bigted

That's a brilliant list!! :smart:

It's great that he's trying to be a role model for his kids but it's hard to look at him as a role model if he says "I Get High" is a song that reflects the way he's living :sick:

I found this on Allhiphop.com and basically it goes online with everything I'm saying on the most part, record sales don't mean **** about talent, it ain't just now either, it's always been that way even in the golden era, talent hasn't really reflected over on record sales on the most part. A lot of the most talented artists in general not just rappers might not necessarily be the highest selling artists of all time and the highest selling artists might not be the most talented, hip-hop writer Bobbito said that in an interview that never was there a time where the dopest mc was the highest selling one, Kool Moe Dee gave LL Cool J the battle of his life even though he never went platinum, Kool G Rap debut wasn't a gold album like Canibus but he's more talent no question about it, Slick Rick is more lyrically gifted than Hammer too even though he never sold 10 million. Now even though Eminem and 50 Cent are the highest selling rappers of the moment there's a lot of others selling less that could test them on the mic, but they're not necessarily the worst either 'cause like I said there's wack rappers on the underground and sell less than them too, in fact they had to work their way from the underground rankings and actually beat some of them in battles, I mean if you consider Eminem and 50 Cent the worst imagine how bad the rappers that they beat to get a record deal must sound like, lol, and of course Will helped Nick Cannon get his break in the industry so he has to have some talent for Will to spend time on him but still not enough to be close to Will's level, now who knows maybe there's nobody out there that's coming on the same level as Will, Rakim, or KRS, they're like one in a million, it's hard to duplicate that talent, that's like filling in the shoes of Jordan, Magic, and Bird...The problem is that fans in general focus too much emphasis on record sales rather than the quality of music that's why it's harder for the most talented artists to sell the most, it's like they'll defend weak music if they hear that it's sold a lot rather than judge the artist for what it is and see that they're wack and they'll ignore the talented artists just 'cause they're not popular, a lot of fans are sheep and they'll say something like this: "You might say that the Black Eyed Peas are weak but they sold 5 million so that means they must be the best group in the game if everybody went out to buy them, man nobody listens to De La Soul anymore, they're played out and irrelevant, that was so 80s, keep up with the times man, Black Eyed Peas rock", if you listen to the music from groups like De La Soul and Lil' Brother you'll see that Black Eyed Peas don't come close to being the best, I'd also rather watch "House Party" over "8 Mile" anyday as well even though it might've not done the high box office numbers, and I think that people wait until an artist loses popularity to call them wack rather than say it when they're popular 'cause that's not politically correct to say that but I'll personally say it though, art is either good or not, f sales, that's why I didn't care how much "Lost and Found" sold when I was too busy enjoying it when it came out, anyways here's the article: The Evils Of Soundscan Vol 1 Jerry Barrow Ignorance is bliss. Back in the day when I tuned my rusty GPX radio into Mr. Magic's rap attack or Cool DJ Red Alert, I didn't know that Special Ed, Kool G Rap or UTFO didn't go platinum, nor did I care. I didn't know whether one of the most influential rap singles of all time "Top Billin" was platinum, I just knew that it sounded dope as hell in my orange foam headphones even before they invented Megabass. I had no clue that Brand Nubian's All For One didn't sell a lot of records, I just knew that Woolly Willy had a pair of my sneakers, but I didn't know where he got em cuz I hid 'em behind my speakers. When we went to the parties, we didn't care about Slick Rick and Dougie Fresh's chart position, we just wanted to know who this funny nicka was with the British accent and where can I find some fly green socks. MCs rhymed for two things: props and women. The fact that LL Cool J was selling millions didn't mean **** when Kool Moe Dee snapped "Jack the ripper, down with my zipper, you get paid to be a Moe Dee tipster." Receipts could not keep you from getting played on the mic. Ask Jay-Z. Now, thanks to the Recording Industry of America and Soundscan, our entire criticism about an artist is reduced to their sales: "So and so is dope now cuz they went gold or platinum." ****, to me MC Lyte was a far better MC before she sold 500,000 copies of "Ruffneck". "Cram to Understand You" and "Paper Thin" were the two best songs of her career and I dare anyone to disagree with me. DMX, Jay-Z and Nas, three of the most celebrated MCs alive have all failed to match the brilliance of their freshman efforts, despite increasing their respective album sales. Before this obsession with sales all we used to care about were the beats and the rhymes. A good artist could put out two or three albums before people started talking about falling off. These days, if that first album doesn't ship gold in a month folks are screaming for retirement. Not to mention that a lot of trash gets certified nowadays, too. Remember Canibus and Cappadona's first albums are gold. While on the other hand, Kool G. Rap, who's demo could run circles around either of those albums, has not enjoyed gold status. What does that say about this almighty system of sweating artists who sell? As fans, I think we were happier and more involved with the culture of hip-hop when sales and marketing weren't such a strong aspect of the music. All we needed was a radio commercial telling us where to get Fresh Fest tickets. Or a Billboard on the bodega telling us that Kane's album was about to drop. That's it. But as a business I even think the execs found it easier. It takes so much money to feed this "MTV-Radio-Payola" monster that they have helped create that an artist has to go gold just to break even. In the mid nineties music experienced such a huge growth spurt that labels started churning out artists to keep up with the cross-over demand for these "inner city kids and their boom box music." The videos got more elaborateand more expensive. Production got more elaborate"and expensive. (ie: The Trackmasters went from getting $500 to write and produce Finesse and Synquie's entire album to damn near six figures a track.) Plus, with so much product flooding the market, radio DJs commanded more under the table to squeeze in your joints. This invariably effected the length of a single because it's easier to squeeze in two 3-minute songs than one 5-minute song. Plus album track length doubled from 10 "tracks" to 20, (including skits) and this costs more also. Not to mention the increased mistakes made in track listings. Ask Ghostface. Well, it's 2002 and we've seen quite a few labels go under (Tommy Boy, Loud, Jcor ) because they either mismanaged what few funds they had, or just couldn't compete with the juggernauts of the music world who have used their deep pockets and marketing muscle to scan big numbers, get radio spins and keep a headlock on the rap game. I do appreciate the increased acceptance of hip-hop, but I miss the days when things were just a little bit simpler. All I needed back then was Video Music Box and "Old School Thursdays." I could have given a rats ass about whether Diamond D or Stetsasonic sold 2 or 2 million, all I knew is that Sally had a one track mind, and that some people didn't like the way she walked.

