bigted

Well I guess this is the only way to get people talkin' about Bloodhound Gang so I don't take it serious, lol.

Bush's approval rating is still down: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Poll: Bush's Job Approval Remains Low By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer 40 minutes ago WASHINGTON - President Bush's job approval is mired at the lowest level of his presidency, and public feelings about the nation's direction have sunk to new depths in an Associated Press-Ipsos poll. ADVERTISEMENT People are anxious about Iraq, the economy, gas prices and the management of billions of dollars being spent for recovery from the nation's worst natural disaster. "There is a growing, deep-seated discontentment and pessimism about the direction of the country," said Republican strategist Tony Fabrizio, who believes that pessimism is not always aimed at the president and his policies. Only 28 percent say the country is headed in the right direction and two-thirds, 66 percent, say the country is on the wrong track, the AP-Ipsos poll found. Those most likely to have lost optimism on that score include several groups that supported Bush in his re-election: white evangelicals, down 30 percentage points; Republican women, down 28 points; Southerners, down 26 points, and suburban men, down 20. Americans' confidence in the nation's direction has been shaken on several fronts. Consumer confidence is near the lowest level in two years. Most people are unhappy with the president's handling of the economy, gas prices and hurricane recovery. Just over a third approve of his handling of Iraq. Six in 10 are unsure whether billions of dollars for hurricane relief will be spent wisely. Bush's job approval was 39 percent in the poll, about where he's been for the three months. "We've lost focus on where we're supposed to be going and not able to respond to the crises that affect the people of this country," said David Ernest, a Republican from San Ramon, Calif., who is angry about the government's response to Hurricane Katrina. "We're mired in a Middle Eastern adventure and we've taken the focus off of our own country." Four of five Republicans say they approve of Bush's job performance, close to the level of support he's had from his base for months. But the enthusiasm of that support has dipped over the last year. Almost two-thirds of Republicans strongly approved of the job done by Bush in December 2004, soon after his re-election. The AP-Ipsos survey found that just half in his own party feel that way now. "It's very difficult for him because he is trying to get more support generally from the American public by seeming more moderate and showing he's a strong leader at the same time he has a rebellion within his own party," said James Thurber, a political scientist at American University. "The far right is starting to be very open about their claim that he's not a real conservative." Fiscal conservatives are complaining about huge budget deficits and plans to spend billions on hurricane recovery. Social conservatives are alarmed about his choice of a relatively unknown lawyer, Harriet Miers, as a nominee for the Supreme Court. Miers, Bush's longtime personal attorney, has most recently served as White House counsel. Bush's has tried to reassure conservatives about Miers. He's also trying to counter critics of the war by tying U.S. efforts in Iraq to the larger war against terrorism. And he's made frequent trips to the areas devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita to offset criticism of the government's initial response to Katrina. Even those efforts get viewed with suspicion by some. "I just think the president is doing things for political reasons, not what's right for the people," said Traci Wallace, a Democrat from Tallahassee, Fla. "Every time he makes a trip to the hurricane zone, he's blowing a million dollars." Of all the problems facing the country, the continuing war in Iraq is the one that troubles some Bush supporters the most. "I approve of what the president is doing, but it's a mixed decision," said Richard Saulinski, a Republican from Orland Park, Ill. "We should get out of Iraq. It seems like there's no light at the end of the tunnel. I just think we're dealing with a culture we don't really understand." The poll of 1,000 adults was conducted by Ipsos, an international polling company, from Monday to Wednesday and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. ___ AP manager of news surveys Trevor Tompson contributed to this story.

Maybe it's something bigger than just promoting "Lost and Found" if they announce it! :1-say-yes:

