bigted

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

I heard on the news that he died from a heart attack in his sleep

The more fake rumors like this the more :shakehead: I feel, honestly "Don't Say Nothin'" unless it's gonna happen :shakehead:

That sounds incredible, can't wait to see that, it's a well deserved honor, btw I wonder if Jazzy Jeff is gonna be there

I just read about this now when I was reading the news, this is real sad to see such a talent go so young, RIP R&B Crooner Gerald Levert Dies, 40 By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY AP Music Writer NEW YORK - Gerald Levert, the fiery singer of passionate R&B love songs and the son of O'Jays singer Eddie Levert, died on Friday. He was 40. His label, Atlantic Records, confirmed that Levert died at his home in Cleveland, Ohio. "All of us at Atlantic are shocked and deeply saddened by his untimely death. He was one of the greatest voices of our time, who sang with unmatched soulfulness and power, as well as a tremendously gifted composer and an accomplished producer," the statement read. Dan Bomeli, public relations manager at University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center in suburban Cleveland, said Levert had been brought to the hospital. Bomeli said Levert had died but he had no further details. Over his two-decade music career, Levert sold millions of albums and had numerous R&B hits. Levert first gained fame in 1986 as a member of the R&B trio LeVert, which also included his brother, Sean, and childhood friend Marc Gordon. They quickly racked up hits like "(Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop) Goes My Mind," "Casanova," and "Baby I'm Ready." But Gerald Levert's voice - powerful and soulful, almost a carbon copy of his father's - was always the focal point, and in 1991, he made his solo debut with the album "Private Line," which included a hit duet with his dad, "Baby Hold on to Me." His father also recorded the successful album "Father & Son." Levert was known for his sensual, romantic songs, but unlike a Luther Vandross, whose voice and songs were more genteel, Levert's music was explosive and raw - his 2002 album was titled "The G Spot." Though Levert was successful as a solo singer, in 1997 he got into group mode again - joining with R&B singers Johnny Gill and Keith Sweat for the supergroup of LSG. The self-titled album sold more than two million copies, and their hits included the sensual "My Body." Levert also worked with other artists as a songwriter and producer. His most recent album was 2005's "Voices." Levert had four children.

I really don't think Kanye's getting that much respect these days, with him stirring up controversey everywhere is only gonna make him lose fans, people are getting tired of him already and he's only been in the game for a couple of years, he probably won't be around 20 years like Will if he keeps it up and I think currently Will's actually probably gotten more respect since he released "Lost and Found" than Kanye got in the last year or so, Kanye needs to quit acting like an idiot and just make music

I guess Ron Artest don't have any friends if he only sold one copy, unless he just handed free copies to them, lol, yeah Flava Flav ain't really a serious lyricist, he's just out having fun, but he really could rap better though than most rappers on the radio do, I do feel bad for him that he has to get all of this criticism from everyone about selling his soul with a show of slutty crap, even a lot of public enemy fans don't like what he's doing, chuck d has to go on the public enemy board and defend flava flav all the time, and now he can't even get a music video in rotation, and yeah I'm honestly sick of hearing Jay-Z everytime I turn on the radio, I don't like watching a football game and hearing him rap either so much, what's the point of buying his album when all you have to do is turn on the radio or TV, he makes sure the radio gets all of his songs but he can't send the songs for any of the other Def Jam artists to the radio and they get rarely on TV :sick:

You did a great job with that, btw like Wes said gangsta rap started in the mid-80s, not early 90s, LL Cool J was actually the first rapper to say the term "hip-hop gangsta" in a song on "I Can't Live Without My Radio': http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangsta_rap Early gangsta rap (1986-1990) LL Cool J can probably be credited as the first rapper to use the word "gangsta" in one of his songs. In "I Can't Live Without My Radio", from his 1985 album Radio, he mentions it twice with "i'm a hip-hop gangsta" and "and a gangsta rock". Philadelphia MC Schoolly D released the 12" single "P.S.K." (short for Park Side Killers) in 1986. In this song Schoolly D makes direct references to his crew or gang (PSK) as well as describing putting his pistol against another rapper's head[1]. [edit] Ice-T In the same year, Los Angeles-based rapper Ice-T released "6 n the Mornin", which is often regarded as the first gangsta rap song. Ice-T had been MCing since the early '80s; his first song, "The Coldest Rap", was the first hiphop song to use the words ho and nigga, and included references to guns and pimping. In an interview with PROPS magazine Ice-T said: "Here's the exact chronological order of what really went down: The first record that came out along those lines was Schoolly D's 'P.S.K.' Then the syncopation of that rap was used by me when I made Six In The Morning. The vocal delivery was the same: '...P.S.K. is makin' that green', '...six in the morning, police at my door'. When I heard that record I was like "Oh ****!" and call it a bite or what you will but I dug that record. My record didn't sound like P.S.K., but I liked the way he was flowing with it. P.S.K. was talking about Park Side Killers but it was very vague. That was the only difference, when Schoolly did it, it was "...one by one, I'm knockin' em out". All he did was represent a gang on his record. I took that and wrote a record about guns, beating people down, and all that with Six In The Morning. At the same time my single came out, Boogie Down Productions hit with Criminal Minded, which was a gangster-based album. It wasn't about messages or "You Must Learn", it was about gangsterism."[2] Ice-T continued to release gangsta albums for the remainder of the decade: Rhyme Pays in 1987, Power in 1988 and The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech...Just Watch What You Say in 1989. Ice-T's lyrics also contained strong political commentary, and often played the line between glorifying the gangsta lifestyle and criticizing it as a no-win situation. [edit] Further violence Boogie Down Productions released their first single, "Say No Brother (Crack Attack Don't Do It)", in 1986. It was followed by "South-Bronx/P is Free" and "9mm Goes Bang" in the same year. The latter is the most gangsta-themed song of the three; in it KRS-1 describes shooting rival weed-dealers after they try to kill him in his home[3]. The album Criminal Minded followed in 1987. Shortly after the release of the album, BDP's DJ Scott LaRock was shot and killed. After this BDP's subsequent records focused on conscious lyrics instead. N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton.N.W.A. released their first single in 1986. They were crucial to the foundations of the genre for introducing more violent lyrics over much rougher beats. The first blockbuster gangsta album was N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton first released in 1988. Straight Outta Compton also established West Coast hip hop as a vital genre, and a rival of hip hop's long-time capital, New York City. Straight Outta Compton sparked the first major controversy regarding hip hop lyrics when their song "**** Tha Police" earned a letter from the FBI strongly expressing law enforcement's resentment of the song. Due to the influence of Ice T and N.W.A., gangsta rap is often credited as being an originally West Coast phenomenon. Aside from N.W.A. and Ice T, early West Coast rappers include Too $hort (from Oakland, California), Kid Frost (who was an important Latin MC), and others from Compton, Watts, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego and San Francisco. On the East Coast, New York's Kool G Rap began to use more and more crime-related themes in his lyrics towards the end of the decade.

Make it two weeks, his album drops next week and the results come in a week later, Fat Joe drops the same day too, I'm gonna try to get 'em both together for a sale, Fat Joe's releasing the album himself like Ice Cube did recently, now I don't know if Game'll be #1, it depends if there's any big name pop or country acts dropping, it's not guaranteed that a rap album comes in at #1 anymore, as long as it's better than his last album that's all I care about, quality don't sell either, hype does, they play Timberlake on emptv and radio all day that's why he's selling so well

It's funny how she left Justin Timberlake who's been one of the most successful artists for a bum like K-Fed, I guess love is blind

Janet's album is at a steady pace right now though, it's still hanging around in the top 50, that's not bad since emptv blackballed her, I think she might go platinum with steady sales like this, it's only dropping small percentages every week unlike albums that drop 70% every week, Beanie Sigel's album is only a mixtape though, that's great sales for a mixtape, mixtapes don't usually sell anything, and Ice Cube's doing pretty damn good for himself by releasing the album himself instead of having major labels pimp him, he's a fortunate one since most artists can't afford to do that, the funny thing is that Flava Flav's reality show had the highest ratings ever for reality show and he only sells 2,000 copies while Brooke Hogan sells 45,000

Jazzy's "Hip-Hop Forever 3" probably didn't sell 1,000 copies either I'd imagine, CL Smooth only sold 600 copies(I forgot all about his album, I gotta get that soon, is it any good or did nobody buy it 'cause it sucks?), but at least they're legends already unlike K-Fed and Ron Artest, K-Fed was just living off of Britney, you gotta be pretty soft to be living off of Britney, she probably ended up having to buy most of those albums which probably lead to the divorce, lol, people could talk **** about how Shaq can't rap but he went platinum before which is something no other NBA player could say, Ron was probably the one person that bought that album, lol