I'll listen to any Ja Rule CD or early G-Unit over Nick Cannon and Nitty anyday, Nick Cannon and Nitty are wack mcs but yet they never went platinum either which shows you that there's wack mcs that sell and there's wack mcs that don't sell, there's also some people that act like everything that ain't getting heavy airplay or ain't going platinum is considered dope and everything that's mainstream is wack, that's a myth too, there's as many if not more mcs that don't sell that're wack as there is wack mcs that sell, I mean some of these internet rappers make Vanilla Ice and Eminemsound like Rakim and Chuck D lol, there's actually a reason why some never blow up, anyways a wack mc is a wack mc though, talent has nothing to do with sales, even if Will sold 30 million or 3,000 albums in his career he's still talented, and it ain't like the Black Eyed Peas are the best group 'cause they're selling millions right now either, they're just as wack as Eminem is right now, "My Humps" is as horrible as "Ass Like That" in my book, that ain't quality music

well no offense to AJ but as long as we don't see an article or hear from the man himself about working on a compilation album considering how big of a name will is, something like that wouldn't be on the dl for this long, i really didn't have my hopes up personally, if we don't hear anything about will putting out new music by the end of 2007/2008 at the latest then i'll start getting worried, if he released 4/5 singles from "lost and found" i think the wait will be easier no doubt, i don't wanna hear that interscope ruined that from either, will smith's a big enough name to do whatever he wants, he could dish out a few mil and promote "tell me why" himself if it really meant that much to him, needless to say i'm dissapointed still, i don't care how many films will does but when he don't put the full effort into his first love of music it's depressing

Yeah like I said Kanye's one of the few rappers who openly speak out about how much he likes JJFP so I don't think it'd be a diss, it was a reference, Kanye's one of the only rappers who doesn't diss other rappers to sell records and to diss another rapper on a love song would just be silly, that'd be like LL Cool J or Nick Cannon dissing JJFP, I don't see that happening, lock thread

That's a great quote there, as long as I'm alive hip-hop's gonna be alive too, the thing I believe like I said earlier is if people focus less on how weak certain rappers are and give more attention to the great rappers then I think hip-hop could be on the highest level it's ever been, all of the people who complain about how wack Eminem's been lately need to look into other rappers

it was actually ash trey not me that posted that interview, i find it kinda ironic going on allhiphop.com site today and it says that there's another arrest warrant out for him, it's kinda disturbing that the police is after him every other day, lol

Kid 'N' Play, Vanilla Ice, Hammer>>>>Everything Eminem did in the last 5 years but now to the point of talking about rap dying no rapper could kill rap no matter how much wack music you think that rapper puts out since there's always other rappers out there that you could listen to if you don't like that rapper, there's one thing to not like to listen to a certain rapper but to blame them for killing rap is being a hater, Eminem's music has sucked lately but there's still other rappers that came out in the last 5 years that I enjoy listening to so Eminem hasn't killed rap since he's only one out of many rappers in the game, he's only one person, one person don't make up the entire rap game, now if Eminem was the only rapper on the planet I'd probably find another genre to listen to as my favorite, lol, the way I see it rap only dies if fans lose interest in it and record labels start promoting other music genres more or suddenly you get banned from playing rap, lol

