bigted

Jazzy ain't in competition with Will, like Da Brakes said you're an idiot... :stickpoke:

Hopefully this is a gimmick like Jay-Z saying he's gonna retire but we see him doing tracks everywhere still, that new Outkast single is fire, I don't see why they'd break up now, hip-hop needs them now more than ever...

Well come on now sure around that time a lot of Nas' early fans were turned off by his escobar/nastradomous style but also a lot of the early JJFP fans were turned off by FP's "Jiggy" style around that time too 'cause he got away from the storytellin' JJFP stuff and did more flashy raps instead, the ironic thing about that is that Nas co-wrote songs on that album and he was going flashy himself then, before of course they were turned off from "Code Red" too 'cause they thought JJFP was going gangsta although it was JJFP's lowest selling album so that plan to keep up with the harder image at the time sell more didn't work, "Code Red" is an album though that gangsta rap fans who normally wouldn't like JJFP's lighter image like 'cause it had a harder edge to it... But a large percentage of those who bought "Big Willie Style" were kids that didn't know about JJFP, including me at that time until I learned later on about it and I found out how the JJFP stuff is leaps and bounds above most of Will's solo stuff, "Big Willie Style" still has that sentimental feel though for me 'cause it's the first time I've heard Will rapping, that's why FP went back to Philly with Jazzy to record "Willenium" 'cause he knew that he had to gain some of his original fans back and in the process those kids were turned off 'cause it wasn't Jiggy enough since it was more vintage hip-hop and some of the ol' school fans loved "So Fresh" even though it didn't catch on in airplay, but I didn't care that it was ol' school album since I appreciate good music so I've remained down, and now FP's turned it around with his "Lost and Found" and got more credability in hip-hop back even if his sales are lower which was due to poor promotion but most of those who heard the album liked it, he got a lot of old fans back and gained some new 'cause the album's a mix of his ol' school and new school styles("Scary Story" and "Loretta" which are vintage storytellin' FP songs, "If You Can't Dance" and "Switch" for the kids who liked "Big Willie Style"), now we just need that JJFP album to come soon to keep the ball rolling, and of course in the late '80s LL Cool J got a lot of heat for his "Walking With A Panther" album, his original fans thought he was selling out but he turned it around later on with "Mama Said Knock You Out" then later on they thought that he was going gangsta on "14 Shots To The Dome" and then he had to turn it around again, MC Hammer lost his original fanbase when he did "Funky Headhunter" to keep up with the harder style of rap at the time like "Code Red" and "14 Shots To The Dome", I think he's coming with a new album soon too this summer, basically it was just dumbing down to get larger audiences but it was still good music they were doing... Anytime you do something different fans diss you and I find that wack like all Nas' original fans want him to do "Illmatic" every album and the original JJFP fans want him to "He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper..." all the time LL's original fans want "Mama Said Knock You Out", MC Hammer's original fans want "Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em", etc.. a lot of great mcs have all done it at one point or another like when KRS did a song with Puffy which was considered since KRS always disses pop rap and Puffy is the epitome of pop rap, good music is good music though, Nas has made good music throughout his career, some better than others but he is one of those select few that keep hip-hop alive on a mainstream level but you know it's dead when Eminem's greatest hits album outsells Will's "Lost and Found" and Nas' "Street's Disciple" combined when they're both better albums than Eminem could ever do, "Hip Hop Is Dead" sounds like Nas is something I'm sure most of Nas' original fans would say, nobody ain't making anything on an "Illmatic" level anymore so hopefully it has deep meaning to it and is his best album since "Illmatic" or at least another solid Nas album, hip hop is Nas...

Nas was killing hip-hop in the late '90s? Nas has always been one of the realest cats in hip-hop, sure what he did then wasn't on the same level as most of his stuff but every great mc has their down moments but that don't mean they're killing hip-hop, even the beloved FP says: "Found Is Esco"

http://www.sohh.com/articles/article.php/9018 Maybe he's inspired from De La Soul, they did an album called 'De La Soul Is Dead', btw I'm looking forward to that Roots album this summer too...

I guess Nas is trying to spark some controversey with this album, he was consider calling it the n word now he's calling it 'Hip-Hop Is Dead', that's definately not a good title, we all know hip-hop ain't as strong as it used to/could be but it'll never die...

Nas Declares 'Hip Hop Is Dead' Nas May 19, 2006, 11:00 AM ET His First Def Jam Disc Due In September Clover Hope, N.Y. Recent Def Jam signee Nas will deliver his first album for the label in late September. The rapper made the announcement last night (May 18) while performing on the first leg of labelmates the Roots’ two-night stand at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The album is titled "Hip-Hop Is Dead,” according to a Def Jam representative, who also confirmed the September release to Billboard.com. Nas capped off his roughly 15-minute set by pronouncing, “I'm working hard for y’all. I got an album coming out in September.” Def Jam president Jay-Z added Nas to the label’s roster in January, two months after the pair mutually dissolved their longtime feud. As previously reported, the new disc will be one of two albums to be jointly marketed by Def Jam and Columbia, Nas’ previous label. During a live chat on the Roc-A-Fella Web site in February, Jay-Z said that plans were underway to begin working on the project. Black Eyed Peas leader will.i.am also told Billboard.com that he was scheduled to record with Nas. "Hip-Hop Is Dead” will be the follow-up to 2004’s “Streets Disciple,” which peaked at No. 5 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 694,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In his 11 years with Columbia, Nas' catalog has sold 12 million units. The Roots concert also featured Common, Talib Kweli, Big Daddy Kane and saw a brief cameo from comedian Dave Chappelle, who billed many of the same artists for his 2004 Block Party in Brooklyn, N.Y. Tonight's second round of performances will feature Erykah Badu, Mos Def, J. Davey and Angelique Kidjo.

Releasing an album the same week as his movie worked well for TI's popularity, maybe Will should do the same and really make it "Big Willie Weekend" by having a #1 album and #1 movie at the same time, btw I do like Ghostface's album "Fishscale" too, this summer's gonna have some albums I'm looking forward to with Busta Rhymes coming out, DMX coming out, Ice Cube coming out, Game coming out, and Nas in September which is titled 'Hip-Hop Is Dead' which would be my feelings if all those albums didn't come out but if all those albums drop it'll show that hip-hop is still alive and well, it's just been a slow start so far this year...

"Mama Said Knock You Out">>>>Lil' Wayne's career but you're entitled to your opinion

Lil' Wayne's a good rapper? :hmm: It's easier for Ja Rule to do 9 films, he'd have small parts, LL doesn't really have many major role films either but Will has the major role in all his films so it'd take him more time...

Well the Isley Brothers put out the #1 r&b album this week and Ronald Isley's 65 years old, if it ain't too late for the Isley Brothers, it ain't too late for Will or LL, Will say he cares about the art not the money, if he loves hip-hop as much as he says he does he won't stop yet., LL only has one album left on his deal at Def Jam, he said that on "BET: Blueprint", I think he might slow down a lil' bit in putting out music since he wants to be a more serious actor but he'll still put out albums in between films....

This year has sucked on the most part, there's more wack albums out than good albums out, "Todd Smith"'s one of the only good albums out there, the rap game's not that strong anymore and the way I see things going when Will and LL retire it'll be over for the rap game, they're the last hope it seems...

Yeah "Mr. Nice Guy" really had nothing to do with Eminem at all, it was just a message that Will wanted to send to critics that even though he's a nice guy, he's not somebody that they could walk over, probably Interscope's idea to just mention that he had "something for Eminem" to help promote his album, and I notice how a lot were anticipating a diss track, that got to show you how many people love beef, they did miss the true message of it, I think it'd been better if Will said he had something for his critics then maybe they'd understood it better, Interscope should of just sent it out to all the radio stations and then it'd been playing as much as "Switch" was, that shows you how dumb they are, LL's on the greatest rap label in the world and they release anything he wants them too, but with the labels Will's signed to in the last 10 years it's been a struggle to release all the singles that he desired to release, Jive had JJFP release whatever they wanted and it was great but the label turned to pop and dumped them, but on Columbia Will had to put his own money to make "So Fresh" video, if Columbia promoted that right it'd been his biggest song since "Summertime", then Interscope had the nerve to say that "Tell Me Why" was too political to release, they rather promote beef than substance, labels put their hands in too much and the artist don't have the freedom like they use to, that's why the rap game's in a struggle right now and there's so much crap on the charts, they know that ignorant kids make up a big percentage of the rap audience so they just release music that suits their needs to profit rather than releasing music that reach diverse audiences... With "Tell Me Why" it was basically the favorite song by everyone that bought the album, basically a lot of hardcore fans that've been hating on Will for years even liked it, it'd been huge too, maybe it might be better if Will goes independent and release everything that he wants to release, even if it don't sell that much, and if "Tell Me Why" really meant as much as Will said it is he should've shot the video for it with his own money and promote it himself, **** Interscope...

Yeah the best rhymes come from the heart, I'm feeling that!

Mos Def, Fat Joe, Jadakiss and Busta Rhymes Go "Beyond Beats and Rhymes" By Remmie Fresh Date: 5/19/2006 12:00 pm An independent filmmaker has crafted a film that enlists the likes of Mos Def, Fat Joe, Chuck D, Jadakiss, Busta Rhymes, Russell Simmons, and activists such as Michael Eric Dyson, Beverly Guy-Sheftall, and Congressional candidate Kevin Powell, who offer earnest critique about Hip-Hop lifestyle. Beyond Beats and Rhymes: A Hip-Hop Head Weighs in on Manhood in Rap Music is a 2006 Sundance Film Festival selection that was produced and directed by Byron Hurt, a gender violence prevention educator. With his film, Hurt is bent on confronting the societal concerns and community interests as it pertains to the influential culture. "My film challenges the idea that in order to be a successful rapper in Hip-Hop you have to be hard, tough, violent, sexist, and homophobic," Hurt told AllHipHop.com. "I've shown this film to audiences all over the country, and the first thing people say to me afterward are 'Thank you so much for making this film' or, 'This film needs to be seen everywhere, especially in the hood.'" Beyond Beats and Rhymes made its debut in New York City last night at the "Sundance at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) Film Series" and will offer more screenings on May 19 and 21. Additionally, the acclaimed film will air nationally on PBS in early 2007. Hurt also said that while his movie has been years in the making, the subject matter and examination are only becoming more relevant. "The recent shooting deaths of Proof, Busta Rhymes' bodyguard Israel Ramirez, T.I.'s personal assistant Philant Johnson, as well as rapper Gravy getting shot in the butt outside of New York's Hot 97 sadly reminds us in the Hip-Hop community [that] manhood and Hip-Hop are too closely associated with senseless violence," Hurt continued. "Morning shock jock Star's comments directed toward D.J. Envy's wife and daughter, which led to his well-publicized firing at New York City's Power 105.1, clearly reveal that some men's attitudes about girls and women in mainstream Hip-Hop are raging out of control." While the 60-minute film examines Hip-Hop, it doesn't ignore the overall scope of the Black male experience in the United States, as it addresses misogyny, violence, and homophobia. "I know that Byron's current project on Hip-Hop is close to his heart. It reflects his on-going effort to use film to address essential concerns on the intent and impact of popular youth culture," said filmmaker Orlando Bagwell in a statement. "His film will pose fundamental questions about how Hip-Hop culture represents and expresses basic attitudes in our society about love, violence, and compassion." The Brooklyn Academy of Music is screening the film. To see a short on the film, visit www.BHurt.com.

Like Jay-Z once said: "Do you fools listen to music?/Or do you just skim through it?", there's always a lot of misconceptions...

I found this article which relates to this topic, if the older generation read what Rakim says here I think they'd see that there are rappers that care: Rakim Speaks Out On The Rap Game Wednesday - May 10, 2006 A-Plus Former Aftermath artist and the game’s resident God emcee, Rakim recently had some harsh words for today’s crop of studio gangsters. In an article appearing on Davey D’s website, Ra chastises younger emcees for glorifying violence on wax. “I never sold drugs or nothing. but coming up in the hood I knew the code of the streets. I was in the hood since a young kid, man. And I was very observant. I watched how everybody did they thing. It wasn’t cool to talk about what went on on the block. Especially on a record.” If you’re not up on the legend, don’t think he’s gone soft. Rakim believes in keeping it real, but also believes that emcees owe the youth more hustling and other negative behavior. “I had people that was close to me that was doing what they do. I respect for doing what he got to do, I’ll let him know if it ain’t good, but still I respect that man he got to get his food. I got people that’s close to me was doing real things in the streets. For me to get on the mic and start talking about certain things.. It’s like three-dimensional right now, every time somebody get on the mic and mention some crime, you got 5-0 knocking at the door or tapping the phone or investigating this crew or this crew.” “So I kinda seen it early. I didn’t want to extort the streets. I didn’t want to extort the hood, my dudes, or hip-hop. So I try to just keep it real, but at the same time it is a limitation. A lot of people today respect me for that, cause they call it, I didn’t give up the street codes. I respect what hey do, but leave that over there and I used to just try to find words that sound good, man. See if I can move the crowd that way.”

Yeah well I could do that sometimes too, hate on somebody just 'cause I don't like their singles but then I listen to their albums and I see the artist in a whole different light, I actually learned that from seeing people hating on Will to be more open minded before I diss somebody myself...

Yeah but millions of people bought Will's albums though, all they have do is listen to the albums and they'd know that not all Will's songs are club songs, the ones who call Will bubblegum haven't even heard any of his albums I'd bet, to quote Jay-Z here: "Do you fools listen to music?/Or do you just skim through it?" Well those fans who only like rappers who make songs that're thugged out they ain't gonna like Will no matter what he does, even if they listen to the album, there's always gonna be people hating on him no matter what he releases 'cause he ain't a hardcore rapper, he shouldn't change just to please them, but I think those who appreciate quality songs with substance and they heard the albums would have a lot of respect for Will, I don't see what's all the hate on club songs anyway, Will makes great club jams, now there's some rappers making wack club jams but Will knows how to rock a party, JJFP have always been about having fun, hip-hop started on party jams, it didn't start out hardcore, a lot of these kids that listen to hip-hop now think that 2Pac and Biggie were the pioneers, lol, there should always be fun in hip-hop, JJFP keep the originality of hip-hop alive, now some rappers can't rock the clubs though and that's a difference("Laffy Taffy") The closed minded people who only like thug rap and the ones who never heard his album can't be taken seriously when they diss Will, their opinion holds no weight, the "Lost and Found" albumgot quite a bit of critical acclaim too... btw speaking of Jay-Z 3/4 of Jay-Z' singles are club songs so I don't see what's the difference between him doing club songs and Will doing club songs, the same people that say Will ain't hip-hop are the ones who call Jay-Z a legend but what makes Jay hip-hop for doing club songs and not Will? ****ing hypocrites, now if people judge "Willenium" off of "Will2k" then maybe I should judge "Blueprint" off of "Girls, Girls, Girls"...Btw, a lot of people loved "Switch", it was one of the most downloaded songs in rap last year and it was topping all the charts, if people were sick of Will doing party songs it'd flop, Will performed it a lot of shows last year and the crowds went crazy, not every rapper has to preach to the audience like Will said in an interview years ago, not every rapper has to perform serious songs, now most of the songs on the radio ain't substance, if Will released one of his more lyrical songs the chances are they wouldn't play it anyway much, we all saw what happened to "Party Starter", people complain about the rap game not having substance but the most lyrical tracks never hit the airwaves, maybe 15 years ago, it ain't the golden era anymore, the best stuff don't get played on the radio... Now people might be getting sick of hearing LL doing love songs 'cause that song "Freeze" ain't getting played at all on yet, "Control Myself"'s not really that popular anymore, that shouldn't be an excuse for why they ain't playing "Freeze", if the radio could play 5 50 Cent songs at once why can't they play 2 LL songs at once? LL does the same thing on 3/4 of his singles too by doing love songs but he makes great albums too though, I think the thing is now that if rappers ain't making songs about hustlin' and grillz the rap fans don't like it that much these days since that's the common trend, "The Definition" didn't sell much more than "Lost and Found" and it don't look like "Todd Smith" is gonna either, he'll barely go platinum, he ain't gonna do "Mr. Smith" numbers anymore just like Will ain't gonna do "Big Willie Style" numbers anymore, neither of themain't gonna ever be popular as they once were 10 years ago since they don't fit in with the current trends on the most part, the game's changed but I think the rappers ahead of them on the charts are gonna come and go 'cause they don't have any creativity or desire to last, once they make less money they'll leave since that's all they care about, a lot of rappers sell their souls but Will and LL stay true to themselves that's why they're still here today...

Yeah he's got a lot of assets so that's no problem for him to get out of it but still it's mindblowing to think that somebody could go in that much debt, most famous people's debt is something most of ordinary people will ever get to, I wish I had $300 mill to blow :kekeke:

Yeah a lot of fans are idiots quite frankly, I should just wave 'em off like Will does, they limit themselves to what "real hip-hop" should sound like 'cause of what's constantly out there, so if everyone beefs and you don't, you won't get credit, Will didn't lower himself down like that when spent time becoming a better actor, it'd been better if he said: "Big Will with 20 mil, Oscar Nominee, walked right past E" 'cause that's basically what he did when he got bigger respect in the film industry, he wouldn't have had time to do "Ali" if he spent that year battling Eminem to gain or keep bandwagon fans, you're right a lot of the people who buy music have no knowledge of the history of an artist, a lot come and go just 'cause you're "hot" at the moment, and at the same time LL took time away from focusing becoming a better actor just so he could please some fans who were jumping off the bandwagon and saying that he was going soft, even if LL didn't answer Canibus, Canibus would burn out in a few years 'cause all he was good at was battle rhymes, Bis can't make that many good songs that don't evolve around battling that's why he'd burned out himself and in fact he did, I know Da Brakes is a big Canibus fanbut I'm sure he could admit that Canibus ain't as consistant to be putting out hot music for 20 years like LL, even if LL didn't answer back he'd still win 'cause his career is leaps and bounds ahead of where Canibus could possibly get to, like LL said: "You're hating on the fact thatI'm everything you wanna be/Handsome, young, famous, plus legendary", the world knew that already even if L didn't say it.. It's good though that LL's worrying less about what others think now and is just doing his thing, and like I said earlier now that he ain't battlin' mcs I think he'll focus on becoming a household name in Hollywood and keep on expanding his career, basically both Will and LL are gonna end their own careers, nobody'll end it for them, they control their own destiny since they're hard workers, some of us might complain that Will might not rap as much as he used to but it's not like there's many rappers from his era putting out albums every 3 years still and only a handful put out as many as 9 albums, 10 if we cheat with Will like we cheat with LL by callin' his greatest hits an album, everyone loves Dr. Dre still and he puts out albums every 7 years and don't even write it, but he's "hard" like most "real rappers" according to "hip-hop" standards so he gets credit especially since he rolls with who's "hot", yet they all jump on Will just for getting help on a few songs and that he does more movies than albums and that he don't "follow everybody when it's time to rap", it should be about quality not quanity, I don't think Will has to do a million movies either to prove that he's a great actor, LL got talent as an actor too, he might not have blockbuster hits but I enjoy quite a bit of his films too, he's gonna get more recogntion there soon enough if he wants to...

Well Will isn't like "most legendary MCs." Does it mean that he isn't a legendary MC? Not at all... but he's a lot more easy going and not as combative as other MCs... It's just his nature. I never said that he wasn't but most hip-hop fans only judge mcs on their battlin' skills, that's why Will gets slept on and they'd laugh at you if you mentioned him as a top 10 mc but LL wouldn't get laughed at if you mentioned him 'cause they know about the battles, now of course Will obviously has the skills and the creativity to rip mcs in battles but he has chosen not to do so, and the fact is that he's more talented that a lot of those who battle 'cause some hide their insecurities to make good songs without dissin' people, Eminem can't last as long as Will 'cause he simply has nothin' to rap about if he don't diss anybody... I think ultimately that's why hip-hop fans overlook Will more than anything else 'cause of battlin', think about it people mention KRS 'cause he ripped MC Shan, they mention LL 'cause he ripped Kool Moe Dee, they mention Nas 'cause he ripped Jay-Z, they mention Jay-Z 'cause he ripped Mobb Deep, 2Pac 'cause he ripped Biggie, etc, it seems like hip-hop has limited itself though 'cause when you don't battle you look soft, it seems like everytime I go on a hip-hop message board people only talk about who battles who, it's looked like the WWE they just wanna see mcs slam each other, that's why hip-hop heads don't like LL as much as they used to either since he don't battle anybody anymore, most hip-hop fans only like LL 'cause of his battles, he's been consistant though just like Will and without the few public battles he's had be slept on like Will, Chuck D's the same way too, he chooses to make songs about social issues not battlin' mcs and he doesn't get mention as much as those who battled either, there's still enough that go out and buy LL's albums though since he's still one of the most popular today, but I guess those who appreciate great songs have a lot of respect for Will and LL, I respect LL's body of work, not just the battlin', those 2 actually proved that they could sell a lot of albums even when they don't battle unlike peers who just live and die by battlin' with their careers, and those're the ones who lose with their careers 'cause you can't last if you can't make hot albums that doesn't evolve around beef... I think there's not many as versatile as them in history of the game, that's why they've been around so long...

That was a really long read but thanks for sharing, he's in $300 million dollars debt, damn!! :1-eek:

:word: My thoughts exactly and like the guest said nobody was killed, I figure that in order to be banned from a country you'd have to do something like bomb the airport or go on a killing spree, not for beating up airport attendents, lol...

Do you reallt think that.....I dont at all. Will openly discussed how he was responding to Eminem on Mr Nice Guy in numerous interviews he did. I dont think that did much for sales at all. It was all too late........5 years is a long time to wait to respond to something like that Well that's my point I honestly don't get what Will got out of doing "Mr. Nice Guy", it was too late to say anything, he shoulda just let it go if he didn't want to say anything 5 years ago, now it might've worked if "Born To Reign" was claimed an "Eminem diss track", things would've gotten interesting, Will blew an opportunity to solidify himself as an mc no question about it, Will could show these pop rappers how to make real battle rhymes and show them the reason why he's been in the game for so long, that's something LL's proven over and over but Will never done that, the opportunity was there since he was on top with "Big Willie Style" and "Willenium" then Eminem comes along and says "f*** Will Smith", Will runs off to do movies instead of responding, people fall off the bandwagon, and now he cries for respect as a rapper? LL's been more focused on protecting his rap legacy than Will has been and that's why people say LL has nothing to prove but it seems that Will still has things to improve on, it seems Hollywood took some fire out of Fresh Prince the mc, you're right that "Mr. Nice Guy" didn't do anything for his sales, in fact it might've made less wanna check the album 'cause I remember hearing people saying that Will having "something for Eminem" was a gimmick since it was 5 years too late, it was a pointless track to promote for the album, Will just needs to release better singles if he wants his rap career to be stronger than it is, like I said it ain't like Eminem is gonna be around 10 years from now anyway, he ain't respected much anymore so I don't get what'd make Will wanna address Eminem in 2005, in 2000 he was a bigger threat and Will should've gave him a round there, he's about as worthless as Bow Wow now, that's somebody that don't need no response, people don't like him either but I just wished Will could put one of these rappers who diss him in their place so that nobody'll ever diss him again... Btw, I only saw LL's "Freeze" video on TV one time since it came out a few weeks ago and the way things are lookin' it might be his 1st flop single in a long time....