bigted

I personally ain't really into either rapper that much but Cam'ron ain't as bad as some people try to say he is, he does have some hot rhymes in between, he could give Jay-Z a good battle, btw Jay-Z also answers Game in there too, "I used to think that rappin' at 38 was uhhh but that was until last year when I made 38 mil what", that's sorta like FP's line to Eminem, "Big Will with another 20 mil, walks right past E", probably more of a reference than a diss though

Thanks for the heads up on that, I'm gonna look into it, btw speaking of Meth I was watching "How High" yesterday

A lot of times I notice it's the same albums on a lot of these lists, most of them deserve to be there though

I'd imagine if the article said Fat Joe and Game diss each other everyone would run to this thread :lol:

well dmx or busta is really his style. dmx is too angry for him.. if you think about it, 50 and LL are both "ladies men" so they can relate on some level. BUt im thinkin your takin it a lil too serious, i do understand what your thinkin cause you love him too much, but its not like he said that 50 ccent is my new lover and he will be on every track. hes producing it, makeing the beats, maybe gonna do the hook on one verse perhaps one verse...hes not saying i wanna be 50, hes saying i want a hot album...hot beats. 50 cent has the hits so i see where the money issue comes in. but i think its more about quailty beats Well that's how I originally felt when I first heard about him wanting 50 to executive produce for him but now I'm ok with it 'cause I see 50's starting to turn it around a lil' bit, I don't have a problem anymore, I think I overreacted a bit when I first heard about it since I thought that LL was gonna rush out an album that was gonna ruin his legacy but now I see he's taking his time with it so I don't think that way anymore, and now the track with Kool G Rap/Premiere is a sign of something great, I'm actually anticipating the album... Now of course if Dr. Dre gets to produce on this album I think that'd be something else to look forward to, and now the main point I wanted to make Lerk is that if you can't say 50 has no talent if you heard "Get Rich Or Die Tryin'", the dude could rap, even if you don't like the style you got to admit that, even KRS-ONE was giving props to 50 around the time that album dropped, 50 had mad credability then...

http://www.mtv.com/news/#/news/artic...game_the.jhtml NEW YORK — It wasn't about East Coast vs. West Coast or young vs. old — it was about unity in hip-hop, period. The Game and Fat Joe came together on Tuesday (November 14) in the heart of Times Square at the Virgin Megastore to buy each other's LPs, both of which dropped Tuesday. Joey Crack took home at least 10 copies of Game's The Doctor's Advocate (see "Game Says Song On New LP Makes Him 'The One-Man N.W.A' "), and Game did the same for Joe's Me, Myself and I (see "Fat Joe On September Release: 'Bet The Kitchen Sink On Me' "). Before entering the store, Game came from one corner, Joe from another, and both MCs met in the middle and held each other's hands up like two champions. "I need more copies. Get me about 10 more," Game said later at the cash register. He stood next to Joe surrounded by fans, the media and several kids dressed in doctor's scrubs (doctor's advocates, apparently). "We're here supporting each other's music," Joe added. "We touching the town. It's legendary; it's unity in hip-hop. I support the Game. His album is a classic. Y'all need to go out there and get that. It's like Christmas right now." "Joe is the King of New York," Game jumped in. "We holdin' it down, going dumb on the album." Afterward, Joe headed over to hip-hop station Hot 97 for an interview, while Game went across the street to a phone company's display stage on the sidewalk. He took pictures and signed autographs. It got so crazy outside that Nas, who was making his way to visit the MTV offices, had a little trouble navigating through the traffic. "Yeah, it was wild outside," Nas said. "They're out there doing it."

Well actually with "Todd Smith" not hitting platinum like "10" and "The Definition" might've been a wakeup call for him to step his game up, he realised that he can't continue to be on "cruise control" and expect everybody to still buy it

LL basically been trying too hard to stay on the charts over the past few years, his music ain't really that much different than what 50, Jay-Z, etc. are doing, if you like anything after "10" you'll probably like some 50 Cent songs, Jay-Z songs, etc., he been trying too hard to keep up with current rappers rather than just do what he does best, now really "The GOAT" album was a perfect example of LL at his best, like "Mr. Smith", "Mama...", "Bad", "Radio", and even "14 Shots...", he displays all emotions over raw hip-hop tracks and the r&b tracks that're there are smooth and soulful, some of the r&b tracks that he's done recently sound watered down and the harder tracks on the recent album don't have a strong enough beat for them I feel, there are some excepts like "One In The Morning", "Hush", "Throw Ya L's Up", "We're Gonna Make It", "Down The Aisle", and "Big Mama", LL still got a lot of skills, I think he just needs to craft his next album a lil' bit better to get to the level where he needs to be, and like I said earlier 50 ain't the "WOAT"(worst of all time), maybe that'd be the case if his career started last year, but if you heard anything he did from when he did "How To Rob" all the way through "Get Rich Or Die Tryin'" album it's hard to say that he don't have skills, he still displays it once in a while too, he showed some life on the "GRODT" soundtrack and some recent mixtapes, that new single with Eminem is actually bearable too so I don't really worry that much with him collabing with LL as I would've a year ago...