Did LL say Canibus' name in the verse? When any rapper makes a battle verse you don't know if they're specifically talkin' about a rapper particular sometimes when they don't name anybody. You wouldn't know if Canibus didn't release "2nd Round Knockout" and called LL out that LL was dissin' him in the song and talked all that crap about the conversations in the interviews, LL wasn't talkin' about it, he was out promoting his album and workin' on a movie, he wasn't stressin' on Canibus then, he thought that the beef was over, he moved on from that, Canibus was the immature one that stressed on it. We all know now as a fact that LL did diss him but you wouldn't know if Canibus never released "2nd Round Knockout", he used LL's name just so he could get fame since people didn't know of him yet but LL had the last laugh 'cause LL's still famous now! :stickpoke: When LL battled Kool Moe Dee, MC Hammer, and Ice-T they were all known mcs already so they had the right to diss LL if they wanted and it'd be more competitive since they were on the same level then too, this wasn't an amateur mc battle that he was in this is the top mc of the hip-hop industry that he was facing; the guy who brought hip-hop from underground to the mainstream, and Canibus was an unknown up-and-coming mc so he should've tried establishing himself 1st before dissin' LL, wouldn't you say that I'm just trying to get fame if I dissed LL on my 1st single coming out if I just got signed? I honestly wouldn't let that phase me since LL's the greatest, I would just work on my album and that's it as long as he didn't personally say, "I'm challengin' amateur mcs like Big Ted", then I'd retailiate. It's below the belt just like when 50 Cent disses everybody more famous than him, that's below the belt to do that. If you assumed back then that LL dissed Canibus in that song you could also assume that FP dissed Eminem in "Freakin' It" by sayin' "Mr. Clean but the fact remains/ I got girls that don't speak english screamin' my name/ For all y'all rappers that talk about who you're gonna put in a Hearse/do me a favor write one verse without a curse" plus what he said on the MTV awards and maybe that actually lead for Eminem sayin' "Will Smith says he don't have to curse to sell records/well I do so f*** him and f*** you too", right? I thought that was below the belt too, Will didn't specifically say Eminem's name in the song or when he was talking at the MTV awards so Em should've said, "Some rappers say they don't have to curse to sell records/well I do so f*** them and f*** you too", that way it'd show Em dissin' a whole group of rappers and not just Will. EDIT: AJ if you got that "Rasta Imposter" track you could send it to Tim and he could play it on the JJFP radio, I'm broke right now but when I get money up I'm gonna pm you to send that track to me if that's aight with you homie, I need to get a copy of "Ripper Strikes Back" too since I didn't buy DMX's 1st album right away, lol, I was only able to download it, I actually taped it from the radio when it came out but I misplaced the tape, lol. I just found an article where Canibus says that Em ghostwrote battle rhymes for LL when they were battlin', that's the most rediculous thing I've ever heard, Canibus is way out of line, "No reason for ghostwriters/Every year I get tighter": http://md74850.tripod.com/hiphop/id1.html

Da Brakes, LL didn't have to change his verse since Canibus changed his, he didn't specifically callin' out Canibus in the song when he said "Tearin' every mc in the game/to play yourself out of position and mention my name", maybe Canibus thought LL was referring to him since he is a battle rapper so I guess it was to be expected that he'd answer back I could see your point but nobody knew that LL was referring to Canibus until "2nd Round KO" came out and Canibus brought it to light, Canibus started the battle.

That's a funny coincidence I was listening to "Willenium" yesterday too, lol, such a classic! :1-say-yes:

Great news, I hope he drops some new freestyles! :rockon:

Looks dope, can't wait to check it out! :yeah:

Redman's dope, I'm gonna check it out later, thanks! :rockon:

Musicians Wary of Singing About Katrina By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY AP Music Writer NEW YORK - Where have all the anthems gone? In times of war, tragedy and turmoil, many hit songs have eloquently expressed a collective angst. But even though Hurricane Katrina has already inspired several musical efforts, it seems doubtful this disaster of huge social and political implications will provoke something that transcends entertainment to capture the spirit of the country - let alone the world. "I don't know if anybody wants to mix their politics with their entertainment," singer-songwriter Fiona Apple said in a recent interview. "I can't think about anybody outside of country music that's even attempted to do an anthem-type song that's reflective of what's going on," she said. Once upon a time, it was almost expected that musicians would opine on the world. Bob Dylan's "Blowin' In the Wind" touched on the tumult of the civil rights era; Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" spoke to the social upheaval of the wartime 1970s; 1985's star-studded "We Are The World" addressed the heartbreaking starvation of millions in Somalia. "They are songs that probe," says veteran rock journalist Anthony DeCurtis, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine. "They're not position papers. They're statements about the human condition in a way. ... It captures something beyond 'I'm right and you're wrong.'" Not only were those songs important political or social statements, they were also major hits. Record charts were a barometer for the much of the nation's mood, from worries about war (John Lennon's "Imagine") to women's rights (Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman") to disillusionment (The Temptations' "Ball of Confusion"). Flash forward to today: Most pop songs are about love, partying or relationship drama. "The climate of today is not really focused as much as it was then on being able to speak about different cultural issues or different situations that were going on politically," says Alicia Keys. DeCurtis says the public has become so fragmented, it's difficult for one song to unite people: "Who's going to do it? Who has the authority to kind of step into that role and speak for everybody?" Not that all artists are avoiding meaningful music. Green Day's "American Idiot," their multiplatinum rock opera, centers on the band's opposition to the war. Barbra Streisand's new song "Stranger in a Strange Land" is about a soldier. And after the 9/11 tragedy, a few related songs permeated the airwaves, most notably Alan Jackson's "Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)" and Bruce Springsteen's "The Rising." And Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue" was a gung-ho patriotic ode. But those were the exceptions, not the rule. Barbra Streisand says some artists may be reluctant to put social issues in their music because it might cost them fans instead of adding new ones. "I can only think of fear," she said. "I really don't know. Maybe it will stop their sales, or they'll think people won't buy their records. I don't think that way." Many musicians probably remember what happened to the Dixie Chicks. Natalie Maines' comment to a London audience expressing disapproval of George Bush near the start of the Iraq war sparked widespread outrage among the trio's country audience, and their record sales plummeted. "Look at what happens when people get up on podiums and talk about politics," Apple said. But even songs having a conscious edge with little political subtext have difficulty resonating with audiences. Paul McCartney's "Freedom," which he wrote after 9/11, got plenty of attention but little airplay. Neither did Neil Young's "Let's Roll," a tribute to victims on one of the doomed planes. That same year, Bono's multi-star remake of "What's Going On" for World AIDS Day didn't become the next "We Are The World," despite a lineup that included Keys, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Timberlake and Gwen Stefani. "It's a vexing type of question," said DeCurtis. "It seems silly, because music has been expressing these issues for centuries - it's hard to think that it doesn't have the cultural standing to do it any more." Still, people are trying. Prince had a Katrina song on his Web site, "S.S.T." Stevie Wonder recently debuted "Shelter In The Rain," with all royalties going to Katrina relief. James Taylor is helping raise funds through song. And Michael Jackson is aiming to write another "We Are The World" for Katrina victims with an all-star lineup (though exactly who will or won't participating is unclear). Producer/rapper Timbaland, who has been active in the relief effort, and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons have both said they plan to do albums that will raise money for victims. "This naturally will definitely affect artists as individuals and surely make us reflect in our writing," says Keys. "I do feel that there are a lot of great songs to be born out of the time that we're dealing with now."

"When young sons fantasize of borrowing flows tell little shorty with the big mouth the bank is closed (yeah, word up) The symbol on my arm is off limits to challengers You hold the rusty swords I swing the Excalibur How dare you step up in my dimension Your little a** should be somewher cryin on detention Watch your mouth better yet hold your tongue I'ma do this s*** for free this time this one's for fun Blow you to pieces, leave you covered in feces with one thesis ("LL Cool J is hard") Every little boy wanna pick up the mic and try to run with the big boys and live up to the real hype But that's like pickin up a ball, playin with Mike Swingin at Ken Griffey or challengin Roy to a fight Snappin, you ameteur MC's Don't you know I'm like the Dream Team tourin overseas For rappers in my circle I'm a deadly disease Ringmaster, bringin a tiger cub to his knees (uhh) In the history of rap they've never seen such prominence Your naive confidence gets crushed by my dominance (word up) Now let's get back to this mic on my arm If it ever left my side it'd transform into a time bomb You don't wanna borrow that, you wanna idolize And you don't wanna make me mad n*** you wanna socalize And I'm daring every MC in the game to play yourself out position, and mention my name I make a rhyme for every syllable in your name Go platinum for every time your grimy a** was on the train Watch your mouth don't ever step out of line LL Cool J n****, greatest of all time"-LL "4,3,,2,1"

I honestly wished he performed more songs off of "He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper" and "Code Red", I think more people need to buy those albums too! :yeah: :lolsign:

Happy Birthday! :rockon:

That's what wrong with the rap game right now the legends ain't respected, LL respected Canibus enough to put him on his song but Canibus shouldn't get so gased to act like he's the greatest rapper ever now, LL is one of the first rappers to go platinum with battle tracks like "Rock The Bells" and "I Need A Beat" when Canibus was in elementary school, these tracks were the blueprint to the way rappers come up with punchlines, especially "Mama Said Knock You Out" and "Jack The Ripper", the list of his battlin' skill tracks goes on and on "Till Da Break Of Dawn", lol. Canibus is immature to get pissed that LL told him to change his verse of the song, he could've apologised to him right there and kept it movin' if he realised he was offending LL but instead he made a song dissin' LL, that's childish in my opinion, I could see if it was some other new rapper coming up like Ja Rule that criticised him but he shoulda let it slide since it was LL. Going after the most famous rapper in hip-hop history is below the belt when you're an unknown rapper, you just don't get signed to the Bulls and say that you deserve to get more shots than Jordan that just have more MVP trophies that you got games played. Maybe I'm wrong but I think that you should respect the elders of the game. These new rappers can't take criticism from the ol' school legends like men, look at Eminem too, he was immature to diss Will just 'cause Will told rappers not to curse so much on their songs when he really looked up to Will growing up. EDIT: I just wanted to throw some of what LL said here on "4,3,2,1", he was referring to mcs in general here it's clear to see, a lot of mcs brag but really only a chosen few like LL could back what they say: "Every little boy wanna pick up the mic And try to run with the big boys and live up to the real hype But that's like pickin up a ball, playin with Mike Swingin at Ken Griffey or challengin Roy to a fight Snappin, you ameteur MC's Don't you know I'm like the Dream Team tourin overseas For rappers in my circle I'm a deadly disease Ringmaster, bringin a tiger cub to his knees (uhh) In the history of rap they've never seen such prominence Your naive confidence gets crushed by my dominance"

Well that's why I don't listen to radio, basically everyone I like ain't popular, sometimes I wonder if it's just me that doesn't like what's getting airplay but I go on hip-hop forums like here and see I ain't the only one that feels this way, lol, I wanna see Will do well to change that but that seems like a pipedream so I ain't worrying about it, all we could do is support as much as we can but if it doesn't happen at least we tried, I'm still voting whenever I get a moment to.

Well the commercial fans don't really have good taste, most of the my favorite rappers have low sales, I'm used to it, everybody here had their expectations too high and were hoping that Will would dominate the rap game but that's a fantasy since not many people except positive rappers, especially positive rappers that don't curse, this is 2005 not 1990, for him to go gold today is a miracle in itself, how are Public Enemy, De La Soul, and KRS-ONE doing now? Believe or not they release albums almost every year still, they're always touring but yet they have such small fanbases, it's like they haven't gone gold in the last 10 years it seems, if they were all doing well, maybe Will'd be doing better too, you look at when "Big Willie Style" was having so much success, Rakim was platinum, KRS was gold, Wyclef was multi-platinum, LL was platinum, Busta was multi-platinum, Wu-Tang was multi-platinum, MC Lyte was platinum, Missy Elliot was multi-platinum, Public Enemy was gold, they all were doing well and it looked like the return of the golden era but now they're all struggling with sales once Dr. Dre came back in '99 then Eminem, Nelly, Lil' Jon, and 50 Cent took the rap game over so there's not much variety anymore to say that there would be a large audience to anticipate rappers like FP, Common, and LL Cool J, they're called soft/"nerd" rappers by commercial rap fans. Dr. Dre could drop albums every 10 years and sell millions each time 'cause gangsta rap is what people love to eat up. btw my expectations went down after the 1st week when it only sold 90,000 like I stated before, how many albums selling that little coming out go mulit-platinum? It'd be nice if they played "Party Starter" but I don't really watch MTV or listen to radio anyway so I ain't fazed if they don't, I'd rather check on the internet or a magazine to see what's coming out than watch and listen through all that garbage.

Well in the Eastern Conference Kenyon Martin was dominant I think that's what I was referring to, especially since Shaq was on the Lakers then, now that he's on the Nuggets he don't look so dominant since he gotta go up against Garnett and Duncan on a regular basis.

Here's everybody's records for this week: bigted-9-5 TopDawg14-10-4 powersrya-10-4 jonasdk-10-4

Hey now well Canibus didn't diss LL in the verse on "4,3,2,1" 'cause LL told him to change the verse, I mean there's nothin' wrong with that, LL was doing Canibus a favor by puttin' him on the song for him to get exposure and Canibus returns the favor by making a video dissin' LL? That's foul! :word: LL's verse on "4,3,2,1" was a diss to the rap industry not only Canibus, it was a warning to all rappers that you can't f*** with the Michael Jordan of rap and he has every right to say that, he's been out longer than most rappers today were born, I mean if he can't boast who can? LL's verse on that song should been enough warning for Canibus to squash the beef then since it's one of LL's greatest verses ever and one of the best rap verses of all time in my opinion but oh well if he ain't dissin' LL now it's all good, if people wanna say Canibus won the battle it's irrelevant since LL's winning the war 'cause LL's career is still relevant now, he used that criticism from Canibus as motivation to stay in the game, "The G.O.A.T." album solidified his street cred in the rap game, he thanks Canibus in the credits of "The G.O.A.T." album for inspiration. btw Canibus battled Eminem? It seems that all Da Brakes' favorite rappers diss each other! :rofl:

Maybe if Will battled Eminem and released "Mr. Nice Guy" as a single "Lost and Found"'d be triple platinum but that'd boost Em's sales too! :chuks: :lolsign: The world did pay attention to the album though, it's platinum worldwide, only a handful of rappers could say that, Common released his last album 3 years ago, Nas released his last one before "Street's Disciple" 2 years before that and so did LL, the only popular rapper that has consistant sales releasing albums every year is Jay-Z but I don't think "Black Album" sold as much as "Volume 2" either, nobody sells 5 million every album!

Common is on his 3rd single and he ain't platinum yet and he got the hottest producer in the game producing his album to hype it up, Will didn't have that hype for his album, he had a bunch of unknown producers on it instead along with few guest appearances, plus no PA label on his album, he didn't follow what everyone else in commercial rap is doing so he's not the popular choice, going gold is great, only a handful of albums have even done that this year, that'd be bad if it was 2000 when the highest selling rappers were selling over 10 million and many more were going platinum, Em and Nelly are even only selling half of what they used to and they're the highest selling ones, nobody buys much anymore, going gold is basically the same success as "Willenium" had if you look at it realisitically,it's like the 6th highest selling album this year in commercial rap I believe so it ain't a flop, he outsold a lot of rappers like Bow Wow, Fat Joe, Cassidy, and Tony Yayo!

Who performs anything other than their singles on promotional shows? Every show LL was performing on TV last year he performed "Headsprung" and "Hush". Kanye's performing "Golddigger" on every show he goes on and that's working pretty well for him right now too. I mean if 1.4 million could buy Kanye's album from "Gold Digger", 1.4 million could've easily bought Will's album from "Switch" in the first month, selling 90,000 the 1st week for a highly anticipated album was the indication the album was gonna have a long road to platinum no matter what Will did 'cause it's a short window of opportunity to get there if you don't do well the first week and that it'd even take a lot for the album to go gold, I raised my expectations down after that week, I figured with a great 1st week with around 600K-800K it could be able to hit double platinum eventually. I agree with Tim's points there, he got all the facts right there for y'all, wake up and see that it was Interscope's fault, they pushed the album back over half a year that Will could've been out there performing since he wasn't filming, let's just be happy that they delayed it even more and it'd be coming out now! :word:

Yeah there's a point that "Lost and Found" would've sold less if it was a serious song as the first song but maybe Interscope thought that "Switch" would've been as popular as "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" and carry the album to platinum status in the first month so then they'd hurry up and release "Party Starter" but that plan backfired, the music buisiness is like the box office, you have to do well right away to have huge success, Game, 50 Cent, and Kanye went gold the first week and that's why they're the highest selling rappers at the moment, he only sold 90,000 on the first week which is horrible but with "Switch" havin' some success it managed to go gold which was a miracle in itself after having such a horrible 1st week, I was hoping for about 600,000 the 1st week since he was everywhere promoting it the 1st week at least but hey it could've fell off selling only 300,000 if "Switch" flopped off the charts like Beanie Siegal's album did. This album ain't really commercial friendly and doesn't have a million guest appearances on it either, most high selling albums now have a lot of guests on it too, this is basically 100% Will we get here, I think the problem with "Code Red" is that the public was feelin' Dr. Dre and all the west coast rappers at the time, hip-hop became too one-dimensional after "The Chronic" dropped, it changed rap for the worst now you have to be a gangsta to sell records most of the time where before you'd be yourself and still sell. Maybe if Heavy D and MC Hammer were still doing well, Will would do better too 'cause he wouldn't be the only one on the scene besides LL releasing a clean rap album. "Boom! Shake The Room" did pretty well considering there was no interest in JJFP or any east coast rapper for that matter then, that was the most commercial friendly song on there too the album would sell less if he released somethin' serious, well maybe "Code Red" track would've been a good release too since it was the type of storytellin' JJFP track that most of their fanbase loved, it's like the updated version of "Girls Ain't Nothin' But Trouble". It was just bad timing releasing the album then and would lead Will to retire from rapping for a lil' time, I could see deja vu again it wouldn't surprise me if he decided to just do movies like Queen Latifah she ain't releasing albums 'cause all female rappers call themselves b****s and hoes and she ain't down with that, there's no place for Will right now in the commercial rap game, the public doesn't want to bring back the ol' school days.

:word: Chuck D talks about this in a recent interview about how rappers are afraid to say how they feel about things in the world just so they could sell more records, Will did get a lot of respect in the hip-hop community for this album since he did expressed how he feels, that's what you go for not sales, respect doesn't equal sales, respect lasts longer than sales that's why Will is gonna outlast everybody on the charts and he outlasted those that came out when he did, Vanilla Ice sold millions more than JJFP then but is he really respected? 50 Cent got no cred whatsoever in the hip-hop industry, he's the 2005 version of Vanilla Ice, only a few thousand people buy KRS albums but he's way more respected than 50, you don't need to sell a lot to be respected but even if sales do equal respect Will's sold over 30 million already without trying to be a gangsta, releasing 9 albums without a PA label isn't exactly a popular choice either, how many rappers have dropped 9 albums period? Let's be real I think a lot of sell-out fans fell off the bandwagon I think when he said on the MTV awards in '99 that rappers shouldn't curse in their songs since most of the popular rappers were gangsta they weren't feeling that, he risked his career sayin' that but I think the hip-hop community applauded that, LL's popularity has gone down since he made his past couple albums clean too, it's a risk you take when you do that, since 99.9% of albums out there have them. Now there might be a few out there like Nas and Common that put substance but most of them albums out are trash that's why it's not even worth comparing other albums' sales to "Lost and Found", you could compare it to "Street's Disciple", "The Definition", and "Be" since they're quality, well Kanye's "Late Registration" is some quality too and it sold like 1.4 million over the 1st the month, I mean if Will had that type of success out of the gate the promotion for "Lost and Found" would've been much better, blame the public for that, if you only sell like 200,000 the 1st month they won't rush to promote the album while Kanye's probably gonna have a new video out soon, it's a supply and demand buisiness, the label would back Will more if it sold more right away, that's the way the ball bounces. If people wanna hate on him after all he's accomplished already though they're blind or only listen to 50 Cent so they don't know hip-hop anyway. There's not much for Will to prove anymore, he could release more albums for credability whenever he wants, if he wants to go for an Oscar in between more power to him, he's the greatest entertainer of this generation, he could do whatever he wants to.

A lot of artists say things ahead of time hoping that it'd happen but a lot of times it doesn't, Nas wanted to release "U.B.R."(Unauthorised Biography Of Rakim) as a single but it couldn't happen since Columbia didn't back, Public Enemy wanted to release 2 albums this year but they got pushed back, Busta Rhymes and DMX wanted to release albums this past summer but they still didn't drop yet, it's the industry that runs things not the artists, you need to understand that. btw touring doesn't help sales I need to inform you, Nas' "Street's Disciple" ain't platinum and he had a world tour last winter, LL Cool J did quite a bit of touring for "The Definition" but it didn't go platinum, and Common's on tour right now with Kanye West and "Be" ain't platinum either, even if there was a JJFP tour sales would still be about the same, Jazzy Jeff tours all the time but how well are his albums selling? Ice Cube and Queen Latifah have made albums every 5-7 years, I mean it isn't really that bad making albums every 2 years, even LL doesn't release albums every year, Nas don't either.