bigted

Originally Lupe was only selling around 58K because Soundscan didn't count some of the sales originally, it's almost like the music industry wants to see a talented rapper fail

Yeah you're right about that, good hip-hop could sell if promoted right, Method Man and The Roots had no promotion at all but yet they dropped the same week as a rapper that got heavy promotion in Young Dro and Young Dro only sold a lil' bit more, now if these real mcs get promoted they could sell more

I don't think Wes said Lupe was a bad rapper, he was just saying that people bought his album 'cause they liked his album from all the promotion he was getting, but like I said I don't think he's really getting that much promotion at least from what I hear on the radio of what Hot 97 plays(the top commercial rap station on the east coast), they play mostly rappers like Chingy and Young Dro most of the time and I rarely hear them play something by Lupe Fiasco, even when the top dawg DMX dropped his album they didn't play any of his singles either really but his album still topped the rap charts outselling some rappers with a lot of airplay this summer, Hot 97 sold out on the east coast and plays mostly south stuff it seems, but that's how radio's like, they just go by the trend of the moment, bottomline is that the reason why rappers like DMX and Lupe sell anything is 'cause there's people out there that appreciate talented rappers still, they don't need big hits to have people check them out, there's always a market for real hip-hop, it ain't always about being the highest selling rapper either, even in the golden era not all the top rappers sold the most but when an mc has a lot of skills that mc could have a long career, Lupe's album is really good and he's gonna be around for years to come 'cause he got more talent than the one hit wonders like Young Dro

Yeah Kanye comes off a bit annoying sometimes but he spoke the damn truth when he said that, a year later and there's still victims from that New Orleans area struggling to get back on their feet while Bush is up in the white house livin' it up, that only makes what Kanye said even stronger, Spike Lee was on ESPN being interviewed the other day and he was talking about the Hurricane Katrina documentary he did and he was asked what he thought about what Kanye said and he said he agreed with it but if he said personally he'd say that Bush don't care about poor people in general, even though there Kanye basically said black people since most of those who were there were black

Well Lupe's not really getting that much airplay compared to Chingy, Chingy got a TRL fanbase so you figure he'd sell a lot more, Young Dro was all over the radio this summer too and he didn't do 100K either in his first week, considering that Lupe's not a catchy rapper you figure he wouldn't come close to that number, hopefully this means that his album will get a bigger push in promotion and get to platinum

Well as foolish as you think Kanye might've looked making the statement, other rappers are bigger fools when they only brag about how much money they have, how many blunts they smoke and act like they're the toughest gangstas, if there was more popular rappers like Kanye that'd talk about relevant issues then hip-hop would be in a better state right now

Yeah this is a step in the right direction for hip-hop, this album's damn good and well deserved to get some shine, nice to see people support it in the first week, btw Rhymefest's album was pushed back too much, I think that's why it didn't really sell, if it came out over last winter when his single with Kanye was out he'd done much better

Yeah that's kind of sad that there's only a handful of teams with a shot of winning a championship, the Spurs and Heat might be questionable contenders though 'cause Tim Duncan and Shaq are starting to age now, btw speaking of the '90s Bulls, Toni Kukoc was recently the last member of those teams to retire, he was a decent shooter, made that big shot against the Knicks in '94 playoffs

Boyz II Men "Tryin' Times"

"Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor" Debuts at #1 On Top Rap Albums Chart Friday - September 29, 2006 by Anthony Roberts After having his album leaked early, Lupe Fiasco's Food and Liquor is #1 on the Billboard Top Rap Albums chart. The record, which is currently being fueled by Lupe's latest single "Daydreamin" featuring Jill Scott, is also #2 on the Hip Hop/R&B albums chart and # 8 on the Billboard Top 200, after selling over 80,000 copies in its first week on the shelves. Due to an error in album sales reporting from Best Buy stores nation wide, the final numbers were only made available by SoundScan today (September 29). Before the error was corrected, the album was charted lower than expected, which drew some criticism for the Chicago MC. The chart topping set, which also features the hit "Kick,Push" and the Neptunes-produced "I Gotcha" is executive produced by Jay-Z and features production by hip hop heavyweights Kanye West, Needlez and Mike Shinoda of LinkinPark. In related news, Lupe was recently nominated for a "Breaking Woodie" award, which will be given to the year's Best Emerging Artist at the upcoming mtvU Woodie Awards, set to be held on October 25th at New York's Roseland Ballroom. The mtvU Woodie Awards will air on mtvU and mtvU.com on November 2nd.

Well yeah I don't think our generation appreciates the history of the NBA, a lot of them who voted were probably kids who don't history of the NBA,the true basketball fans know that the Lakers and Celtics have a stronger franchise history than the Bulls do, a lot more hall of famers played for the Lakers and Celtics, they've been the mecca of basketball, and btw over the recent years I don't really find the NBA to be as competitive as it was 10-15 years ago but it's starting to get back there again, last year's playoffs was probably the most competitive that I've seen since the '90s

Really the best matchup would be the '90s dynasty Bulls against the '80s dynasty Lakers, the '80s dynasty Celtics, the '60s Celtics, the '60s Lakers, the teams that played together for a while, those would be classic battles but the Bulls'd most likely win since they already beat great Knicks teams, Sonic teams, Sun teams that had a core that played together for a while and woulda been dynasties in other eras, but the Lakers and Celtics really are overall better franchises though, I agree with you on that, they were a powerhouse for decades in basketball, the Bulls all time can't compete with that if you put it that way

Well the Bulls couldn't beat the Knicks without Jordan in '94, they were very good team and they had a lot of chemistry but Jordan was a clutch player, they were missing him at the end of the games, the Bulls would probably still make the playoffs from '96-98 without Jordan too but they sure wouldn't win a championship in those years, you need the combination of Jordan's clutchness and the role players playing their roles to win, in the '80s he was very good but the reason that a lot of the reasons why the Bulls couldn't win championships 'cause the rosters on those Bulls teams was too much of a revolving door, if players play together a long time they could win, usually that's how dynasties are, the Bulls were a special team and Jordan was a special player, and now how could somebody who scored basically 30 points a game and win 6 championship rings in the golden age of basketball be overhyped? He made the playoffs basically every year too, getting away from just championships, that's an accomplishment in itself too, just making the playoffs for the Bulls was an accomplishment, he brought excitement immediately to the team from his rookie year, they were only winning like 20 games a year for a while when he got drafted, all the things that Jordan did it's hard to say he was overhyped, he deserves to mentioned as the greatest, a lot of the older players and younger players would tell you so too, considering all the hype a lot of these players get today it's hard to really call him overhyped, that's like calling LL Cool J overhyped when rappers like 50 Cent get much more hype when they haven't really done anything special musically that LL's never done

Jordan had love to play the game, I think that's why he went to the Wizards, he'd play forever if his body could allow him to do so, he was still an NBA All-Star at 40 years old, who else has done that? If the Wizards had team chemistry they could've won more and Jordan coulda ended up hitting one last game winning shot in the playoffs, maybe not win it all but maybe win a round or two if they got in... Sure Robert Parish and Kareem played over 40's but they weren't a threat like they were before in their hall of fame careers, Kevin Willis recently played as a backup center on the last place Hawks a couple years ago at 42, usually at that time to even still play in the NBA is an accomplishment, Rodman's still trying to get back, lol, but Jordan was still feared by Vince Carter and Allen Iverson even when he was 40, but Jordan's knees were giving out on him a little bit you could say, one good thing about music is that we could have great artists still make albums when they're over 40 'cause you can't break a hip writing a song, it's a mental game really, Jordan played when the internet started up so he got all this media attention but it was definately deserving attention, look how now TO gets all this media attention and he never won a Super Bowl yet in his 10 year career with most years never even making the playoffs, now that's the definition of media overhyping somebody, he'll never win one either 'cause he don't allow his teammates to play their role, it's all about him, Jordan knew the fundementals of basketball and knew that it took more than just him to win, Jordan 6 rings in an era where most of the NBA 50 greatest players played, nuff said, Barkley, Wilkins, Ewing, etc. would've won in other eras no doubt about that