Well I feel you on that too Pakalicious, I don't hate on anybody just 'cause they're "pop" or "commercial" 'cause I hear people say that about LL and JJFP already, I'd be stooping down to their level, come on now I think it's a joke to consider Jay-Z as weak as Young Dro and Puffy, Young Dro's just a new rapper that hasn't really proven much yet and Puffy well he's not really an mc, he's more of just a hype man and a producer than an mc, now I wouldn't even consider Ja Rule to be in the same category as Young Dro and Puffy either, he ain't as bad as some people put him out to be, he got some good albums in between too, he actually outrapped mostly everybody on Game's remix so he gotta have some skill to do that considering there was legends like Nas and Ice Cube on that track, honestly I'd rather see Jay-Z get hyped rather than most of these pop rappers today even though there are some who deserve it more, it actually upsets a lil' bit if anybody gets too much airplay, it should be more balanced out so people could hear everybody

SOHH Soulful: Gerald Levert's Family Responds To His Death Monday - November 13, 2006 by Kevin R. Scott The family of Gerald Levert has responded via a statement regarding the public outpouring of well wishes they've received from his adoring fans and admirers. "We are overwhelmed by the generous outpouring of love, condolences and support from the many friends, fans and admirers of Gerald's life and legacy," read the statement. "As everybody knows, Gerald was a man who loved and breathed music. "To his family and friends he was a man of strong character, who had an infectious personality and a zest for life. For his fans, his greatest love was touching the hearts and souls of all people through his music. At this very difficult time, we thank you for your prayers and hope you will understand our need for privacy." The R&B singer died Friday (Nov. 10) at the age of 40 of a fatal heart attack. Funeral arrangements have not been determined at the time the statement was released.

Yeah it's important for an mc to know how to rhyme a certain way to a beat, it's like how great singers sing notes a certain way to match the instrumental, usually that's what seperates the best from the rest, and the weak ones are the ones that don't know how to adjust and they're going off key

nas and krs I put above him, but the rest hover near, except for guys like dmx andre 3000 and fat joe, i see them nowhere near him. I just don't see those mentions at all. Rakim has arguablely the best flow, but when did he ever talk about anything but himself? Jay-z is cocky as hell but i see so much more substance in what he raps than rakim. mos def and talib are amazing lyricists, and are in the top ten, IMO, but i think to be a great rapper, you need to also appeal somewhat to the masses, something they have a hard time doing. they are some of the best backpack-rappers, but that is one type of rap, not the premier necessarily. 2pac in my opinion could say alot of influential things, but his flow never appealed to me. I also feel his legendary status was sealed because of his death. LL has recycled rhymes and is really hard for me to respect as much now that he's willing to drop his credibility for G-unit. Method man at times shows greatness, but I feel he tries to hard to not break away from one style, set in place by his Wu-tang roots. Redman never really appealed to me. Queen Latifah, maybe its just personal preference, NEVER appealed to me, no matter what she rapped about or to what beat. I never could get into it. (maybe its a lil sexism, because I have yet to find another female rapper I'll listen to either. I'll admit it.) Ice Cube was decent in his last CD, altho I felt he really was pulling the last from his creativity. To me, Snoop is fun with what he says, but limited on the depth that you can read into it. As much as I love Will, to be the best, you have to continually be able to be creative in new ways. I think Will has his niche, but I don't think it surpasses what Jay has been able to do. Also, you will hear a D grade rhyme from Will more frequently than you will from Jay. Slick Rick was an awesome story teller, but I still don't see him over Jay. Ice-T was great during his time, yet I think he pales in comparison to raps from guys like Nas and Jay can still churn out. Wyclef and Kool G, I gotta admit, they slipped my mind, so I can't argue anything there. Also, on the latter end of your list, I am not familar with the talent so I can't judge. Just my opinion. Thought I'd at least try to give some understanding why I still see Jay up there top 3. Hey I feel you bro on where you're coming from, that's nice to know you're familar with most of these mcs, now if you're gonna call LL selling out for working with G-Unit but what about some of the weak rappers that Jay-Z worked with respectfully speaking? Recycled rhymes? What about all the Biggie lines that Jay-Z uses in his songs? Would Jay-Z even be as popular if Biggie was alive? I don't think so, Biggie's another one above Jay-Z of course... Rakim did have some inciteful lyrics on "The 18th Letter" album and besides the way he came into the game with his rhyme patterns elevated many mcs to step their game, think about how mc'ing was before him and then after he came along and you'll see that he made way more impact than Jigga has, rappers today still use lines from "Paid In Full", DMX has a better album catalog than Jay-Z does, basically a lot of solid work he's done since he came in from '98 till now, Fat Joe from the mid-late 90s was a great mc and I think he's going back to that form on his new album coming out tomorrow, I also forgot to mention mcs Busta, Common, Guru, and Q-Tip that're all at least on the same level as Jay-Z, now putting Jay-Z in the top 50 is not a knock, it's just that there are many great mcs that're still living or have lived, I can't put him above all them, many people sleep on them and that's why they put him so high but I'd imagine they wouldn't if they actually heard of these mcs