As long as Will could still put out great music and is still healthy, I don't see why he can't release albums every 2 or 3 years for a lil' bit longer in between doing films and what I think would help keep Will in the game longer is if he signed fresh young hip-hop artists to his Overbrook company, btw I got a great idea for his next album, he could do a double disc album for his next album and have collabos with up and coming talent on one disc and the other disc could be strictly a JJFP album, they're be stuff that'd interest younger fans and the ol' school fans will finally get some JJFP, it'll do really well

I might've jumped the gun too soon to blame movies for this album falling through I'll admit, waiting 3 years for new music ain't that bad considering how big of a star he is now in the film industry, it's probably hard to find enough real artists to do a compilation since finding real artists these days is like searching for gold, I'll be willing to do something if you're reading this Kel holla at me, lol,most in Will's position would probably give up rap altogether, Game said recently in an interview that if he makes 5 million per film he'll never rap again and Will makes almost 30 and he still puts out music every 3 years, lol

DMX clearly stated there that he has no beef with Rhianna, he was mad that Def Jam pushed him off to the side for new artists when he's the only rapper in hip-hop history to have 5 albums debut at #1 on the Billboard charts, he found it insulting,that's clearly like benching Allen Iverson for a rookie, but sadly that's been the way the music industry has always been, they shove legendary artists to the side for one hit wonders or have short lived careers,I doubt that Rhianna's gonna sell 20 million in her career let's be real, to release albums from her and Young Jeezy and push DMX to the shelve along with Redman was a joke, I wouldn't be surprised if Nas album gets delayed either, Def Jam has clearly fallen off on the most part, I had a great laugh the other day when I read somebody on a message board post that Def Jam's better now than it was before Jay-Z was president there, I mean come on now that means Rick Ross is better mc than Slick Rick and Rhianna's a better singer than Kelly Price?, lol I really hope that DMX shoots a video for "Lord Give Me A Sign" 'cause it's such a great song, hopefully Columbia don't screw him over too, I think he's supposed to have a reality series coming up on BET soon as well, btw when I first read that he was criticising those who say hip-hop is dead I thought he was going after Nas but I realised that he's doing "Belly 2" with Nas so I don't think he wants to beef with Nas

I was reading one of his blogs a few days ago, it's crazy how he basically goes online mostly everyday to talk to his fans for many months, he talks about a lot of other things besides music too, he seems to be a big Barry Bonds fan, he even posts a lot of picutures of his family and friends, if any of his haters'd take time and go through those blogs they'd find it hard to hate on him 'cause he's one of the realest in the music buisiness, anyways he said that 100,000 people downloaded the new tracks he posted on his myspace in a span of 12 days, now if all them go out to buy the album next week he'll be heading back to the top of the charts again, and he was mentioning that he's been doing performances with LL lately, they did a concert last week for the US troops, I guess they squashed their beef from years ago, it'd be quite interesting to see them do a track together, I think he should do something with Q-Tip and Tribe Called Quest too since they're also working on a comeback

I wish that all those millions of kids who've been listening to G-Unit and Eminem could check out Kel's mixtape and get schooled on some real mc'ing, it's kinda sad that Kel didn't blow up years ago while those wack rappers did, btw I'd love to help out on myspace.com but I don't have an account there, it's a great idea to promote on myspace.com, MC Hammer mentioned in his blog last week that 100,000 people downloaded his new tracks, I could post the video on some hip-hop sites though that I'm registered too

Thanks for this, DMX is definately a living legend no doubt about it, I'm definately looking forward to seeing his album finally coming out soon

There was some good points in there in between but some of what he said there was really unnecessary and it didn't make sense, reminds me of most rappers' lyrics these days, lol

:word: i hope dis mixtape will show real talent lol, don't hold your breath on that, Eminem's talent died a long time ago when he started beefing with non rappers, I gave up on him a long time ago

It amazes me that Eminem still has millions of people buy his albums after putting out so much garbage over recent years while hardly anybody except a handful of us cares about if JJFP does another album or KRS-ONE released an album a couple weeks ago, it makes me sad, I rather be checking for MC Hammer's album next week than think about Eminem coming back, it's just ****ed up that the real talented artists get slept on while millions buy into gimmicks like this, I knew he wasn't retiring, it was all a PR stunt and it worked, millions flocked to buy his greatest hits album 'cause they heard he was retiring before it came out, 50 Cent will probably say he's gonna retire before his next album comes out, Bow Wow's doing the same thing now at 19 years old? give me a break please with your damn gimmicks, **** all those wack pop rappers that're taking away from the real mcs and all the people that fall for the gimmicks and then complain about hip-hop's dead, buying albums from garbage rappers like Eminem is the reason why it's dying, maybe if they supported talent over gimmicks then we'd see a change

