bigted

The album didn't come out until August 2004! :hmm: I'm sure it went platinum worldwide 'cause it went gold here in the US last Novemeber, I'd guess about 600,000 here in the US and about 1.2 million worldwide, maybe somebody here might have the exact numbers.

:yeahthat: Will has stayed relevant for a long time in the hip-hop game, you could say that he's the Michael Jordan of hip-hop with all the things he's accomplished, he's set the standard to a great career as an mc.

Kurt Thomas is the only good big man the Knicks have, they're gonna be too short of a team to compete, even in the East, but at least the Knicks'll have another superstar besides Marbury 'cause Allan Houston is washed up and could only be a role player at best like Penny Hardaway if he ever plays again.

I saw Kurtis Blow in Cassidy's new video "B-Boy Stance", Kurtis Blow does a lot of touring still, he went over to Iraq last year to visit the troops and perform for them.

I feel all the albums I listed are all flawless 'cause I play them from start to finish without skipping over a track or fast forwarding if I have them on tape, everyone has diff. tastes.

That's nice to hear that, I was just listening to Kurtis Blow's greatest hits CD the other day, he's a legend and deserves more recognition, a true pioneer! :2thumbs:

That's a nice diss song there I ain't gonna front, I see he's even taking shots at Jigga, Memphis Bleek, and Norega too, I just hope this doesn't turn into another east-west war, even if it does, nobody's gonna have 50 Cent's back. :lolsign:

Now that Will's shaking the hip-hop world in a big way again, I bet P.Diddy'll be begging to produce a song for Will. :lolsign: That soundtrack was garbage though, except for a couple of those r&b tracks and Jay-Z' "La La La" was aight(Will would've killed that beat if he was on it and it'd shown commercial rap fans that he could hang with Jigga on a track) it's probably better that Will wasn't on it, but it was his movie, he should've had control on who he wanted on the soundtrack, it shoulda been distributed through Overbrook like the "Wild Wild West" soundtrack, which is one of the best soundtracks ever.

:word: Only the top 10 albums sell at least 60,000 sometimes 'cause of downloading taking sales away.

:word: That's something a lot of people could relate to, stay strong scy, it's like LL Cool J said in "Power Of God": "Life is a gift in itself And only certain people are blessed with good health"

:metoo: This is a tight one!

Game 7 should be a great game, the 1st 4 games were blowouts but the last 2 have been a lot more competitive.

