because "you happen to fit the description of a person who's just committed a crime?" Have you ever gone into a department store only to have an attendant follow you around to make sure you don't steal anything even though you can afford everything in the store? Have you ever walked out of a restaurant with two friends and have a white woman lock her car because she saw 3 black men? Have you ever had a white woman clutch her purse because you were a black man? All of these things happened to me - while I was in college. You have to walk the walk of a black man to understand what Kayne West was talking about. We see the racism of this country and I think this is why Ted is so emotional about this. We look at the situation in New Orleans and see not only racism but classism. I would love not to have to deal with racism and just look at any person of any race as my brother or sister and I do look at everyone as my brother or sister. The fact is that everyone doesn't share my mindset and reality is that there are people who will look at me and not see a man but a n-----. I rise above their ignorance but that doesn't erase the fact that the racism is still there.

I leave the board for a couple of days and I miss a lot. My opinion is pretty much the same as Ted's and WillJadaFan's. The U.S. government's handling of this crisis has been horrible. Kayne was just speaking his mind and what he said is what at least 75% of African-Americans feel. As a black man, I don't trust this government whether they be Democrat or Republican. Neither party cares for black people until election time comes and they need votes. The National Guard & military should have been in New Orleans by Wednesday at the latest. You mean to tell me the government can send troops into Iraq to battle Al-Qaida and other terrorists but they can't send them into New Orleans to take care of a few thugs with guns. The excuses I heard were flimsy to say the least. The fact of the matter is that these were poor African-Americans and the government sat on their hands while thousands died. When Kayne said that George Bush doesn't care about black people, he was merely saying what most black people feel about George Bush. I'll take it a step further and say that no one in this government cares about black people(at least poor black people). This government was founded on the backs of slaves. In the original constitution, black people were 3/5 a person. It was a system set up by the rich, for the rich and of the rich. If you have money then you have a voice. If you don't then you're like those poor people in New Orleans - you have no voice. Not only do I agree that it was appropiate for Kayne to speak out but it was the perfect time. It's time for America to look itself in the mirror and realize once and for all that not only does racism still exist but it's prevelant in this society. I could go on but I'm so disgusted by the lack of action on the part of the government that I can't even say anymore.

Well BEP and Kayne are hot right now and the exceptions to the rule. It will be interesting to see if they can keep it up. It might have helped if Will released more singles but how much? It's not like Will's a rookie at this. Dude's been in the game for 20 years. The album got shine thru the hip-hop message boards and there was good word of mouth about the album so what went wrong? Simple, the industry is what went wrong. Interscope is possibly even worse than Sony concerning proper promotion of an album. The politics of the industry is just ridiculous. You have empty suits in boardrooms controlling music and that just shouldn't be. I'm just sick of it. Rap bores me right now. If not for L&F and Be I would probably be done with rap completely.

As I look at this list I become more convinced that music in general is dead. Look at the hype Common got and yet he hasn't cracked 600k. It further solidifies my point that the reason why Will hasn't sold more is not putting out more singles but the industry itself and the people at large. The industry would rather promote filth like 50 Cent and Mike Jones and throw away the 2 best hip-hop cds of the year(Lost & Found, BE). The masses of people are worse because they accept and gravitate toward the filth that's being put out. :dontgetit: :bangcomp: :tantrum:

Finley to the Spurs? GAME OVER!!!!! SAN ANTONIO SPURS - 2006 NBA CHAMPIONS!!!

Serena: The things we could do.... Andy: Oh my!!!!!! :lolsign:

Evidently people decided to tune out MTV during the awards: Diddy Did Diddly for MTV By John M. Higgins -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/30/2005 5:26:00 PM The audience to MTV’s Video Music Awards plunged 22%. Nielsen Media reports that the VMAs – hosted in Miami by the recently-rechristened rapper and producer Diddy -- averaged 8 million total viewers Sunday night, off sharply from 10.3 million viewers last year. The latest score is part of a long slide for the awards show. Sunday night's show had no big moment, with the surprise performance for the night coming from…..My Chemical Romance. It wasn't much of a substitute for Madonna making out with Britney Spears.

Yeah my bad. It was Melle Mel but the point is still the same.

When Parents Just Don't Understand came out I still wasn't a JJFP fan. I liked the song but I wasn't there yet. It happened in 1988 when I first heard Brand New Funk. I was hooked for life after that.

I really didn't need the VMA's to tell me how bad hip-hop is right now. It may not be dead but it's definitely on life-support. It's all about the bottom line now and that bottom line is money. Hip-Hop started its death march when Dr. Dre's The Chronic was released in 1992. The Chronic was a classic album but what you had was a bunch of empty suits in boardrooms looking at $$$$ and a bunch of copycats selling their souls to get $$$$. Hip-Hop has been in dire straits ever since. I remember the first time I heard Melle Mel's The Message. I remember the first time I heard I Ain't No Joke(can you name the artist?) or the first time I heard My Philosophy. These were songs with messages and they had meaning. Where's the meaning in Still Tippin'? What's the message in Outta Control? It's all wack now. Hip-Hop doesn't move me anymore and it's sad because that's what I grew up listening to. I listen to more rock now than hip-hop. I want that love for hip-hop to come back but I don't think it will. I think it's going to die.

I would be offended because of where the word originated from. I would rather the word not be used by anybodyblack or white.

I think it's his best album outside of He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper.

Here are the final box office numbers for Hitch: Domestic: $179.5 million Overseas: $188.5 million Total Worldwide: $368.0 million Yearly Domestic Rank: 8 Yearly Worldwide Rank: 5 All-Time Domestic Rank: 86 All-Time Worldwide Rank: 86 Coming into 2005, the only knock movie critics had against Will Smith was the fact that he has never played the romantic lead in a romantic comedy. There were questions whether or not he would be successful in this genre. Will not only proved the critics wrong, he shocked the world with Hitch. Hitch was not just a blockbuster but a monster staying atop the domestic and worldwide rankings until July. Couple that with the successful sales and rental of the DVD and Hitch(at last check it has racked up over $150 million in DVD sales and rentals) has surpassed the $500 million mark.

Michelle Branch - Are You Happy Now?

:thatspdiddybad: not feelin' it at all.