It'd be sweet if JJFP could get an album out by next year so they could perform there, it'd been a sweet way to celebrate their 20 year anniversary if they performed last night, it all seems like a fantasy though the way things are going right now, there's probably a better chance that Will's gonna win best male actor next year than there is that a JJFP album will come out by next year the way things are looking

Foxy Brown Breaks Silence Again: Deafness Cured, She's Back To Work 06.28.2006 6:00 AM EDT After year of deafness, successful surgery allows Brown to return to studio for forthcoming LP. Foxy Brown Photo: Fernando Leon/ Getty Images NEW YORK- Foxy Brown says her hearing is back and she's ready to resume her career and according to the MC, her long-delayed next album will be out before the end of the year. "[Around] Christmas Eve, the album will be out," Brown said Sunday night, shortly after performing with Jay-Z at his Reasonable Doubt 10th anniversary show (see "Jay-Z Rolls Out Classics, Big Surprises At Reasonable Doubt 10th Anniversary Show"). "I went straight from the operating room to the studio. It was really hard. I was deaf for an entire year. Completely deaf." - Foxy Brown In December 2005, Foxy held a press conference to reveal that her hearing had deteriorated so much, she needed someone to tap out beats on her shoulder when she was in the recording studio (see "Foxy Brown Says She Hasn't Heard A Thing For Six Months"). She announced she was suffering from severe and sudden sensorineural hearing loss in both ears. An almost distraught Foxy conveyed her pain by telling stories of sleepless nights: "To suddenly lose your hearing after 10 years as a professional artist, I questioned God: 'Why me?' " At the time, Brown's doctor issued a positive prognosis, saying she could recover after surgery. Around three months ago, according to her rep, Brown underwent surgery and is well on her way to having all her hearing back. "I went straight from the operating room to the studio," Foxy said with a smile. "It was really hard. I was deaf for an entire year. Completely deaf. The surgery was iffy. They didn't know if it would be a success, and it was." Before that setback, Foxy had recorded a multitude of tracks with Jay-Z, the Neptunes and others for an album to be called Black Roses. There's no word yet on who Foxy has been working with since her recording has picked up once again. Her label, Def Jam, says no official date has been set for the album and it's not certain whether the disc will keep the same title. On July 18, Fox Boogie will be getting onstage once again: She's on the bill for LIFEbeat's Hearts & Voices AIDS Benefit Concert Series show, Reggae Gold Live 2006 Summer Jumpoff, to promote HIV and AIDS awareness. The show takes place at New York's Webster Hall and also includes TOK, Beenie Man and Wayne Wonder. - Shaheem Reid

I think Nick hurts Will's legacy more than helps Will's legacy by saying that he was inspired so much from Will, that's like saying Will inspires wackness, Nick can't check a mic for Will and he ain't gonna win an Oscar anytime soon either, I'll admit "Wildin' Out" is cool but it won't be remembered in 10 years like "Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air" is, he only had like one or two good movies so far to go along with one or two good songs on his only album, he's average at best really, and y'all know how I ain't a big Kanye fan but subpar rappers like Nick make Kanye sound like Rakim, I wonder what's going on these days where how such low talent artists get record deals, these A&R's deserved to be beaten for signing them, it's a crime that Bow Wow and Nick Cannon got record deals to begin with, we need real talented artists like me and Da Brakes to blow up and say openly how much they were inspired by Will, btw Bow Wow trying to pull an Eminem and say that he's gonna retire after releasing his next album, personally I don't think nobody but a handful of lil' girls will actually care, I'd rather be first in line to buy an Eminem album then to buy any album from that lil' pup

I thought it was wack that TI won male hip-hop artist of the year, he ain't the king of **** in my eyes, if he's considered to be the best then hip-hop must be dead, Will should've been nominated and won that, I was really feeling DMX's performance of his new single "Lord Give Me A Sign" during the pre-show, I have a feeling that song's gonna bring him back to the top of the game again and he'll be winning some awards next year no doubt and boo about that Eminem appearance, he needs to stay retired, his verse was garbage on that Busta track, Damon's hosting sucked pretty bad too, I really thought most of the show was boring and wack, I wonder why LL wasn't there either, it would've been perfect for him to promote his album there, that Chaka Kahn tribute was classic though when she performed with Stevie Wonder and Prince

I pushed the date back again

According to LL's Def Jam site it's a US tour, I think it starts this week and ends in August

I think this was brought up last year when his album came out, we need new things to talk about in this forum, come on Will do something!