MaxFly

Good to see the Ill community giving Will his props recognizing that his roots in hip hop go way back beyond 97.

I'm probably going to end up repeating thing people have posted... but here goes... And think of the summers of the past Adjust the base and let the alpine blast Pop in my CD and let me run a rhyme And put your car on cruise and lay back cause this is summertime It's late in the day and I ain't been on the court yet hustle to the mall to get me a short set yeah I got on sneaks but I need a new pair cause basketball courts in the summer got girls there I been up and down and high and low Fly with dough, broke looking grimy yo My shiny glow definitely ain't cause of my Bentley It's something that my fam put in me There are more...

Lol, ask John Kerry or Bill Clinton who KRS One is, then ask them who Will Smith is. Rap doesn't have the reach that film does. Pop music has that draw because those sort of artists are everywhere, but ask Bill Gates who Foxy Brown is versus Will Smith, and you're going to get different answers. Pop music is the most popular music genre in the US and the world I think. Lol, that's why it's called popular. Regardless of how much they play rap or how many commercials it has, it still has a ways to go. More people listen to Brittney Spears, N'Sync, Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson... and I could keep going... If Will weren't so involved in movies, he wouldn't have #1 blockbuster hits because he wouldn't be getting the parts that he does now. Will is consulted for parts, but he doesn't have ultimate control... the director does, and his popularity in the field certainly helps. If Will came out with an album every year, I'm sure people would be feeling him more... The problem is that we want people to feel Will for his music, not because people see him all the time. Remember, there was a time Will and Jeff were strictly about hip hop, yet even then they still didn't get the recognition they deserved. I'd love for Will to get the recognition, but it's not right that he would have to put everything else away to get it. If you have to be only about hip hop to make a contribution, the industry is in a crisis. I heard a lot of people making the arguments against Lost and Found when came out. "He's only dabbling in hip hop. He's not real." My response was "Is Lost and Found hot?" That's all that really matters. Will's not asking for recognition because he's stayed in hip hop or because he has been completely dedicated. He's asking for recognition for the work he has put in. I think Lost and Found could have done better with more promotion too, but for the most part, people will like what they are conditioned to like, and right now, that's the thug or pimp image. All of it is a concoction by the media. If Will wants to take over, he's going to have to wipe out BET and Hot 97.7. I have no aversion to that, but it wouldn't be easy.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to one and all.

I don't think Will has ever meant that doing movies has killed the rapper inside of him. He has tried to express that he feels as if he has gotten away from music and practicing his skills, but the rapper is a live and well, or we wouldn't have gotten quality albums in Willenium or Lost and Found... Heck, if the desire weren't there, we wouldn't have even gotten a Born 2 Reign. Unless the rapper is dying and resurrecting every three years... no. Also, the point about age isn't so much that Will can't produce good music at a ripe age... it's that he is at a prime age to do other things, to break into other fields. He is talented enough to do it and has the desire to do it. Forsaking everything else would be a waste of opportunity and talent. Will Smith is not Stevie Wonder. Stevie Wonder was never and will never be a top draw at the box office... he doesn't have the acting chops. We're talking about a guy that was nominated for an Oscar, and given time, will eventually win multiple Oscars. It doesn't make sense to completely walk away from the business, lose your contacts, and then try to start over when you're older and not so much of a hot commodity. The reason he's known for his movies is because movies have universal draw, as opposed to rap music. Rap has a specific audience and one's popularity as a rapper is generally limited to your audience or those who have some sort of contact with your music or with you. There are a few exceptions in music... Brittney Spears and others... But though is may seem like it, Jay-Z isn't a household name. Tupac isn't a household name. Nas nor Biggie are not household names. Will Smith is a household name because more people have seem him act than have heard any of the MCs I listed above rap. Also, I'm not too high on this "Will needs to tour... he needs to be on rap city" thing. If those are the things you need to do to get credit in the industry, we're in more trouble than I thought. Before, it was more than enough to drop a tight album with tracks that are hot to get credit. If you have to foresake everything else to get credit in hip hop now, it's not worth it. Will doesn't need that type of credit. If the only way to get the public to give its due is to put out 10 albums in 10 years, you might as well sell your soul and get a discount in the process. Will deserves credit for what he's done now, not when he shows that he can inundate the rap market like everyone else and that he's just like everyone else. Problem is that he isn't like everyone else. He is talented in other things and he has other interests. Again, if the only way to get people to respect your work is to be in music all the time, I doubt that's the kind of respect Will wants... that's not respect... that's conditioning. People have gotten used to you, and it seems that you're working hard, so they give you props. That's not real. It shouldn't matter how hard you've worked if something you put out is fire. It's the quality of work that is judged, not the process one went through to get it done. Will was away from hip hop, he stepped back in and dropped Lost and Found. The album doesn't deserve any less acclaim simply because Will wasn't in music continuously. Incidentally, for someone who is one of the trailblazers of hip hop, Will gets no credit, period. He and Jeff were in the music and were releasing album after album, doing tours... yet they are often overlooked because they were percieved as bubblegum, not because they weren't working hard. I don't think Will should give up rhyming either, but I also don't think that he should give up film and his other ventures. As with everything, moderation.