Ron Artest musta set a Guiness record for fewest records sold, breaking Tony Yayo's record, lol, btw damn shame that Ice-T and Flava Flav sold less combined than what that K-Fed bum sold, especially since they had VH1 shows that's surprising, I thought Flava would outsell the recent PE albums with all of his recent fame, I guess rap fans don't watch VH1 http://xxlmag.com/online/?p=6026 Trick or treat, niggas. Last Halloween was a historic day for hip-hop. No, we didn’t get the release of the long-awaited second album from Clipse (some magazine said it’s a classic, you bastards). Instead we got a grab bag of diverse rhyme slayers with many styles, many styles. Britney’s ex went head up with Chuck D’s hypeman, but they weren’t the only ones duking it out in the ten or twelve record stores (The Tower of power is no more, kids) that still exist. Yes, it’s Wed., so the results of last week’s releases are in. Allow me to give you the results as YN Presents His First Annual Coaster Countdown. (Naysayers take note: I never actually sat and listened to any of this crap below. Life is precious and time won’t give me time. Word to the Boy called George.) 10: Ron Artest My World SoundScan: 1 One? How’d you only sell one CD especially when millions of people seen you beatdown some crackers at a basketball game. Maybe people we’re too shook to cop the QB’s soldier’s debut. Hell, who even knew it was out? Anyway, Ron’s my dude and I think you SoundScan suckers are scamming us. Election day was yesterday but my ***** still deserves a recount. 9: Channel Live Street Science Rap SoundScan: 20 KRS’s former castaways are still out there grindin’? Who knew? I used to live in Brooklyn and running into Hakim on the street is any music industry ****’s rite of passage. I thought homeboy was doin’ videos with Benny Boom. Again, 20 units? That’s disrespectful. Keep ya head up fellas, according to this spot, your **** is sold out. Ha! 8: Celly Cel Brings the Gumbo Pot SoundScan: 100 This Bay Area rap vet is wearing a lot of red on his cover and I don’t want no problems. Moving on… 7: Lil Romeo Greatest Hits SoundScan: 161 Can you believe this little tyke has 4 LPs under his belt (Take that, Mr. Budden). Might make a nice stocking stuffer for the shorties this holiday season. 6: Juggaknots Use Your Confusion SoundScan: 535 This is some underground ****, so who knows how many albums were even pressed? I haven’t thought about these guys since I used to write the underground column I created in The Source. 5: CL Smooth American Me SoundScan: 693 Life after Pete Rock? Not that good, apparently. 4: Ice-T Gangsta Rap SoundScan: 744 Even pimpin’ his new lady out Darlene-style couldn’t save the day for the rap Hall-of-Famer. 3: Cee-Lo The Closet Freak: The Best of Cee-Lo Green The Soul Machine SoundScan: 788 Looks like some greedy label wants a piece of that Dangermouse poontang pie. 2: Flavor Flav Flavor Flav SoundScan: 2,181 I remember back in the early 90’s when we were actually fiendin’ for a taste of the Flavor on the solo tip. It’s obvious here that Flav has tried to parlay his new TV fame to resurrect his music career and failed miserably. Might be time to holla at VH1 to talk about Season 3, playboy. 1: Kevin Federline Playing With Fire SoundScan: 6,485 Let me get this straight: dude gets his album out, becomes a wrestler and then decides it’s time to kick his rich white ***** to the curb. Wow, that’s gangsta! All I know is dude’s bars are so elementary, we struggled to find the right one to be crowned Step Your Rap Game Up’s worst of ’06. Congrats, K-Fed!

