bigted

Well I personally don't like Eminem or Vanilla Ice that much, they both have their flaws, Eminem was strong earlier in his career 'cause he learned from Vanilla Ice's mistakes he made early in his career but now Vanilla Ice is stronger than he was when he was famous earlier in his career but he ain't on a top label to promote himself so the general public assumes that he's still wack as he was 15 years ago, but I think the most consistant white rap artist besides Beastie Boys who've been in the game for almost 20 years with a solid catalog is Aesop Rock, he's the Jay-Z of the underground rap game for the last 10 years, they don't give credit to much underground though in the media, Masta Ace is the LL Cool J of the underground, underground king in the game for 20 years now, y'all should check out those 2 mcs Aesop Rock and Masta Ace, they're on the same level as Jay-Z and LL Cool J to me, btw I could care less who you like but don't expect me to have the same opinion as you and anyway all I was stating is that Eminem's not a pioneer and it's true, I mean come on now rap didn't start in 1999, lol...

Well in reality Eminem's more pop than Vanilla Ice is now, Vanilla makes more street music and works with credible mcs like Chuck D while Eminem's dancing in videos with 50 Cent, lol, if Eminem released "Encore" 15 years ago he'd get bashed just like Vanilla Ice did....

Last in year in an interview Chuck D called Vanilla Ice the Jackie Robinson of rap 'cause he was the first white rapper to sell 10 million and he received a lot of criticism for not being black enough just like Jackie received criticism for being the only black baseball player where there was only white baseball players on top, Vanilla Ice opened the doors for Eminem, Bubba Sparxx, and Kid Rock and it's true, Beastie Boys were the first white group to blow up but Vanilla Ice was the first white solo rapper to get big, you could say Beastie Boys opened doors for other groups like Limp Biskit though I guess, bottomline is that Eminem didn't open doors for anybody, they were already opened when he came in and if he came out 15 years ago, he'd probably receive the same amount of criticism that Vanilla Ice did and probably fold under pressure like he did and have a short time on top, Eminem benefits from a weak era of rappers right now, he wouldn't be in the game for more than 5 years if he came out in the golden era, and selling 10 million in that time is like selling 30 million now, it was a rare thing then, and if Vanilla Ice came out now he probably would be in the game longer himself, his latest albums are better than Eminem's "Encore" in fact probably, lol

You mean to tell me that rappers are the only celebrities that get shot, murdered? Violence happens anyway no matter what the state of rap is, I could walk down the street and get shot... Anyway, it's a supply and demand thing with the rap industry, if people want to hear more violent songs they're gonna get them but if they want a change then a change'll happen, obviously there's not enough who want to see a change, if you want to see a change just choose carefully what you buy is basically what I'm saying, I respect all types of hip-hop/rap myself if the artists are being creative with it, there's just not enough creativity period in my view, Nick Cannon is not as funny as Fresh Prince and 50 Cent is not as street smart as Ice Cube quite frankly so it's like I'm not like I'm gonna run out of my way to buy their albums, the rap game as a whole is getting tired out to me, btw I found a part of an interview where KRS talks about how all types of emotions are needed in hip-hop, it's up to the radio to play all of them but if fans are really tired of the way radio format is they should turn off the radio and play their CDs they like and if enough people do that radio stations'll change their format if they want higher ratings, supply and demand, remember that: "On Creative Writing AllHip-Hop.com: Would you say that all lyrics, I don’t care if its 50 Cent, Nas, Mobb Deep; if their lyrics set up a story it should be considered a form of creative writing? KRS ONE: Yes. AllHip-Hop.com: Regardless… if it’s derogatory? KRS ONE: Yes. KRS ONE: Yes, yes, yes, yes. All writing is good writing, all of it. We need balance.The issue is the program director who gets, or music director, or editor of a publication, or video programmer who gets a barrage of Hip-Hop material, or should I say they get a barrage of rap music. Some is conscious, some gangster, some comedy, some sex, some this that…they get all of it. They pick out of a large variety of music to play, they pick the most thugged out thing they can find and that’s what we hear all day on the radio. So the issue is not really with Hip-Hop and its writers. We should write about everything. But our children don’t need to hear certain thoughts at 9am in the morning while they are trying to get ready to go to school, or at 9 at night when you’re trying to wash them up to go bed. Hip-Hop should be more family-orientated being that most Hip-Hoppas are family people. The nonsense you see on television is a joke of course. The majority of people who say “yo! I grew up in Hip-Hop, that’s my culture, that’s what I grew up in.” We have children now, we’re married now, we have mortgages, car payments, cell bills. We got things to do. We’re not standing on the corner like the video depicts. So I say more of us have to speak up. Post Your Feedback.

Trump Hires Wyclef Jean to Perform Concert FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Donald Trump is a fan of Wyclef Jean. Trump invited the hip-hop artist to perform at a concert Friday night for about 200 business associates. "I'm very into music, and Clef is a great guy," Trump told The Associated Press. Jean took the stage neatly dressed in a suit and sang more than a dozen songs. By the time his hour-long performance was over, the Grammy-award winning artist was stripped to his bare feet, pants and undershirt. Jean also appeared on Trump's show "The Apprentice" and said he looks to the real estate mogul for business advice. "He rules. He's real tough when it comes to business," Jean said. "I'm like a sponge right now. I know I can pick up things from him." The concert celebrated one of Trump's latest investments, the Trump International Hotel & Tower Fort Lauderdale. The luxury residence should be completed in 20 months, he said.

Bump for whoever didn't see this, btw I'm diggin' that video too

Will was on Oprah in February? :hmm:

Yeah I like the remix for "Touch It" much better than the original, it'd been even more complete if Will was on it though, I could picture him rippin' that track to shreads

Bump for anyone that missed it!

this is something the rap world needs, 2 of the most creative lyricists ever coming 2gether like this!! :1-smile:

Yeah that's kinda freaky how "Like Toy Soldiers" video came to life with Proof dying in the video and Eminem rushing to the emergency room, a lot of people talking about that....

Yeah I can't lie, Rhianna's bangin', she's gonna be my future baby mama :wiggle:

This thread's still going? Bow Wow said in that interview that he respects everybody in hip-hop and he's just saying that he's one of the most successful out now, it's a harmless statement, somebody needs to lock this thread up, leave Bow Wow alone already, there's no beef anymore, if you ain't got nothin' nice to say don't say nothin' :tantrum:

Well 50 Cent has some intelligent songs too, don't be fooled by what you hear on the radio(even though a lot of those songs ain't really violent either if you think about it, they're just dance songs), he's not as dumb as people make him out to be, remember Will said when he won the AMA award he considers him his friend and that he's not referring him on "Lost and Found", he's referring to those who imitate what people like him do instead of being themselves, that's who he considers "Lost", in other words a rich kid in the suburbs who tries acting like a studio gangsta is what Big Will is referring to, Mary J. Blidge also said in a recent interview that she considers 50 intelligent and askshim for advice, I liked some of his songs on his "Get Rich Or Die Tryin" album like "Many Men"and "I Gotta Make It To Heaven", these are the type of songs that describe the struggles of the streetlife not quite as well as Ice Cube does but at least he tried there, lol, if he made more songs like that and spent less times criticising half the rap industry maybe I'd like him more, I understand though it's an image to sell his albums, now of course he ain't on the same level as Ice Cube but like Ice Cube he don't rap about violence on all of his songs, in fact what rapper makes all songs about violence? I can't really think of one, that'd be a really shallow artist that nobody'd listen to, probably some of those kids that post their songs on myspace, lol, fans look for versatility in their music and don't want to hear an album with everything sounding the same, if you don't like 50 Cent so much just don't buy any of his music and support who do like and don't spend so much time dissin' him, let him live damn it, I don't like him much either but you don't see me making a million posts dissin' him, I rather talk about LL Cool J and KRS-ONE instead....

Yeah I agree with that, that's what it comes down to who I like, if an artist is a great songwriter and could flow real well I'll listen to them, that's why I like Ice Cube more than 50 Cent, Ice Cube's much more talented but they both have violent elements in their music, I like some gangsta rap but I like listening to conscious rap artists more...

Yeah I agree that using NWA as an example is not a smart example for DMC to make that point, they were basically the G-Unit of their time, sure you could say NWA had some positive messages in their songs too but so does G-Unit if you listen to their albums so I don't see the difference except that NWA's legendary and G-Unit ain't yet, but he should of mentioned JJFP instead of NWA if he wanted to talk about their being non violent rappers then, there's still non violent rappers now too but labels don't promote them, diss the labels, not the artists, like I said in the other thread if labels promote a certain image, then the game'll be unbalanced, all artists need to be heard, there should be as much of an opportunity for the Talib Kwelis to be heard as much as the 50 Cents of the world, that also comes down to what the fans want to listen to, people sleep on Talib Kweli but yet they're the ones who all yell out 50 Cent's wack!, well if you feel he's so wack listen to somebody else then, violent music don't promote violence either I mean look at what happened to Jam Master Jay and Scott LaRock even though they weren't gangsta artists, when all the rap music was clean in the early '80s it was the crack era and violence was at an all-time high worse than now, so why do you say music has to do with the way violence is? That's silly!!! Turntable's right, it's only entertainment, it's not like I'm gonna shoot somebody after watching "Bad Boys"??!!, lol

Well some of these rappers like G-Unit give to charities privately though, that's just when people say that Will is a sell out that don't help out the community but he does it privately too without press, right? Btw AJ, I read an article a month ago on Allhiphop.com about how G-Unit is gonna be doing a celebrity golf tournament with your boy Nick Cannon, with proceeds going to kids with cancer so you can't say they don't s***... EDIT: I tried searching for that topic there I couldn't find it, I know I read it on some site but there is an article here about how G-Unit and Luda did something for kids during Christmas: http://www.allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?ID=5182 I think that the press should cover more of the good things that rappers do and stop focusing on negativity 'cause they're not as bad of people that they make them out to be, some of these thug rappers are like actors, their music don't really reflect who they are, record labels hype their image for high sales, lol, and btw why mention G-Unit in this post? This is about Pras not G-Unit anyway, there's no need to go off-topic but since we're there.... I really hope that Fugee album comes out soon, we need some real artists like them at the top of the rap world and music world in general on top 'cause there's a lot of boring stuff out there, more innovative artists needed, I personally must admit that I don't like how record labels throw true artists to the side but they want money though, it's the gift and the curse that hip-hop became a billion dollar buisiness to me, it helps talented artists have a better life and that's a good thing but there's a bunch of greedy people out there running these labels that know that negativity sells so they promote it, there's a lot of conscious artists out there but they get pushed off to the underground or the back of the label with no promotion for labels to promote the thug images, the rap game became the porno industry, we need more executives like Russell Simmons that care about displaying the heart of hip-hop not just monopolising off of it for themselves, keep in mind that the executives and presidents of the labels are the ones that give the green light to the artists to release the albums so if they really had any integrity they'd tell the artist to clean up some of their songs before releasing the albums but they know it won't sell so they let the artists release the albums the way it is, shouldn't they be held accountable too? It's just like what Suge Knight did to 2Pac's image is what these executives do to a lot of these rappers out now, change their images so they become more profitable... Labels actually want the artists to be more violent so it could sell it's like the skit on Wyclef's "Carnival" album: "Guys you have to be more gangsta, more bloody, more hardcore, I'm not feeling this, more", lol.... Chuck D said this before in one of his terrordomes that record labels don't care if rappers go around and kill each other, as long as they make money off of their catalogue, I bet more people bought Proof's album this week 'cause he died and it'll be the same way if Eminem kills himself, they'll do a million tributes to him and he'll sell another 30 million albums from the grave putting more money in Jimmy Iovine's pockets, hearing people focus on negativity so much makes me sad sometimes, I wanna hear more feel good stories like this with Pras helping out homeless becoming more public to show that these rappers are human like any of us :shakehead:

:word: People focus on the negatives more than the positives, Will gets way more love than hate....

I know a lot of people on this board including myself have been critical about Eminem's music but I think we need to keep Eminem in our thoughts 'cause he's has a lot of drama in his life right now with his friend Proof dying, dealing with his divorce, he's having thoughts of suicide, hopefully he could get it together with his life and lead an example to the millions that buy his music and look up to him: ****EXCLUSIVE**** April 13, 2006. In an exclusive interview granted to MediaTakeout.com, a close friend of Marshall "Eminem" Mathers is worried that the rap star may be suicidal. The friend, who has asked to remain anonymous, claims that Eminem's break-up with his two-time wife Kim and the recent death of his best friend may be too much for the rap superstar to endure. According to the friend, "I'm not sure that [Eminem] can handle all this ... I'm worried that he may try to hurt himself." The past year has been particularly trying for Eminem. Eight months ago the platinum-selling artist checked himself into a substance abuse clinic to recover from a sleeping pill addiction. Last week, Eminem announced that he was divorcing his longtime love Kim Mathers. Shortly afterwards, Kim suggested on a Detroit radio show that Eminem is still addicted to sleeping pills. And two days ago, Eminem's best friend Deshaun "Proof" Holton was gunned down in a Detroit nightclub. Eminem is no stranger to suicide. The rapper has admitted to attempting suicide in 1997. After his then girlfriend Kim left him and barred him from visiting their child, Eminem unsuccessfully tried to take his life by ingesting more than a dozen pain killers. Two of Eminem's uncles, however, were successful in their suicide attempts. In 1992, Ronnie Nelson, the brother of Eminem's mother, shot himself with a shotgun. In 2004, Todd Nelson, another brother of Eminem's mother, shot himself in the head as he sat in his car. These suicides are particularly troubling since studies show that a person with a family history of suicide is two and a half times more likely to take their own life. Developing... www.mediatakeout.com __________________

I could agree with some of the stuff you're saying guest, I mean if this was a rapper we all like on this board like Busta Rhymes saying that "Will's a real n***" I bet we wouldn't criticise him so hard for saying it and we'd be more happy about him giving Will props but since we don't like TI we criticise everything he says, even if it's a good thing he said about Will, you want Will to come out now and start beef with him or something, lol? But at the same time even though a lot of people say the "n" word doesn't mean it's a good thing, it's a negative word no matter what way you twist it the way I see it and I don't like saying it personally 'cause I don't know how some people'll take it but if one of my friends says "what's up my n***?", i'm cool with that 'cause they mean it in a positive way and that's the way it is here too with TI, he considers Will a real dude like I said earlier, hate him or love him, he respects Will...

Rapper Pras Of The Fugees To Feed Homeless On Easter By Mike Winslow Date: 4/14/2006 12:20 pm Fugees member Pras Michel has agreed to help feed homeless people in Los Angeles, where the rapper recently filmed First Night, a documentary on homelessness in America. Pras will discuss the homeless epidemic Sunday (April 16) at The Midnight Mission, located in downtown Los Angeles. For First Night, the rapper spent nine days and nine nights undercover as a homeless man in a 50 square block area of downtown Los Angeles known as "skid row." Pras started filming his exploits on March 26 and finished on April 5, using only the clothes on his back and $9 dollars. The documentary also contains six inspirational stories from people who overcame their impoverished situations.

Well maybe he might record another "Men In Black" song for it :hmm:

I don't think Cassidy is referring to the emcees, he's referring to how the older generation wasn't guiding the youth down in the right direction when the "crack era" took over in the inner cities during the 70s and 80s in inner cities, he's not talking about music, he's talking about street life, he means that parents weren't leading their kids down the right direction 'cause they were caught up in the pimping and drugs themselves, and it still exists now, it's good to see that he understands that and it sounds like he really wants to be a positive role model for the youth that might listen to him, I wish him the best...

Eminem's comments on Proof: "You don't know where to begin when you lose somebody who's such a big part life for so long. Proof and I were brothers. He pushed me to become who I am. Without Proof's guidance and encouragement there would have been a Marshall Mathers, but probably not an Eminem and certainly never a Slim Shady. Not a day will go by without his spirit and influence around us all. He will be missed as a friend, father and both the heart and ambassador of Detroit hip-hop. Right now, there's a lot of people focusing on the way he died. I want to remember the way he lived. Proof was funny, he was smart, he was charming. He inspired everyone around him. He can never, ever be replaced. He was, and always will be, my best friend." -EMINEM http://www.d12world.com/index.php?s=...44986075,66471

Yeah this is DMC from the group Run-DMC, lol, anyway DMX actually said something in an recent interview when he signed to Columbia Records that he doesn't let his kids listen to rap 'cause he thinks there's too much violence and sex in it, probably not his music either, lol: "To be sure, hip-hop has changed in the past three years and Simmons considers today's gangster/bling rhymes vapid. "It's music I wouldn't even let my 13-year-old son listen to," he says, sitting in his recording studio in upstate New York. "It's not real. No one is saying anything. It's not rap, it's crap. There is no soul. I refuse to conform." But then again he don't rap about killing in all of his songs so he probably burns a CD of some of his songs for them to listen to,if you actually heard any of his albums you'd know that he ain't like most rappers out today since he makes quite a bit of songs with positive messages in them, he's another mc that could clean up the rap gimmicks out now when his album drops, hopefully it blows up like his first album but with Columbia promoting who knows if that'll happen...