bigted

"G.O.A.T" is definately my favorite, to me it's one of LL's strongest, if Def Jam didn't drop the ball in promoting it after it came out and went #1 then it'd went triple platinum and won a Grammy just like "Lost and Found" if that was also properly promoted, that's why people underrated Will and LL 'cause they haven't been promoted as well lately as they should be

Exceptional review AJ, except I personally like the track with Freeway better than the one with Juelz Santana 'cause there wasn't much chemistry between Juelz and LL even though they both ripped the track individually, you should post your review in amazon.com like I did, some people might be dissapointed 'cause they always look for another "Mama Said Knock You Out" but if they judge the album for what it is, I'm sure they'd actually enjoy it very much, especially it's better than basically everything anybody else is doing right now...

Well I judged "The Definition" for what it was and the strength of the album as a whole but I think the top 5 on "10" is probably better than "The Definition" but it had quite a bit of filler in between that brought the scoring down, especially that awful "Lollipop" that's probably one of his worst, maybe that's where 50 got his idea for "Candyshop" from, lol, if it was cut down to 10 tracks like LL said it was gonna be originally, it might be 8.5/10 instead and a lil' bit more solid as a whole, "The Definition" was consistantly average except for a few tracks that were exceptional that brought the score up, btw you're rare ash trey when it comes to your taste in hip-hop, most kids I knew in school liked the radio crap, Jay-Z always got his videos high on TRL and 106 & Park so it's obvious that he has a large teen fanbase, he might've gained a few of his original fans back on "Black Album" but a lot of the pop stuff he done in between really alienated them, Jay needed to unite with Nas to gain credability, Nas was winning the war 'cause he was able to keep his original fans, people actually question why Nas would go with Jay though 'cause he was doing quite well on his own already

"The G.O.A.T. Featuring James T. Smith" is probably LL's best album in the last 10 years after "Mr. Smith", the lyrics, versatile flows, production, and collabos made this album perfect, sure he's cursing a lil' bit more than usual but all the songs have a message to them and they flow real well, hip-hop at it's finest right there, I rank it up there with Nas' "Stillmatic" and Will's "Lost and Found" as the top album of this weak decade in hip-hop

It seemed like LL put in quite a bit of effort into making this album even though it's only been a year and a half since his last release, this'd probably be better than most rappers' best albums, hell "10"'s probably better than most rappers' albums, LL Cool J is in a class of his own, he deserves to outsell all these overrated rappers, the lyrics/production is probably his most versatile since "G.O.A.T. The Greatest Of All The Time", "10" was versatile somewhat but not all the songs were quality, I did like "10 Million Stars", "Throw Ya L's Up", "Fa Ha", and "Big Mama"(Unconditional Love", most albums you can't find 5 great songs on them for real and that's his worst, lol, come on now, how could you doubt LL's consistantcey? If you appreciate all styles of hip-hop you gotta respect LL 'cause he makes songs about everything, that's why he's been so popular, Jay-Z seems to be concerned more with just having teeny bopper fanbase, that's why he left 'cause he's scared they'll think he's too old soon, but LL appeals to all ages, even if not that many teens get into him, he still got the older fans that're loyal to him...

Until Nick gets a Grammy nomination for one of his albums and gets an Oscar nomination for one of his films, leave the comparisons alone, he has big shoes to fill to be Fresh Prince Jr., he's got a lot of work to do...

It's definately better than "The Definition", it's a lil' more versatile I'd say... btw, you need to log in man, btw let me rate the tracks here for you so you could get a better idea about it: 1-"It's LL and Santana" feat. Juelz Santana, Juelz and LL both rip this track, the chemistry between them could've been a lil' better though: 8.5/10 2-"Control Myself" feat. J-Lo, well everyone heard this on the radio and saw the video, basically the same thing here, J-Lo doesn't really do much on this track but LL's spittin' with the ol' school "Going Back To Cali" flow though which makes the song interesting: 8/10 3-"Favorite Flavor" feat. Mary J. Blidge, now that's what I'm talking about, the chemistry between LL and Mary J. is exceptional here, dope smooth jam: 10/10 4-"Freeze" feat. Lyfe Jennings, this is supposed to be the next single, when I first heard the track I had mixed feelings about it, but this track hits hard, deep message about how LL would freeze time until he could become a better man for his girl, Lyfe's vocals are very soulful: 9/10 5-"Best Dress" feat. Jamie Foxx, this is a "Keep Ya Head Up" type track where LL gives encouragement to girls going through tough times: 9/10 6-"Preserve The Sexy" feat. Teaiarra Mari, this is an aight club joint, didn't really stand out to me, sounded like a cheap imitation of "Doin' It": 6/10 7-"What You Want" feat. Freeway, LL and Freeway spittin' battle rhymes back and forth, reminds me of "Roc The Mic", dope hip-hop jam for all the hardcore rap heads who like raw lyricism: 10/10 8-"I've Changed" feat. Ryan Toby, it's a story about how LL begs for his girl to take him back, Ryan Toby does an excellent job on this track too, another soulful track: 10/10 9-"Ooh Wee" feat. Ginuwine, a slow jam for you to relax with your boo wit, LL spits the game and Ginuwine backs him on the hook: 9/10 10-#1 Fan, a story about how LL meets a latin lady in San Diego that's been in love with him since the '80s, sorta Loretta ish, except it was more of a uptempo vibe, not my favorite but it's aight: 8/10 11-"Down The Aisle" feat. 112, it sorta reminds me of Jagged Edge's "Let's Get Married" that featured Rev. Run, it's a deep song about love and commitment and the uniting of husband and wife, one of my favorites: 10/10 12-"We're Gonna Make It" feat. Mary Mary, it's a deep song about life like Will's "Tell Me Why", probably the best track in my opinion: 10+/10 13-"So Sick Remix" with Ne-Yo, you probably heard this on the radio, I actually like the original a lil' better but LL spittin' a couple dope verses on it was an added bonus worth listening to mos' definately: 8.5/10 Overall: 9/10, a versatile smooth album sorta like "Mr. Smith" but basically at the same level as "Phenomenon", btw let me rate his whole catalog while I'm at it, 11 albums deep, he might say 12 but one of 'em was "All World" his greatest hits which'd be 10/10 of course since that's all of his best work, if anybody hears all of them they could make a serious case that he's the G.O.A.T. mc or top 5 at the very least, one of the most consistant ever: 1-"Radio"-10/10(classic) imagine a 17 year old rapping on this level now? I don't think so, lol, this is timeless 2-"Bigger and Deffer" 10/10(classic) a hell of a followup album 3-"Walking With A Panther" 9/10, consider a dissapointment to some 'cause it's a lil' more commercial but it's still solid 4-"Mama Said Knock You Out" 10/10(classic, best album of career, probably top 10 albums ever in rap history)LL crushed his peers with this album, 50 Cent needs to take lessons here if he really wants to end careers like he said he does, lol, won a Grammy and went double platinum 5-"14 Shots To The Dome" 9/10, basically like "Walking With A Panther", some rap fans hated on it but it was solid 6-"Mr. Smith" 10/10 (classic), this silenced doubts of rap fans that were dissapointed by "14 Shots To The Dome", won a Grammy and went double platinum 7-"Phenomenon" 8.5/10, smooth album like "Todd Smith", not quite as strong as a whole though, a lil' more filler 8-"G.O.A.T. Featuring James T. Smith, The Greatest Of All Time" 10/10(classic), Canibus' career never had a chance to blow up after this dropped, lol, believe it or not this is LL's only album to debut at #1(fingers crossed that "Todd Smith" might be #1 this week) 9-"10", 7/10 the milestone mark of LL's career, his most inconsistant album to date however but Bow Wow still hasn't made an album on this level yet, lol 10-"The Definition", 8/10, basically it's a club album, barely a lil' better than "10"

Well if you're into more hardcore rap then this album ain't for you but if you like hearing smooth rap jams that you could chill to then it's worth it no doubt, those tracks with Mary J. and Ryan Toby are fire!!!

Yeah I bet more of those kids that post on that board would like him if he rapped like Chingy, it's not like Chingy's that talented either though, Nick Cannon definately ain't no Fresh Prince Jr., there will never be another one like Will, that's like saying Game's on the same level as Ice Cube, I ain't seeing that either...

This was probably taken from another interview and probably said that he was dissin' Jay-Z, that's a rap battle I'm sure everyone'd wanna see though, if LL beat Jigga it'd show people how overrated Jay is and they won't sleep on calling LL the G.O.A.T., LL's the real president of Def Jam, he released the label's first album and is still there today, Jay knows that too that's why he won't even respond to this, lol, btw Chuck D was critcising Jay's comments of how their shouldn't be rappers past 40 years old in one of his terrordomes a couple years ago, that's how far back Jay said this, Chuck reffered to Jay's song "What More Could I Say" by saying there's a lot you could say as an artist no matter how old you get, he got respect for Jay though himself but he was just saying that was an ignorant comment and it's true, look at Stevie Wonder still going, he don't make music as great as he used to but he's still putting out quality music so why can't a rapper be his age and do the same thing? All the ol' school rappers might not appeal to a young audience and go multiplatinum but that don't mean that they should stop doing what they love for their real fans, Jay is out of line with that comment no question, just 'cause he don't wanna rap past 40 doesn't mean everyone should be like that, and anyone that say LL's new album is garbage is probably 12 years old and puts Bow Wow and TI in their top 10 mc lists of all time so they have no credability, lol, it's hard for LL to appeal to 3 million kids 'cause he don't make songs about hustlin' and he ain't dissin' half the industry, but he don't care about that, he's sticking to what he does best, and he still outsells most of these young mcs in the process, I'm sure "Todd Smith" will put up better numbers than Bow Wow and Juelz Santana, and if he was at the Nickelodeon awards the kids'd probably cheer for him as much as they did for Will so I guess some kids got love for the ol' school rappers... btw, I found LL cover this issue before when he was interviewed by Vibe in 2004 when he released "The Definition": http://www.vibe.com/news/online_exclusives..._bigger_deffer/ "Jay-Z did it and Too Short does it all the time, do you plan on retiring? No, because this is art. This ain't sports. Will you still rap at 50? I don’t know. Can you be Steven Tyler? Would anyone have thought that thirty years ago. Would anybody have thought Mick Jagger could be who he is today? I don't know when the artistry leaves off. We found out how much of it is manufactured pop-ism and how much of it is artistry. I guess if you’re a true artist then you can be 50. But if you're manufactured it's based on your physicality. When you're Paul Simon and Elton John the answer is yes. But this is hip hop, the music is only 25 years old, so we don’t know. I know one thing for sure there will be 50 and 60-year-old rap fans. You ain't going to stop liking it when you 60."

I doubt there's any beef with LL and Jay-Z, LL thanks Jay-Z for advice in the credits of "Todd Smith", who knows though maybe he looked at MTV's top 10 all time mcs and is mad that Jay-Z is ranked higher than him, lol, but I think it's probably just the media trying to hype up his sales for his album 'cause LL said that he ain't trying to battle anybody he's just trying to have fun right now and let other mcs do their thing too, I think his new album ain't his best work ever but it's still better than 90% of what rappers half his age do, he could still serve it to any of these young cats now if they call him out and they know that too, I definately think that the ol' school mcs are the best ones in the game that's why these kiddies won't call out LL, lol, Bow Wow's quickly apologises 'cause he knows that Will could finish his career too, lol, the new rappers coming out just ain't as talented as them and I said that yesterday too, that's why we won't be seeing 50 Cent calling out Ice Cube either, lol...

LL Cool J Slams Jay-Z For Age Comment Apr 15, 2006 - World Entertainment News Network Hip-hop star LL Cool J has hit back at Jay-Z for his comment that fans have no interest in hearing middle-aged rappers. The rapper believes that there is no age-limit when it comes to making good music. The 38-year-old has been making music for over 20 years and has just released an album featuring Jamie Foxx and Mary J Blige. He explains, "Thank God I'm not 45, so I don't have to answer that question." "Hopefully I'll be able to do music for a few more years and have some fun." "I don't think there's an age limit. The dreams don't have deadlines." "Just because you're younger than me doesn't mean you're cooler than me."

"Rap on a whole isn't even 30 years old/50 years down the line you could start this/By then we'll be the ol' school artists" is what KRS-ONE said on "My Philosophy" I think and it's so true, the history of rap is still being written, it's too early to tell who's really the greatest, if the artists' music could stand the test of time, that's what would make them be the top ones, it's far too early to tell...

Well it wouldn't surprise me one bit if 50 Cent was mentioned at #1, after all isn't this the same channel that plays his videos all day? I think there's way too much hate for 50, sure "The Massacre" was garbage but it's not like all Jay-Z' albums were perfect either, his first album "Get Rich Or Die Tryin" is a solid album, if he could put out more albums like that he could gain more respect as mc and believe me if he starts putting out better albums all the rap fans will be putting him up there with Jay-Z, some songs on "Get Rich Or Die Trying" soundtrack actually show that he's gonna step up his game on his next album, he needs to just make music and stop dissin' everybody if he wants respect... But anyway MTV don't have credability for judging real mcs especially if they don't play much of them, I mean when was the last time they played a KRS-ONE video? He still makes videos but they don't play them, "Lost and Found", MTV is Lost....

:word: To Julie there, I never get the hype about him either, Jay-Z is the most popular in recent years, that's why MTV puts him at #1, he's the popular choice, but in reality there ain't much special about his albums except for a couple in between, to me he only has 3 classics: "Reasonable Doubt", "Hard Knock Life", and his last "Black Album", "Blueprint" is overrated there's no question, to me it has as much fillers as LL's worst album "10" and nobody calls that classic right after the moment LL got Canibus dropped from his label so why should they call "Blueprint" classic especially since Nas burned him at the time? Jay knows what's up though, he called LL be the best mc in hip-hop when he dropped "10" so obviously he knows that LL's a better mc than him, he should just come out and say it again,lol, To me that'swhy he's retired'cause he probably realised it's hard to keep going, he buys into the media's perception that only young rappers could make music, but music could be made by all ages that's why Will, LL, and Chuck D are the greatest 'cause they live for the love of the game, even if they get criticised for being old, they do it 'cause they love to do it, why not go out when everybody loves him he figures I guess, but that's a coward to me 'cause if you're a real artist you keep going even if you get criticised,he's not that consistant to me, most of his albums are between good, bad, and ugly,quite a fewof his albums sound rushed, maybe if Will released albums every year and went multi platinum for 5-6 straight years like Jay-Z they'd mention him at #1 instead even if 3 of those 5 albums were like "Born To Reign" quality, Will does a good job taking his time though in my opinion, MTV is more like what have you done lately rather than what you've done in your whole career, that's why they don't recognise legendary mcs like Kool Moe Dee and Kurtis Blow 'cause they don't rap anymore but so many mcs took their styles and ran with it to get fame so credit should be given where it's due,but it's better they put him at #1 instead of 50 Cent or Nelly though, they could've easily have done that 'cause they're also popular choices at the moment...

Yeah it's a pity they don't put that on DVD... :tantrum:

Damn it's hard to memorise the songs without the music, but I probably could listen to some of Will's albums in my head without even playing it 'cause I've played them enough now, that's like that with a lot of my favorite artists/albums though...

Yeah I got all them episodes on tape, I used to always watch when it was on every Saturday night back in the days on Nickelodeon, btw this post that somebody made there is hilarious, lol: "Hey yo, I heard Nick Cannon shook down Suge Knight for the contents of his wallet in some club last summer. That gangsta walked away with something like thirty large in bills. Nick was solo. Suge and his goons didn't say ****. Can anybody confirm this?'

Happy Easter everybody, I got some family members coming by for dinner that mama's about to cook

That thread's funny as hell, it's funny how much they hate Nick Cannon, one person said: Kenean & Kel>>>>>Nick Cannon :rofl: :sipread:

:word: I agree with that, if kids and people in general are gonna do something violent or go out and rape each other then they have pschological problems that has nothing to do with music they listen to, btw I'm waiting for AJ to come back in here so I could ask him how old he was when he first heard Dr. Dre's "The Chronic" album, I'm sure he'd been about 12 years old and he turned all right, so what makes you that all 12 year olds now who buy 50 Cent's "The Massacre" are gonna go out there and rape or kill? I think we'd be in trouble if that happened, lol, I personally know some young kids in my town that listen to him so I guess they're gonna come kill me when I walk down the street... :stickpoke: And with some of this music out there now it's obvious that more people buy music based on hot beats rather than hot lyrics, basically they just use it as something that like to dance to or play loud in their car systems so their ain't really a harm in that, people vibe to the rhythms of the music to get their minds off the troubles in their lives, like I might dance to a Nelly song in the club with a girlbut when I'm at home relaxing and want to listen to lyrics I'll throw on some KRS-ONE and throw on LL's new album if I meet a nice girl this summer and she wants to come over to hang out with me, sometimes music could be the soundtrack to situations like that, lol...

Hey if anyone's interested I found this article on how teenagers are fascinated by rap, it's a long read but it's well worth reading: Another Rap on Rap Music Music—it surrounds us in our everyday lives. We hear it in the car on the radio, in shopping malls on the public announcement system and in our heads via the headphones of close proximity to our brains. One type of music that is highly criticized, highly politicized and very popular today is rap music. In November of 1991, David Samuels wrote an article for The New Republic about rap music entitled “The Rap on Rap: the ‘Black Music’ That Isn’t Either.” In the article, Samuels explained that the main consumers of rap music are white, suburban teenagers because rap is saturated with sex, violence, drugs and other aspects of crime, all of which are exotic to suburban whites and have no place in white society. Samuels also explores the history of rap music, from its insignificant beginnings called “toasting” in Jamaica, to the omnipresent hybrid form it has today due to the influences of white America (Samuels). “The Rap on Rap” is a fairly well written article and although Samuels believes that white consumers have imposed a high degree of influence on rap music, white consumers have only slightly affected rap music. David Samuels’s article “The Rap on Rap” was in certain aspects well written; however, there are some areas that need some work. One reason that this article was well done is that author’s avoidance of logical fallacies, which are arguments using false, misleading or illogical reasoning. It is important for a writer, like Samuels, to steer clear from these and other fallacies because they detract from the value of his or her writing and the author can lose credibility. Samuels does not use fallacies in his article, which can only help his argument and his credibility as a writer. A second way Samuels’s article was well written was his use of evidence and supporting facts to do just that—support his view on rap music. One of Samuels’s viewpoints is that rap appeals to whites because it is foreign, sexually charged and quite violent. He then goes on to cite specific lyrics that give backing to his opinion. One example of this is his views on violence in rap. Samuels says that violence is one reason why rap is popular, especially among suburban whites. He then quotes lyrics from N.W.A. and Ice Cube (after he left N.W.A.), like “A young nigger on the warpath and when I’m finished, it’s gonna be a bloodbath of cops, dying in L.A.” (276) and “Point blank, on a Caucasian. Cock the hammer and crack a smile. . .” (277). He also supports his views of the increase of white influences on rap music with examples. Samuels states, “Rap’s new mass audience was in large part the brainchild of Rick Rubin, a Jewish punk rocker. . .who founded Def Jam Records. . .” (274) (Rubin is Jewish, not black). Also, Samuels mentions the hit television show “Yo! MTV Raps” and a magazine devoted to rap music called The Source, which was founded by an upper-middle-class white man, as further evidence of white influence. David Samuels could have improved his article “The Rap on Rap” in two different areas. The first area that was not particularly good was the clarity of the author’s thesis. Samuels really never comes out and tells us, the readers, what his thesis is. Without a clear thesis, readers have trouble understanding the essay as a whole. As well as not understanding the verbiage and purpose of the essay, an unclear thesis questions the ability of an author to write in a convincing manner; and this, in effect, leads readers to question his or her knowledge on the subject and ultimately his or her credibility. Luckily for Samuels, the Common Culture editors clearly stated his thesis in a mini-prologue and prevented this sort of thing from happening. A second way this article could be made better is to have Samuels at the very least mention, if not explain, the other side of the argument. Expressing the views of the opposing side shows the reader that the author is a logical, well-balanced and open-minded debater. There was no evidence in the article that shows otherwise; there was no clear-cut, textual proof of Samuels giving credit to the other side. The Common Culture book classifies this article in the “Index of Rhetorical Mode” not as an argumentative piece, but rather as an analytical piece, which it is. This categorizing proves that Samuels is just trying to shove his opinion down the reader’s throat, not to have an intellectually stimulating conversation about rap music. In summary, David Samuels’s article “The Rap on Rap” was all right; it had both good and bad aspects to it. He avoided logical fallacies and supported his thoughts with real evidence, which were good for his essay; however, he was not clear about his thesis and did not discuss the viewpoints of his opponents, which were faults of his essay. Though the article was enjoyable, part of Samuels’s stance on rap music is wrong. He is right about why suburban whites enjoy rap music; however, white influences play only a minimal role in the progression of rap music. White, suburban teenagers must like rap music a lot, especially since they are the genre’s largest consuming demographic of rap. They like rap because it is foreign to them. This foreignness can be broken up into four aspects, which are sex, violence and crime, drugs and rhythm and beat. Sex has always been a taboo in white, middle-class society. Many people believe that sex is a gift from God and should wait until marriage. Pimps, hoes and prostitutes are often looked down upon for their filthy and immoral actions. So, instead of breaking the middle-class marriage rule, rap listeners can listen about sex and get some sexual satisfaction out of the music without actually committing to the act. Sir Mix-A-Lot’s song “Baby Got Back” talks exclusively about women’s buttocks and how sexually pleasing they are. Some of these lyrics include, “When a girl walks in with an itty-bitty waist and a round thing in your face you get sprung” and “My anaconda don’t want none unless you’ve got buns, hon” (Lyrics Style). “Getting sprung” refers to male sexual arousal and “anaconda” refers to the male genitals. Violence and crime is another reason why whites love rap music. Some of the worst, most deadly and most gruesome murders, rapes, arsons and other violent crimes occur in urban, poor areas. In the 1990s, Minneapolis was renamed to “Murderapolis” due to the high number of homicides that occurred there. It is definitely more common to hear about violent crimes taking place in urban America rather than in the suburbs; therefore, violence is intriguing to suburban whites, so they buy rap music to curb their curiosities. Dr. Dre’s song “Forgot About Dre” featuring Eminem graphically describes acts of violence, like “**** you too bitch, call the cops! I’ma kill you and them loud ass mother****in’ barkin’ dogs” and “. . .me and Dre stood next to burnt down house. Wit a can full of gas and a hand full of matches. . .”(Lyrics Style). Drugs are another theme widely spoke about in rap music that is appealing to white listeners. Although drug use is increasing out in the suburbs, it all started in big cities and the epicenter of drug use in America remains in urban areas. Drug use and abuse is also a white social taboo. Substances like cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamines are highly regarded as addicting, dangerous, unhealthy and even deadly. So, when rap music comes along with songs from N.W.A. that spoke of “trading oral sex for crack” (Samuels, 276) and Dr. Dre, whose “Chronic: 2001” CD cover has a large picture of a marijuana leaf on it, white suburbans buy the records to become a dealer or user without coming in contact with drugs. Finally, the rhythm and beat is what sets rap apart from any other music genre and draws in buyers of all races, especially whites. Rap originated in Jamaica, a country where the majority of citizens are black. Rap then traveled to New York City and other places with high African-American populations. So, rap was birthed into and has matured in black culture, giving it a distinct flavor from any other music type. It is this freshness and uncommonality to white society that is so enthralling to whites. People all the time say that they listen to rap just for the beat. Samuels is incorrect about the amount of influence white consumers have on rap music. Like moves and television, music is in a constant state of evolution; music progresses towards a more racy, unstable form as society becomes desensitized by its ever-increasing popular culture environment and as musicians, rappers included, have the need and desire to keep their current listening base and possible increase their listening base in the future. Take television for example. In the 1950 and ‘60s, TV shows like “Leave It to Beaver” and “The Andy Griffith Show” were popular hits; they were good, wholesome, family fun. Nowadays, few people watch these shows because they are so boring. Some of the topics on today’s shows, like sex, drug use, violence to name a few, would have never even been dreamed about being on TV in the ‘50s and ‘60s. The same goes for rap music. When rap first broke the scene in the late 1970s—early ‘80s, songs like “Rapper’s Delight” were all of the rage. Not once in the song do the rappers of Sugar Hill Gang curse, mention anything about drugs, sex or violence or make the listener cringe from hearing something terrible. Now look at rap today. In “In Da Club,” by 50 Cent, 50 Cent talks about possessing ecstasy (“Look mami I got the X if you into taking drugs”), having sex (“I’m into having sex”) and quite often then not he curses or says a derogatory name, like nigga (lyrics.astraweb.com). So why has rap music gotten so much worse compared to when it first began? Well, it is not because of white influence, but rather because society becomes desensitized to once suggestive and risqué subjects. In order to combat this and keep their fans, rappers must go to the next level so fans will want to come back for more and the rappers can make a living. Whites do not influence the content and form of rap music, but they do dictate which rappers move to the top and become part of the elite group called “The Rich and Famous.” Because, as Soundscan pointed out, white, teenage males living in the suburbs are the largest socioeconomic group consuming rap music albums, they have the ability to make or break a rapper’s careers. Consumers hear different artists on the radio, on MTV or in other places and then make a decision of whether or not to purchase that artist’s album. If an artist is not popular among the white, suburban group, then he or she will most likely have a difficult time selling a vast number of albums and will therefore quickly drift out of the music scene because he or she cannot make a living off of meager record sales. The David Samuels article “The Rap on Rap” was an article of mediocrity and his points were valid. He is correct about why whites like rap music, but incorrect with his statements that whites have an extraordinary amount of influence on the rap business. He claims that rap has become a hybrid of white and black culture when it may possibly be the rappers fault for the change in content and style. This rap music conundrum will probably never get solved. Only the rappers themselves know who or what influences them. So next time someone buys a rap album, he or she should think about his or her own rap on rap.

:word: I think the originators of hip-hop deserve the most credit 'cause basically all the mcs out today took their styles from them, let's be real, Eminem was studying Slick Rick and JJFP, Jay-Z was studying Kool G Rap and Big Daddy Kane while JJFP, Slick Rick, Kool G Rap, and Big Daddy Kane birthed their own styles basically and Eminem and Jay were kinda older when they came in the game while JJFP, Slick Rick and them were barely 20 when they came in the game, Eminem wouldn't be able to make an album on the level of "He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper" album at 20 years old, that'd be like if I came out and sold 10 million with one album, I don't wanna be ranked above all those that influenced me all of a sudden...

Well everybody wants fortune and fame no matter how much they say they don't, they all want to get platinum plaques and have a million dollars, people want to be successful so I don't see nothing wrong with that, reach for the sky, lol, and never once did I say 50 Cent is as great of an artist as Ice Cube and those ol' school artists I've been implying that throughout this thread, nobody is, that's like saying Nick Cannon is on the same level as Will Smith, we can't expect another golden era anymore, especially since the major labels don't sign the most talented artists, and when I said G-Unit is the NWA of this era, I mean in terms of success, not talentwise, don't get confused, talent don't measure sales anymore, it ain't like the golden era, blame Soundscan, which started in the early/mid-90s, labels found out what sells the most they monopolise off that, that's why gangsta rap has been so popular... A lot of kids listened to NWA too just like a lot of kids listen to G-Unit now, most people who buy rap albums are kids, no matter what artist it is rap has always been music of the youth, even when the radio didn't play NWA the kids still ran out to buy it anyway, kids are gonna get it no matter what BET could do if you think about, lol I don't think young kids should listen to either personally 'cause what it comes down to is that both artists have "Parental Advisory" labels on their albums that type of rap should be marketed to an older audience just like rated "R" movies for those type of groups or "PG-13" if it's artists like Public Enemy and Common, I think the rule is that you have to be 17 years old to buy a "Parental Advisory" album at the moment but that rule don't seem to be forced enough or either that maybe parents buy it for them? Is it really the artists fault in that case? They just make the music, nobody has to buy it if they don't want to and think it's such trash is what I say, parents need to monitor what their kids listen to, you can't blame G-Unit for the way the game is marketed either, maybe a few less kids would buy it if G-Unit was on late nights on BET, the networks should try but they're afraid they're risking ratings, is there really that many conscious rap fans that'd tune in to watch if they played Common all day? I wasn't allowed listen to a lot of gangsta rap when I was younger, I basically listened to mostly r&b back then, even though I'm older now to listen to some gangsta rap I don't like that much of it either... Bottomline though people protested the rap game when NWA was platinum, when Pac was platinum, and now when G-Unit is platinum, in 1988 and 1998 they refused to broadcast the rap Grammy award winner so JJFP protested in 1988, Jay-Z protested in 1998, maybe it'll happen again in 2008 with 50 Cent boycotting, lol, it's a constant cycle with history repeating itself, they wanna see rap go out of existance, maybe they're right, maybe we should just get rid of all rappers, send all of the rappers back to the 'hood while we're at it and have them kill each other instead of feeding their families off of success from doing music!!! :hmm: :shakehead: Should we blame G-Unit for going to war too while we're at it? I didn't know that the name of our president is 50 Cent... Is this gangsta rap really that distructive that everyone's gonna kill each other after they listen to it? If those making gangsta films could make millions why can't rappers make millions for gangsta rap? Shouldn't it be a double standard, don't just point at the rap game....

Well actually 50 Cent brought that point up when critics were protesting him holding a gun on the "Get Rich Or Die Tryin" posters for his movie he said that KRS' "Criminal Minded" also had a gun on the cover "And the billboards? 50: And as far as the billboard is concerned, I feel like their standard is based on music as an art form and not based on any other form of entertainment. And I mean, there hasn't been an album released with a gun or any other weapon on the cover of it since 1987, KRS-One, "Criminal Minded," and for having a piece of glass that was broken and a holster on their minds, they said I was supporting gun culture in "Get Rich or Die Tryin,'" because the different media outlets promoted the fact that I've actually experienced being shot nine times. I create my own name. The reason why they consider me more aggressive than the people they’ve seen in the past… there are people with similar experiences brought up in similar environments. They just try to fit in so much that once they start trying to fit in with that crowd, they start making a politically correct answer as opposed to what they actually think. With the billboard, there are standards placed on music as an art form that aren’t placed on any other forms of entertainment. What I mean by that is that you haven’t seen a gun or weapon on any cover of a CD since probably 1997 by any CD distributed by a major company. But if we walk into our local blockbuster, you’d find guns, knives, anything else you could find as a marketing tool. They’re advertising the film with these images and it’s exciting because death is a large form of entertainment, probably the largest. Everyone at this table figures they’re going to die. It’s our fate. So watching death in different ways is entertaining for us, whether it’s a high speed chase and a guy grabs a helicopter and flies away. We know the reality of it is that he wouldn’t be physically able to hold onto that helicopter and fall to his death. But it’s entertaining to watch. 2Pac and Biggie, I make references to them because they wrote so much about that in their music. Biggie’s themes in his albums are about readying to die, life after death, born again. 2Pac wrote about life threatening situations after being shot so often, it made it seem like he was obsessed with it. He even wrote music and material that he left behind after he died that made reference to him dying already. I think the significance in that ties back to us knowing that that’s our fate. For me, I wrote so much aggressive music ahead of releasing “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” that I was trying to have a good time, so I went an opposite direction. When I did “Go Shorty it’s your birthday,” everyday it’s someone’s birthday, everyday someone’s born. It’s a celebration of life so that’s why that record has been the biggest record released to date." Hell even "Mr. Clean Of The Rap Game" Will Smith was flashing heat on the "Bad Boys II" poster with Martin Lawrence, lol, 50's not the only one in hip-hop to have a gun on the cover so if they bring him down for it they'll have to bring down everybody else including KRS and Ice Cube, people can't judge a book by it's cover is what needs to be learned here, not everything these artists express is violence, if critics watch the movies and listen to the albums they'd see that, if violence is taken out of all entertainment there'll still be violence anyway, btw I wasn't referring to you Wes in that earlier post with that question, that was directed from what Trey was saying, and I don't like 50 Cent's music anymore than I did in my earlier posts but now I'm just saying that he's not as bad as people make him out to be, he could have some positive messages in some of his songs but he just can't do it as well as DMX, Ice Cube, or even Ja Rule for that matter so that's why I don't like him that much, instead of being critical of him so much I try to focus on what I do like....