Sure Ice-T's jealous of Will's success when his new album only sells 700 copies in his first week sales despite having a show on VH1, I could see why

http://blogs.sohh.com/rhymefest/2006/10/el...begins_p_1.html "El Che: The Revolution Begins - Part II As you all might have realized by now, last week I had one of the greatest moments of my life when I met with the UK's Conservative Party leader, David Cameron. This was not only a great moment in my own personal achievement, but it was also a great moment for the culture of Hip-Hop all over the world. There were so many interesting events in the course of my trip, but I’ll skip those and get straight to the ‘club-banger.’ First of all, next to Alicia Keys, I am the second major-label urban artist ever to enter the House of Commons in London on official business, as well as the first rapper to do so. As I entered the House of Commons, I couldn’t help but notice the two guards armed with machine guns who stood glaring at me as I was asked to remove my metals in order to pass through the security check. Tons of press, who obviously were not allowed in the building, got there a little too late to catch my entrance yet they still swarmed anticipating my exit. David Cameron’s assistant came downstairs to meet my entourage which consisted of my UK A&R, my road manager, my label publicist, and the chairman and CEO of Sony BMG Music Entertainment UK and Ireland. No, not Clive Davis; an inconspicuous old gangsta named Ged Doherty. I truly believe that the reason Ged accompanied me was to ensure that I didn’t **** on Sony BMG for the lack of promotion given to my album BLUE COLLAR [in stores now]. Whatever. As we entered the halls where all of the UK policy-making goes down, the reality of what I was doing started to set in. David Cameron is slated to be the next Prime Minister of Britain. He is the leader of the Conservative Party, similar to the Republicans in the US. And just like in the States, his party is somewhat despised and distrusted by the people of African and West Indian descent (read Black folks). He has been known to not only make comments that can be perceived as disparaging to the Hip-Hop culture but also controversial comments concerning crime prevention, as well as “hug a hoodie” (read people who wear hooded tops). It was not only a political liability for him to meet with me, but also a potential “keep-it-real” disaster for me as a rapper. “Hell, I can’t turn back; I’ve come this far. I gotta go through with it.” His assistant invited us to sit in his office on a huge wraparound couch next to a window with a great view of Big Ben. As the secretaries entered the room filling all of our cups with English tea, I started to feel like more than a rapper; I was officially a diplomat. David Cameron then burst into the room; a seemingly young man with tons of energy and a huge smile. I stood up to shake his hand and expressed [to him] my gratitude for his invitation. He then began to praise me for a well-written, brilliant letter. He asked me to have a seat and speak with him. I asked him to explain to me what exactly his positions were on the banning of Hip-Hop in the UK. A smirk came across his face as he sat back, exhaled then leaned forward to speak. [Paraphrasing] “The press is so black & white,” he explained. “There’s no room for gray. If I say that Hip-Hop should have a change or reform, it gets translated as me saying ‘ban it from Radio 1’.” He continued, “I don’t expect any form of musical expression to be banned off the air waves. All I’m saying is when I turn to a station and the first thing I hear is sirens and gunshots along with violent lyrics, I feel as though it raises questions about our young people’s influences. All I’m saying is Hip-Hop seems to need more balance." DING!!! When he used that word [bALANCE], he struck a chord in what my whole message has been since before the release of my album BLUE COLLAR [in stores now]. Whatever. He continued, “If the radio’s mix show plays 50 Cent then they should balance it with Kanye West. If they play Lil’ Jon, they should balance it with an artist like yourself or Outkast.” My response to him was in agreement with his analysis. However, I explained to Mr. Cameron -- “No, please call me Dave." -- I explained to Dave, that the problem I perceived him to have was one of authenticity. If the people didn’t believe his concern with Hip-Hop to be genuine, then it would hurt him not only with his party but the urban base, as well. I imparted upon him if there was no policy in place from him or his party that addressed the disease of poverty and disenfranchisement, then no one would believe his concerns about their expression of those conditions. He then looked at me in amazement. I guess my articulate nature was a little more than what he expected from what The Daily Mail [a UK publication] had described as a “foul-mouthed, gangsta rapper.” He said, “You’re right. They’ll never believe it from me. But, they would from YOU.” I was baffled by this statement. Was he asking me to join his political cause? Was he hinting that I should change my style to incorporate his message? Was he offering me government support if I spread his ideas across the urban spectrum? Stay tuned…"

Bush is feeling the pressure since a lot of Democrats are getting seats in the senate

I feel the same too from the point that I don't like all this talk if nothing happens, I'm hopeful that something like this happens but I'm not getting my hopes up until something comes to form

"Despite months of promotion, Federline's Fire cracks the Billboard top 200 at #151, with first-week sales reported at about 6,000. According to the latest SoundScan numbers, Playing With Fire — one of 19 new releases to enter this latest sales chart — is the 16th-best-performing debut of the week" :woono: