TopDawg14

(In Samuel L. Jackson's voice from Pulp Fiction) Well allow me to retort. I'm not spinning anything. I'm just giving my opinion on what's happened with L&F. People are saying Party Starter would have been huge if it was released earlier but no one knows for sure. What if he released it earlier and it flopped? I'm just being a realist about this. No one knows what Will's intentions were as far as promoting L&F but simply from a money standpoint it wouldn't be a good business decision to release single after single. In 1995, Sony dropped $20 million on Michael Jackson's HIStory album, released 6 videos(Scream, 2 versions of They Don't Care About Us, Earth Song, You Are Not Alone, Stranger In Moscow) to show and 5 singles(Scream, This Time Around, You Are Not Alone, They Don't Care About Us, Stranger In Moscow) to radio over the course of 2 yearsand the album still underperformed mightily. It's just not a good business decision to drop all of that money when you're not really sure if you're going to get it back. As far as the other performances it seems the only place he had free reign was the 46664 event. The Nokia and Live 8 events probably had the same stipulations as the NBA Finals. Maybe his intention was to put out the CD and keep stepping. He's always said that he does music because he wants to not 'cuz he has to. I will stand by my point that he did enough promotion. I checked out a bunch of message boards besides the rap message boards and people knew about the album. A bunch of these sites had the album on the board ready to download. Illegal downloading probably ate a bit of his sales. You have to look at the legal downloading as well. Some people probably downloaded certain songs and not the whole album. What this still boils down to is the decision made by the masses at large. A lot of them decided in their minds a long time ago that Will Smith was wack to them and no matter what he did or how "hot" the music was they still weren't going to buy it. That's not his fault; he's got to remain true to himself. Was I hoping the album would been platinum by now? Sure but I can't stress over the fact that it hasn't just like I can't stress over the fact that nobody wants to hear cats like Cross Movement spit. It's the masses' loss.

Happy Birthday! You're officially legal!!

I think Maxfly is missing something about Will's performances. The NBA Finals is a perfect example. They asked Will to perform Switch because it was a song that everyone was familiar with and it's a fun song. The people asking Will to perform usually want him to perform songs that everyone knows. And in the case of the NBA Finals, he could only perform 1 song so it had to be Switch(it was also the song that ABC requested he perform). When a singer/rapper goes on most big-time TV performances they have to perform songs that most people are familiar with. Will can't do anything about that except perform the song(s) that the TV show wants him to. If Will could have done something extra, he could have headlined a tour with Jeff and other artists. That's the only thing that he didn't do. And even that requires that you get corporate sponsors and other artists to go along with it and that's hard enough in and of itself. I agree with Ted on this one. It really wouldn't have mattered what Will did to promote the album, most people think of Will as soft and that's the end of it. As fans, we know better but you can't force people to like him. They're into gangsta nonsense and trash. That's what sells. Will is too clean and has too much integrity to sell his soul like that. And as I stated before, Overbrook doesn't have the type of money that labels like Sony and Interscope have. These other labels have the money to spend millions on promotion. They pay radio stations to constantly play songs from these artists. They pay BET & MTV to play the videos. These other labels kiss butt and play politics to hype these other rappers. Overbrook doesn't have that type of money or power to that and even if they did they wouldn't because of the integrity issue. The Bible says, "What profits a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?" Will put a product out there. He promoted it. He had something to say on the album. He said it and that's that. If people don't buy it then it's their loss. I'm like Ted - people know who Will is and the fact he has an album out. The reason why it hasn't gone platinum yet has nothing to do with Party Starter being released in August. It has to do with the fact that people are loving rappers who are rapping about foul and immoral mess.

Well first off, that's Chris Tucker in Mariah's video and not Rock. Secondly, at the 2003(i think it was '03) VMAs Chris joked that he never had a chance with Janet but since she's with JD that, "everybody really had a chance with Janet." He also said that "Janet's a 10 and Jermaine Dupri's about a 4."

As I said in another post, what more could Will do? He could have released PS earlier but what if it had tanked? What if Party Starter is another hot single like Switch but has no effect on sales? I think he's done a lot of promotion for the album. The fact of the matter is the masses at large have slept on this album. That's not his fault. Music sales as a whole are down. An album like Big Willie Style happens once in a blue moon. Look at Eminem - his first cd sold 3-4 million then his second one sold 10 mil. That was his Big Willie Style cd. The Eminem Show sold half of MMLP and Encore has barely matched TES. Michael Jackson sold 53 million albums worldwide for Thriller and even though a lot of people consider Bad a better album, it sold about half of that worldwide. The fact is that the music industry is a business. It's a corporation and the only thing that matters is the bottom line. The industry is not concerned about good music; they're only concerned that the music sells. And when you stoop to those levels then you'll see the trash you see now. I don't think it would have mattered if Will released 3 singles at once. As fans we want to see L&F do mad numbers but reality is that good, positive music doesn't sell. Period. You'll get an album here or there to slip through the cracks but the overall the industry is rotten and immoral. And it's not going to change but only get worse until the people have had enough and demand a change. That's why the industry is gearing this garbage to younger and younger people because you can easily influence and manipulate them. Once they buy into it then you got them for life and that generation will give the next generation even more garbage.