I don't think it's about the money, and he has never said anything or behaved in a way to indicate that he acts simply to get paid. It appears that he genuinely enjoys acting, or there'd be no way one could explain the amount of work he put in on Ali or some of the things I've heard from Pursuit of Happiness; there's no way to explain why he works so hard at it. I can't logically expect a man who will be 40 soon to devote his life to the rap industry now when he has other talents and other passions. I really don't see Will trying to be like Jay-Z. All Jay really has is his rap industry influence and assorted businesses, but Will is far more talented in an array of different things. Trying to be like Jay-Z, as crazy as it sounds, would be a waste for him. He's too old to start trying to emulate others. He needs to make his own way, do his own thing. Also, I think Will can make more of an impact on the culture by going even beyond just music. A black man who is talented and successful, is married, loves his wife and his kids, makes time for them inspite of his busy schedule, and is just an all around nice person is a powerful symbol, someone you can root for. There aren't many men like that around, period. He's not going to get that exposure and he's not going to make the contacts he has now by foresaking his other ventures. If he diversifies, he can maximize his impact, not just on black culture or hip hop, but on culture in general. Hip hop needs him, yes... but the task of saving hip hop shouldn't rest on Will Smith's shoulders. It's too much to ask of someone who's given so much but has been credited with so little. It's going to take those with the influence... The Jay-Zs and the Dres of the industry to get rid of the garbage MCs and to change the messages that hip hop generally puts forward.

You guys really don't care for Will's acting huh? Wow.

:shrug:

We need Julie on the next podcast.

:rofl: at the previous 3 posts.

Haha, that's true.

That's what I said. Lol

Hahaha... Yazzy Yeff forever!

I hear that Oprah was involved... If Oprah was involved Chappelle lost from the get go...

Will Smith's the man. Simply put.

Kobe 62, Mavericks 61 after 3 quarter... That's sick...

Kids aren't generally interested in history period outside of black history month, usually not even during it. The problem is more that teachers/parents/leaders don't care about black history outside of black history month. True...

Are you guys surviving? This transit strike looks pretty rough.

Lol, I looked at the thread and was like... when did I make this.

That was pretty bad.

Moreover, kids aren't generally interested in black history outside of black history month. If we can remedy those things, we can get rid of the month. Black history month exists because black history isn't adequately addressed in general American history.

Hot.

Because the Republicans control both houses of Congress. W's startin' to get sloppy though. Yup, and this makes the 2006 elections even more interesting.. Also, the Dems are a little concerned that this might backfire on them in case something happens and the republicans are able to credit this program with stopping a terrorist act or something of that nature.. perhaps an attack does take place with the republicans saying that if this program would have been used, the attack could have been prevented. Now these things don't have to have a smidget of truth, but republicans are good with talking point and the Dems just don't seem to know what they're doing half of the time. They don't want public opinion to turn on them, so they're going to play the "lets get all the facts" card. It's probably the best move. The more they seem to want to temper their judgement until all the information is available, the less partisan they seem, the more likely they can get republicans on their side and the better they are in the eyes of the public. If I'm going to watch this play out, I'll have to go buy some popcorn...

What's worse is that while he maintains his right to do this and says that he will continue, neither his White House counsel nor the Attorney General have cited what statute or constitutional authority he's based this on. These are lawyers... they should be quick with their facts to smack this down if it weren't illegal. The political ramifications are going to be crazy... and I thought Christmas break was going to be boring.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4542880.stm I can't come up with a single good reason to go about spying this way. There are retroactive warrants, special secret courts... and he feigns anger and calls out Hilary Clinton. Big mistake.