Well that goes back to the point that Turntable made earlier about how back in the '80s hip-hop wasn't as big as now where the media covers everything a rapper says and does, back then in the late '80s LL was just as arrogant and money hungry as 50 is now and if the media covered hip-hop as much as now I think that would've been more magnified, and there was a pro-black movement with PE and KRS coming on the scene that people looked at LL as the anti-christ of rap doing songs about jewlery and women all the time, and I think in this present time with rappers like Kanye, Lupe, and Common having success and acclaim recently it's sorta going back to consciousness and now 50's receiving flack for not making rap with substance doing songs about his whips and his bitches, Kanye's "Late Registration" beat 50's "Massacre" out at the Grammies, Public Enemy's "...Nation Of Millions" album in '88 sold less than LL's '88 album but it was very critically acclaimed and still is more considered an all time great more than LL's "Walking With A Panther" is, 50's outselling them all just like LL outsold PE and KRS back then but they really lost support and acclaim in hip-hop during those times, I'm not putting Kanye on the same level as Chuck D or 50 on the same level as LL but it's sorta funny how history repeats itself... I remember how a lot of people came down hard on 50 when he admitted on MTV that he ain't living with his son but LL mentioned in his book that around that time when he was younger he abandoned his son and his wife(who was his girlfriend then) too while he was out there living the fast life, if LL said that on MTV he would've been criticised too, he grown up since then though and realised that there's more to life than money and fame, it took him time to realise that since he got in the spotlight at a young age and didn't know how to handle it, friends and his grandmother pulled him out of it though, hip-hop wasn't covered as much then as now, we need to let 50 live and not come down on him so hard 'cause he's human and he needs time to grow too, 50 needs a good circle of friends and family that cares more than anything, he's a troubled soul right now the way I see it that's reaching out for attention, LL could a positive influence on him not only in music but in his life too beyond music, sure some of his recent music is weak but there are weaker rappers out now too that never did anything good to begin with, and as much as his recent stuff might turn me off I still like his "GRODT" album and some of his early mixtape stuff, he could still bring it if he wanted to, now if you got the "GRODT" 50 with the "GOAT" LL then that'd be a groundbreaking album that everyone would feel....

I like the idea that the album got pushed back from coming out to this fall to March, it won't be as rushed, "Todd Smith" wasn't LL's finest work but this ain't the golden era of rap either, there are other rappers out there that need to step up more than LL does, LL might've been thinking too much on a commercial level over the past few albums since "The GOAT" didn't sell that well even though he poured his soul into that album, I remember in interviews around when "10" came out about how he considered "The GOAT" to be a failure and I wondered how that could be when I heard "10" which wasn't half as great as that album was, and I'll never understand how he could call "14 Shots...." his biggest failure either when it's probably better than most of his recent albums too, the reality is that he sorta dumbed down to stay on the charts over the past few albums and didn't think about stepping his game up but he probably got his ear back to the streets again this time to realise that he does need to come stronger which I think he's gonna do, this is also a chance for 50 to prove that he does belong in hip-hop too, he's not as ignorant as we might think he is, I think he has an intent to prove a lot of us wrong by working with a legend like LL, he's one of the rappers that has more to prove than LL of course, I think LL's gonna be fine though, he's proved it many times before when people thought he was done so he could do it again

Jigga's very talented, but there are other great rappers like I listed there, the main point I wanted to make is that he ain't the only one that makes up hip-hop like many of his fans might believe

I always felt that track, Will's flow was incredible, you can't lose with a funky Stevie Wonder sample, and Dru Hill on the hook was icing on the cake, dope stuff

I think Kool G Rap was supposed to sign with G-Unit last year if I'm not mistaken, I think he decided to release his next album independently though, think that comes out next year too, I wasn't really dissapointed with "Todd Smith" 'cause I thought that he showed a different side of himself on that album, the songs were personal, if you only like the hardcore battle tracks he does then listen to his earlier albums, he said that in interviews that he doesn't want to act like a tough guy all the time on his records, he wanted to grow as an artist and show people a different side to him, I think that's why people are brainwashed by Jay-Z so much 'cause he raps the same all the time, if he was more versatile like LL he'd get hated on, it's like rap fans are only trained to like a certain sound and that's it, if you go outside that box you get hated on... btw it's funny how in 2002/2003 50 Cent was one of the most respected then all of a sudden in 2005/2006 he's been one of the least credible rappers, funny how the tables could turn so fast, LL went through that period for a while too I think that's why he sees 50 as a younger version of himself, in 86/87 he was highly respected, but in 88/89 he was looked at as having no credability, I'm sure in 1989 many hip-hop fans would probably laugh if there was a thought that LL would still be in hip-hop 20 years later, it seems like a miracle for 50 but you never know he might turn it around, he knows he has to since Game got the whole industry on his side right now, maybe he'll realise that he can't diss anybody anymore and just make better music

in my opinion, he is honestly one of the best, one of the top three of all time... Top 3 of all time? That's a disgrace to hip-hop to put him up so high, off the top of my dome I know all these would destroy Jay-Z, I don't even know if he'd crack my top 50: KRS LL Chuck D Fresh Prince Rakim Big Daddy Kane Slick Rick Ice Cube Kool Moe Dee Treach Nas(already ethered him btw) Kool G Rap Queen Latifah Lauryn Wyclef MC Lyte CL Smooth Treach 2Pac Vinnie Rev. Run DMC Andre 3000 Big Boi Snoop DMX Grand Puba Method Man Redman Big L Ice-T Big Pun Talib Kweli Mos Def Aceyalone Pep Love Casual Fat Joe

That's true but I don't like how a lot of people talk about him like he's the only rapper that exists, of course it's better than talking about a lot of other radio rappers but there are a lot of other great rappers that deserved to be recognised is what I'm saying that're more consistant than him, after Jay-Z' 1st album mostly everything else he's done has been average at best on the most part, I'll never be calling him the best rapper alive

I didn't say that he's a bad rapper but he don't deserve all the hype he's receiving, there are other albums out now that're more worth checking than his, he ain't bad but he ain't a rap god either, rap didn't die when he retired and it ain't dead without him either, people need to stop hyping him up so damn much

If LL was doing an album with 50 Cent in 2002/2003 it'd probably be more understandable to see that he'd be able to bring back New York 'cause 50 was highly respected but now I don't think that's the case, 50's career is on downward spiral and yes Mobb Deep lost a lot of respect since they signed to G-Unit unfortunately, even if LL drops a classic album I think just working with 50 is gonna have less people check for him, people have really given up on 50 at this point, but honestly all I care about is if LL drops a good album, I don't care who he's working with, as long as it's quality music I support it, as long as he don't start making crap music I'm supporting like I said earlier, that collab with Kool G Rap/DJ Premiere is a step in the right direction for where the album needs to be, maybe we won't get Fresh Prince on there since he's too busy for movies but maybe we could hear LL rapping over a Jazzy Jeff beat on the album, that'd be exciting

Yeah Jay-Z also executive produced "Todd Smith" and it turned out to be better than Jay-Z' "Kingdom Come" it seems, lol, I think we might be overreacting a lil' bit, 50 executive produced Game's "Documentary" which turned out to better than everything else on G-Unit since 2003 so it probably won't be that bad, LL's plan probably was to do a commercial album in "Todd Smith" and have a lot of r&b singers on it and then take it to the streets with "Todd Smith 2: Return To Cool", maybe there might be a lot of dope mc ciphers on this album

Wow that's awesome that there's gonna be a collab with Kool G Rap with DJ Premiere producing, maybe the album won't be so bad after all, it better not be if it's coming around my birthday in March, lol

It don't even surprise me one bit that Jay-Z' album didn't live up to all this hype, I figure that LL, Ghostface, The Roots, and Method Man put out better albums than him, Jay-Z needs to step back and promote them more since he can't live up to the hype, f his album, I hope it flops, if I sound like a hater so be it but all this hype around him is ridiculous, there's many mcs that deserve it more than him, btw speaking of leaked albums I heard Snoop's album leaked, I'm probably gonna check that out instead I'm sure his album'll be more entertaining than Jigga's too...

Maybe this thread should be deleted, we shouldn't post anything like this unless it's from a popular source or somebody like Jeff or Kel tells us something