Here's a list of the All-Time Lakers Magic Johnson Kareem-Abdul Jabbar Wilt Chamberlain Shaquille O'Neal James Worthy Elgin Baylor Gail Goodrich Jerry West Kobe Bryant James Worthy Michael Cooper Norm Nixon That's 9 HOFs if you consider Kobe Bryant and Shaq HOFs... This is what young kids are arguing... They grew up in a generation where all they saw was Michael Jordan but they don't know anything about the past players, they haven't watched any of the old games or battles, and so they're tranxfixed Jordan and the Bulls, and while those Bulls teams were great, their All-Time most notable players are Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Charles Oakley and Horace Grant... Add a sprinkling of past and present Bulls and that's supposed to beat a team with 9 HOFs? That's what kids are arguing, and that's why I say that Jordan, and subsequently, the Bulls, are overhyped. Well if the NBA was played on paper then we wouldn't have the Pistons beating the Lakers a couple years ago, right? It takes more than just the most talent to win, like I said the Knicks had a better roster some years that the Bulls beat 'em, the '96 Sonics had a better roster than the '96 Bulls but the '96 Bulls ended up winning 72 games and beat them in the Finals 'cause of team chemistry, if they could end up winning championships with f'ing Luc Longley and Scott Williams at starting center I think they could beat anybody,the '80s/'90s was the golden era of basketball, most of the players who were on the the NBA 50 Roster played during the '80s/90s, it was like hip-hop in the '80s/90s, the mcs and players that got slept on during that era are probably better than most out there today, Wilt Chamberlin and Bill Russell won all those championships respectfully 'cause there was less talent and less teams, it's actually harder to win in later years 'cause there's more teams out there and there's more talent, there was an immense amount of talent out there, you can't just have a team of all stars and win, maybe in a video game yes but not in reality, not to knock how great those players were but come on now with all those guys they'd argue about who gets the ball more, everyone on the Bulls knew their role, they knew how to play fundemental basketball, it's actually good to have a couple all-stars/hall of famers and a bunch of role players, and in the end Jordan always delivered when the game was on the line, maybe Magic would be that guy on the Lakers but the Bulls shut him down before in reality,it was actually a blessing that Bulls didn't have a team of all-stars 'cause if they did they wouldn't win as much as they did, it'd be too much ego clashing

If you think about all the teams that the Bulls beat in the '90s it's actually understandable to see them compete with the all time Lakers and Celtics 'cause there was teams with deeper rosters than the Bulls had talent wise(Ewing's Knicks, Barkley's Suns, Reggie's Pacers, Malone's Jazz, Kemp's Sonics would all have won championships in other eras I'm sure), I think it's similar to all the talent that LL Cool J beat in his battles in the '80s/90s, they could beat any other mc but not LL, MJ is like the LL of basketball, they had the '80s/90s on lock and were also the household names of pop culture, young kids might try to argue that Kobe and Jay-Z are better, lol

I heard "Tell It Like It Is" playing on the late night mixshow on Hot97 recently and it sounds quite a bit like "Lost and Found", I'm quite impressed

Patti LaBelle Praises Kanye West for Telling It Like It Is Soul legend Patti LaBelle has hailed Kanye West for his insistence on telling the truth. The rapper caused controversy last year when he declared President George W. Bush "doesn't care about black people" during a fundraising telecast for victims Hurricane Katrina. And LaBelle insists his honesty is reflected in candid rapping too. She tells MTV, "Kanye is somebody who I really love. He says things people should listen to. Rap does not have to be what some people perceive it's about. They think it's gonna be nasty, lowdown and dirty when it's just telling the truth about life itself. You heard what Kanye said about the president - you know the boy tells nothing but the truth."

Hey I thought there was some Tyrese fans here that'd be interested in hearing this mixtape, I've been trying to download it but it's taking too long on my slow computer, hopefully I'll get to hear it soon, has anybody heard Tyrese rap yet? I'm interested to see how he does...