At this precise moment, I'm bumping: CROSS MOVEMENT - ETERNAL CYPHA

As I've said before I guess I'm the only one not stressing here. To everyone who is blaming Interscope, Interscope has nothing to do with this. Interscope is only distributing the album. That means they're manufacturing(mass producing) the album and shipping it to stores. The rest of the work is done by Overbrook Entertainment. So if you want to vent anger then vent it at Overbrook. You can't blame Overbrook either because they don't have the capital(money) that Interscope has. The reason why 50 is releasing 3 singles and videos at a time is because Interscope has the money to do and they expect the songs/videos to blow and they get their money back. With the exception of making and shipping the cds, this is all Will and his money so it doesn't make good business sense to pour that kind of money into a project if you don't know if you're going to get it back. Overbrook is basically an independent label so it's all about streamlining and keeping your costs down to maximize your profits. A lot of this is about politics as well. That's what the song "I Wish I Made That" is about. If Will was thuggin' and talking all about clubbin', sex, drugs and guns then he would probably be multi-platinum by now. But since he keeps it clean then it's wack and soft. The industry at large doesn't support him and Will has too much intergrity to kiss a lot of butts to get his stuff played. As I said before, I think it's a big accomplishment that he went Gold with this album without the benefit and help of black radio, MTV, BET and the industry at large. He's won 4 Grammys and sold over 30 million records worldwide. He has nothing to prove musically.

Lost & Found is easily Will's best album - period. BWS - just a fun album Willennium - great lyrics on this album BTR - experimental yet fun

Yeah what they said. Happy Birthday!!!!!!

This is good news for Sacremento... if and only if Bonzi Wells has matured. This dude is known for being a bit of a headcase. He's talented but his attitude can become a clubhouse cancer. Greg Ostertag is still in the NBA? This dude has just stolen money over his career. I always liked Bobby Jackson. Sacremento's going to miss him big time.

WHAT?!?!?! Elise Neal isn't a part of cast anymore???? :thumbsdown: :sigh: Well guess I won't any reason to watch now.... OK maybe I'll still watch but I'm watching under protest. BRING ELISE BACK!!!

Well these are all just rumors and nothing is concrete yet. The only thing that seems to getting off the ground is Pursuit of Happiness and Tonight, He Comes. Will's been rumored to be in a lot of movies but they have never materialized. There was even one rumor that Will was supposed to be teaming up with Leonardo DiCaprio for a movie but it was just that - a rumor. Will's been trying to get Uptown Saturday Night(which is a classic comedy - you should see it if you haven't) off the ground for almost 5 years but it's darn near impossible to assemble the talent he wants to assemble to get it done. As far as Time Share goes, I don't think it would be like Johnson Family Vacation. I think it would be more like Planes, Trains and Automobiles(another classic comedy - go see it) by sticking two different people together for a length of time. Will's not doing "Cedric" movies. Why? Because he's Will Smith. Just having Will Smith in the movie means quality. Analysts thought Hitch would be your average, run-of-the-mill romantic comedy and nearly $180 million later Will proved them wrong. They thought the same about Sharktale($160 million) and weren't too sure of I, Robot($145 million) but they all turned out to be blockbusters. Comparing Will with Cedric the Entertainer is like comparing - and this is no offense to Cedric - filet mignon to a cheeseburger.

Maybe I'm the only one here who isn't going bananas over Will's sharp decline in sales over the last couple of weeks. I think a lot of you guys are disappointed and a little angry that his sales have taken a dip but it's to be expected. There's really not much more he can do. Party Starter may or may not help but I don't think it will boost his sales to the point of Big Willie Style or even Willennium. He's spent a lot of time promoting the album since February. It's at the point where either you have the CD or you don't. Why hasn't it sold more? I don't think it has to do with Will releasing Party Starter in August. I think it has to do with the fact that the music industry has just simply changed. An album like L&F should be doing 50 Cent numbers but the fact remains that society embraces negativity. People aren't trying to hear positivity in rap because they don't think "it's real". It's the reason why Christian rap won't sell because it promotes a lifestyle that is contradictory to a lifestyle that promotes money, sex, violence and drugs. Will released this album to show people that he still "has it" but moreover I think he made this album because he loves music. We can't expect Will to be true to his music on one hand and then play politics with the industry on the other hand. Either you're a slave to the industry or you're not. Will achieved Gold status without the help of radio, BET, MTV and the rap industry at large. This album is a testament to the fact that he doesn't need the industry to make music and be successful. I'd rather see him go Gold with dignity than multi-platinum by being a lapdog to an industry that is full of nonsense and garbage. I'm saying all of this to say... EVERYBODY CALM DOWN AND ENJOY THE MUSIC. Who cares what the industry thinks!

That's like asking who's better, Michael Jordan or Nick Van Exel? This one is too easy; of course it Will.

Acctually it dosn't seem that way. what most artist do is relase 1 or 2 songs before thier CD drops. And that's enough promo for the CD. obviously he didn't do that ← I think a lot of people are missing something here. The deal that Will has with Interscope is a distribution deal. All that means is that Interscope will manufacture and distribute the music to various outlets. The rest is done by Will and his label, Overbrook. Overbrook obviously does not have the capital to put out promotional money for 1 or 2 singles before an album. From a business standpoint, it wouldn't make sense to pour a lot of money into a project without having a good idea of what you're going to get back. Sony spent $30 million to promote Michael Jackson's 2001 Invincible album and the album tanked. Sony has the capital to shell out millions of dollars for an artist and Overbrook doesn't. The mere fact that this album has gone Gold is an achievement in and of itself.

I've only listened to L&F once. I've really been listening to a lot of Cross Movement lately.

For the second time in three years, the top box-office champ in the Smith household belongs to... Jada Pinkett-Smith. After this weekend's estimates, the cartoon laugh-fest Madagascar has surpassed Hitch to take hold of the #2 spot on the U.S. Yearly Box Office List with $179.5 million to Hitch's $179.4 million. Jada also won top honors in 2003 when The Matrix Reloaded doubled Bad Boys II($289 million to $138 million) box office total. While most analysts predicted Madagascar to be a big hit, fewer analysts thought Hitch would turn out to be the big blockbuster that it was. Either way, this power couple continues to make moves in Hollywood.

Just as I woke up to see the second plane crash into the WTC building on 9/11 I wake up to see this horrific act in London. I also thought about the JJFP fam from the U.K. Some news estimates have over 40 dead and over 1000 injured, over 150 people seriously injured. I pray that God will console the families of those who died and were injured in this attack. I also pray that He will help all of us to see how much we are in need of Christ and His love.

Happy Birthday! Your countdown to 30 starts now... lol.

i think it's great that Will went gold in 3 months but i think it took a little too long. faith evans "the first lady" took less than 2 months and of course the nimrod 50 cent went platinum plus in a week. other artists like Coldplay went gold in a week so it depends. i think Will still should be around 2 million at this point but this music industry is wack. it's all about politics and butt-kissing and Will has too much integrity for that.

The RIAA has not officially certified L&F yet. It has to wait until the audit comes in and verifies that L&F has indeed sold, not shipped, over 500,000 units. Once the audit is certified, then the RIAA will post the certification date on L&F. Even though Switch is out of the top 10, it's still holding on. I thought it would have been out of the top 25 by now.

:thumbsdown: Sorry folks but I'm not feelin' the radio edit. They should just stay with the original album version. It was much better.

Here's my take on the subject: I think the article is on point in a lot of aspects. I think there are a lot of young white cats who genuinely love hip-hop. I think they actually listen to the lyrics and understand where the rapper is coming from. I also think there are a lot of posers. These kids are surburbanites who either listen to rap because that's what's hot or they're doing it to rebel against the "preppy" lifestyle. As far as black kids not buying the music, I think it's simple - we're not respecting the art form of hip-hop. I think a lot of the blame does go on us because we are not teaching young kids the history of the art form and what we could really do with the art form. We've pimped the art form as a means to make money and when you do that then you're willing to say and do anything to sell records. There is somehow this new measure of "blackness" going on in my communities. In this day, you're not black if you're not thugged out. Hence cats like Will, De La, Talib Kweli, The Roots, dead prez, Mos Def and Common don't get a lot of shine. And let's not even begin to talk about being Christian and an emcee. You gets no love in the black community. I think it's a disgrace that 50 can sell over 4 million CDs but a emcee like The Ambassador(Christian emcee) can only move 35,000 copies. The industry has a lot to do with this too. It's all about lowering to the lowest-common denominator. It's not just hip-hop, it's music and television in general. The way to keep people uneducated and uninformed is to distract their minds. Sensationsalism works in America and all over the world for that matter. Ask your average "rap" fan about the 50/Game "beef" and they can tell you all about it. Ask them about the genocide going on in Dafur and they'll have no clue. I don't want to get preachy because I know people have different religions on this board but I think the real reason is that society is pushing morals out. That really explains why 50 is so popular. The industry continues to dumb down the public to the point where anything and everything is acceptable. There is no way a song like "Candy Shop" makes it radio 20 years ago. Now it's all sex, drugs, clubs and rims all the time. I have more to say but I'm running short on time.

If Isaiah Thomas makes this trade then it will be a dumb one. Now I like Chicago-native Quentin Richardson but Isaiah has enough perimeter players on the squad. If he adds Richardson then the Knicks will be the West Coast version of the Lakers... and we all know what happened to the Lakers this past season.

Michael Jackon Kirk Franklin