It seemed like it was more something personal than it was about music 'cause they really haven't said anything about each other in songs in such a while that you'd thought that whatever they had was over a while for but this was more of a legit beef that had nothing to do with music if X wanted to physically hurt Ja, whatever it was it's good that they worked it out and are moving forward with their lives, now if Irv Gotti could get 50 and Ja to make peace then he deserves the nobel peace prize 'cause that seems like a beef that'll never end, lol, ain't nothing wrong with battlin' but even KRS talks about "Squash The Beef", he don't promote negative beefin' either, he hasn't really a held a personal grudge with any rapper he battled from Melle Mel to Nelly, it's just about keepin' hip-hop competitive, I really wanted to find what LL said about how current rap beefs are, he explained it a lil' bit on that BET "Blueprint" special when he released his "Todd Smith" as well: LL Cool J Doesn't Like Rap & Hip-Hop Feuds Rapper/actor LL Cool J is calling for an end to hip-hop feuds, insisting battles should only be played out in the music charts. The Ain't Nobody hitmaker is thrilled when he sees rappers striving to be reach the top, but insists public warring should be stamped out. He says, "Peace is always better than war. Competition is fun in hip-hop, but you can be competitive by making good records. "We don't have to dis one another. But at the same time, there's nothing wrong with that either, as long as it stays rooted in fun."

DMX shouldn't even had said anything in the first place about Ja Rule, why even waste time saying that Ja Rule's biting him, they're 2 different artists, Ja Rule's style changed away from what DMX when he started dumbing down with that commercial rap style while DMX always represents that real hip-hop,at this point I don't think people say Ja is similar to DMX, DMX is on another level of credability that Ja has to keep fighting for,the beef was relevant to begin with, DMX is too far above Ja to waste time on him talking about how he wanted to brawl with him, that's just stupid, just like I thought KRS wasted time to call out Nelly, it didn't prove anything really, KRS has always been way more respected so why even call out somebody like Nelly, what's the point?

Beef is weak on the mostpart recently 'cause there's too much negative energy, I wasn't saying that all beef in hip-hop history is weak, I'm saying that in these days of hip-hop it's weak, I'm speaking in present terms, it could lead to violence too 'cause a lot of times it gets more personal than what it should be, after the Pac-Biggie feud all beef should just end period, it's not worth it really, they didn't die 'cause they beefed but they died before they could ever squash their beef which was sad to see really, life's too short for beef, it's not a good look for hip-hop to have everyone go against each other especially if it doesn't always have to do with the music, I think it'd be better if rappers did work together instead of against each other, that'd bring more creativity than it'd be with them dissing each other, it was cool in the early part of hip-hop to have beef 'cause it raised competition but times have changed like you said, rappers got on stage to battle and then shake hands after but now it's like they want to brawl when they run into each other... Now speaking of KRS now, he explains the change between now and the earlier days of hip-hop in "GoodBye": "There was a time when hip-hop was on our mind/without no crimes/just reality rhymes/when you battled me fine but in the end we'd recline/with a bottle of wine/mcs the original kind/ but why did you stray? hip-hop", now even though he's been involved with all these battles in his career, he never really held a grudge with anyone and felt like he wanted to do harm to the rapper off the mic, he's more about just raising competition, KRS is doing an album with Marley Marl now even though he had a battle with Juice Crew back in the days, it shows the growth of really of where mcs need to go, LL explained in his book that battling rappers like Kool Moe, Ice-T and MC Hammer years ago was more like when the Bulls would face the Suns and the Jazz, it was a rivalry that helped him elevate the music he was making but it wasn't nothing personal off the court, off the mic here of course, he wasn't smashing Kool Moe Dee's car or jumping MC Hammer in the middle of the street, it don't really feel that way now on the most part when rappers beef, they do a bunch of things that just ain't necessary...Is 50 Cent really a better rapper since he went around to start battles recently? LL said recently that today's rappers need to quit beefing 'cause it ain't really moving hip-hop forward, now on that note as I think he probably reached out to do an album with 50 to get 50 away from the beef, when rappers get on top they should help each other and raise the level of hip-hop instead of tearing each other down these days

The song was called "It's Murda" which was featured on Ja's "Venni, Vetti, Vecci" album, that's a really dope track there, they were considering doing a collab album around that time but scheduling conflicts got in the way of that

Thanks for the info AJ, definately some stuff to be looking forward to

I think it's good to see rappers ending beefs recently, it could only help bring hip-hop more credability, beefing is weak