Unfortunately y'all the album sales are even lower than we thought, it sold 30,511, I just got this from okayplayer.com's board, on a brighter note, Fat Joe's outselling 50 Cent this week and Michael Jackson's back on the charts again, I guess the trial boosted his sales, lol: TWRank--Artist--Title--TWSales--%CHG--LWSales--RTDSales 1 COLDPLAY X&Y 322,990 -56 737,294 1,061,956 2 FOO FIGHTERS IN YOUR HONOR 310,595 999 681 311,284 3 BACKSTREET BOYS NEVER GONE 290,946 999 607 291,576 4 CAREY*MARIAH EMANCIPATION OF MIMI 163,295 8 151,440 2,036,870 5 BLACK EYED PEAS MONKEY BUSINESS 154,556 -47 291,164 446,158 6 FAT JOE ALL OR NOTHING 106,502 999 509 107,012 7 KEITH*TOBY HONKYTONK UNIVERSITY 92,923 29 71,830 662,090 8 SHAKIRA FIJACION ORAL 77,132 -51 157,228 235,003 9 STEFANI*GWEN LOVE.ANGEL.MUSIC.BABY 76,353 7 71,080 2,405,248 10 SYSTEM OF A DOWN MEZMERIZE 76,219 -12 86,459 903,480 11 WHITE STRIPES GET BEHIND ME SATAN 75,468 -60 188,989 264,916 12 CLARKSON*KELLY BREAKAWAY 71,584 8 66,128 2,426,730 13 50 CENT MASSACRE 65,309 1 64,824 3,916,626 14 RASCAL FLATTS FEELS LIKE TODAY 60,023 21 49,517 2,027,107 15 AUDIOSLAVE OUT OF EXILE 58,842 -10 65,541 487,362 16 URBAN*KEITH BE HERE 57,842 30 44,413 1,206,839 17 MATTHEWS*DAVE BAND STAND UP 56,055 -8 60,650 916,378 18 KILLERS HOT FUSS 44,559 -10 49,655 2,054,110 19 COMMON BE 44,137 -13 50,980 357,725 20 GORILLAZ DEMON DAYS 43,782 -2 44,449 250,575 21 JONES*MIKE WHO IS MIKE JONES? 42,210 3 40,819 607,670 22 GREEN DAY AMERICAN IDIOT 41,284 15 35,753 3,661,361 23 SUGARLAND TWICE THE SPEED OF 40,840 26 32,489 471,971 24 IL DIVO IL DIVO 39,433 -9 43,147 614,742 25 WEEZER MAKE BELIEVE 38,846 -3 40,032 448,394 26 JOHNSON*JACK IN BETWEEN DREAMS 38,415 -1 38,867 1,094,881 27 JO*ERIKA ERIKA JO 36,455 999 78 36,534 28 PRETTY RICKY BLUE STARS 36,353 5 34,616 169,697 29 STATIC-X START A WAR 35,417 999 61 35,480 30 CIARA GOODIES 35,387 3 34,263 2,060,554 31 AKON TROUBLE 34,384 9 31,407 1,023,228 32 THOMAS*ROB SOMETHING TO BE 34,070 12 30,521 792,384 33 LONGEST YARD SOUNDTRACK 33,813 -19 41,714 189,177 34 LARRY THE CABLE GUY RIGHT TO BARE ARMS 33,500 83 18,349 421,362 35 AS I LAY DYING SHADOWS ARE SECURITY 33,142 999 82 33,224 36 KEM ALBUM II 31,703 -16 37,743 304,417 37 SMITH*WILL LOST & FOUND 30,511 1 30,347 479,114 38 SEETHER KARMA & EFFECT 29,701 -2 30,299 181,985 39 EAGLES VERY BEST OF THE EAGLES 25,948 47 17,692 1,559,554 40 FALL OUT BOY FROM UNDER THE CORK 25,667 13 22,649 207,777 41 DEF LEPPARD ROCK OF AGES 24,289 4 23,310 174,612 42 NOW 18 NOW 18 23,682 -5 24,876 1,167,283 43 LYFE LYFE 268-192 23,505 23 19,133 418,659 44 NINE INCH NAILS WITH TEETH 23,462 -11 26,426 544,278 45 2005 WARPED TOUR COMPILATION 2005 WARPED TOUR COMPILATION 23,090 -57 53,109 76,279 46 BUBLE*MICHAEL IT'S TIME 22,827 19 19,120 560,019 47 LIFEHOUSE LIFEHOUSE 22,645 34 16,902 300,541 48 3 DOORS DOWN SEVENTEEN DAYS 22,621 17 19,388 908,651 49 KEITH*TOBY VOL. 2-GREATEST HITS 21,850 53 14,306 2,470,379 50 VALENTINO*BOBBY DTP PRESENTS BOBBY VALENTINO 21,589 -15 25,334 410,804 51 AMERICAN IDOL FINALISTS SEASON 4-THE SHOWSTOPPERS 21,520 -3 22,300 218,940 52 SPRINGSTEEN*BRUCE DEVILS & DUST 21,503 43 15,007 496,735 53 NALICK*ANNA WRECK OF THE DAY 21,386 26 16,924 195,045 54 YOAKAM*DWIGHT BLAME THE VAIN 20,545 999 179 20,733 55 FRANKIE J ONE 20,377 12 18,209 503,483 56 CHESNEY*KENNY WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN 19,954 23 16,268 3,547,609 57 EMINEM ENCORE 19,762 5 18,909 4,640,265 58 MADAGASCAR SOUNDTRACK 19,311 -5 20,263 72,058 59 BIG & RICH HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR 19,079 21 15,833 2,245,586 60 GAME DOCUMENTARY 18,837 1 18,587 2,073,970 61 WILSON*GRETCHEN HERE FOR THE PARTY 18,780 11 16,858 3,650,046 62 HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS SILENCE IN BLACK & WHITE 18,737 109 8,985 341,837 63 MORRISON*VAN MAGIC TIME 18,661 -1 18,929 125,870 64 PAPA ROACH GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER 18,527 8 17,191 724,209 65 MCGRAW*TIM LIVE LIKE YOU WERE DYING 18,395 25 14,665 3,343,773 66 GUNS N'ROSES GREATEST HITS 18,357 27 14,423 2,180,514 67 BECK GUERO 18,015 -10 19,964 549,594 68 STONE*JOSS MIND BODY & SOUL 17,909 -1 18,055 856,451 69 COWBOY TROY LOCO MOTIVE 17,849 -15 20,932 140,271 70 VAN ZANT GET RIGHT WITH THE MAN 17,476 21 14,465 129,105 71 PHANTOM OF THE OPERA SOUNDTRACK 17,443 0 17,394 687,551 72 OASIS DON'T BELIEVE THE TRUTH 17,174 -36 26,629 109,692 73 BENTLEY*DIERKS MODERN DAY DRIFTER 17,163 2 16,752 180,858 74 LUDACRIS RED LIGHT DISTRICT 16,586 4 15,935 1,766,673 75 MUDVAYNE LOST & FOUND 16,424 2 16,157 398,559 76 FANTASIA FREE YOURSELF 16,405 13 14,573 1,491,176 77 DADDY YANKEE BARRIO FINO 16,092 2 15,852 669,542 78 VARIOUS VOL. 4-TOTALLY COUNTRY 15,897 23 12,930 513,110 79 MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE THREE CHEERS FOR SWEET REVENGE 15,853 4 15,262 731,611 80 BENATAR*PAT GREATEST HITS 15,800 -21 19,949 35,834 81 VARIOUS TOTALLY HITS 2005 15,703 -4 16,291 130,101 82 WWE/CENA*JOHN & THA TRADEMARC YOU CAN'T SEE ME 15,511 -8 16,893 135,989 83 TWAIN*SHANIA GREATEST HITS 15,299 21 12,696 3,087,426 84 CROSSFADE CROSSFADE 15,290 13 13,482 756,328 85 DAY*HOWIE STOP ALL THE WORLD NOW 15,242 16 13,177 490,772 86 DESTINY'S CHILD DESTINY FULFILLED 14,933 16 12,841 2,703,223 87 SIMPLE PLAN STILL NOT GETTING ANY 14,926 15 13,013 1,154,871 88 BLACK EYED PEAS ELEPHUNK 14,379 -15 16,914 2,690,361 89 NATALIE NATALIE 14,325 -10 15,860 128,574 90 WILLIAMS*JOHN STAR WARS EPISODE III:REVENGE 14,315 -15 16,775 254,221 91 MESSINA*JO DEE DELICIOUS SURPRISE 14,108 -12 16,047 262,388 92 LEGEND*JOHN GET LIFTED 13,982 -19 17,159 1,235,060 93 MCCARTNEY*JESSE BEAUTIFUL SOUL 13,962 2 13,627 879,192 94 JODECI BACK TO THE FUTURE 13,097 -63 35,086 48,298 95 AVENGED SEVENFOLD CITY OF EVIL 13,094 -60 32,974 46,144 96 CHESNEY*KENNY BE AS YOU ARE 13,060 16 11,253 960,570 97 HOUSTON*MARQUES NAKED 12,954 -12 14,728 119,814 98 CELTIC WOMAN CELTIC WOMAN 12,904 24 10,392 109,769 99 CHARLES*RAY GENIUS LOVES COMPANY 12,890 49 8,662 2,977,534 100 FINCH SAY HELLO TO 12,763 -67 38,499 51,346 101 SHELTON*BLAKE BLAKE SHELTON'S BARN & GRILL 12,641 29 9,805 430,652 102 LOS LONELY BOYS LOS LONELY BOYS 12,538 62 7,747 2,112,799 103 DARK NEW DAY TWELVE YEAR SILENCE 12,536 999 39 12,575 104 DEGRAW*GAVIN CHARIOT-STRIPPED 12,202 13 10,784 500,375 105 STRAIT*GEORGE 50 NUMBER ONES 12,073 36 8,848 2,356,808 106 U2 HOW TO DISMANTLE AN ATOMIC BOM 11,870 17 10,119 2,784,678 107 USHER CONFESSIONS 11,776 -3 12,183 8,959,786 108 B.G. HEART OF THA STREET 11,400 -20 14,338 96,744 109 SOLIS*MARCO ANTONIO HISTORIA CONTINUA 11,131 1 11,054 45,675 110 ANDERSON*KEITH THREE CHORD COUNTRY & AMERICAN 10,346 26 8,221 68,909 111 112 PLEASURE & PAIN 10,294 -4 10,722 380,132 112 BRAVERY BRAVERY 10,154 -32 15,029 159,934 113 T.I. URBAN LEGEND 10,113 1 10,027 1,103,132 114 VARIOUS WOW # 1'S 9,987 26 7,929 76,050 115 ADKINS*TRACE SONGS ABOUT ME 9,937 23 8,069 205,099 116 AMERIE TOUCH 9,901 -6 10,519 271,590 117 MONTGOMERY GENTRY YOU DO YOUR THING 9,821 28 7,686 619,703 118 GARDEN STATE SOUNDTRACK 9,782 24 7,912 935,290 119 VARIOUS PUNK-O-RAMA 10 9,651 -25 12,864 22,618 120 BEE GEES NUMBER ONES 9,543 43 6,684 529,673 121 KEANE HOPES & FEARS 9,357 -9 10,293 723,409 122 GROBAN*JOSH CLOSER 9,273 19 7,813 4,655,607 123 SPAMALOT CAST RECORDING 9,199 -6 9,822 68,159 124 MCENTIRE*REBA ROOM TO BREATHE 9,103 30 6,993 698,181 125 MCCLURKIN*DONNIE PSALMS HYMNS & SPIRITUAL SONGS 9,087 16 7,835 152,366 126 RELIENT K MMHMM 9,068 -14 10,545 224,977 127 LIL JON & THE EAST SIDE BOYZ CRUNK JUICE 9,064 2 8,900 2,230,652 128 MAYER*JOHN HEAVIER THINGS 8,940 30 6,860 2,481,697 129 OMARION O 8,848 -1 8,902 545,483 130 ANKA*PAUL ROCK SWINGS 8,768 2 8,631 17,414 131 MARTIN*DEAN DINO: ESSENTIAL DEAN MARTIN 8,743 35 6,482 658,219 132 ROLLING STONES BEST OF JUMP BACK 8,735 45 6,029 482,257 133 PAISLEY*BRAD MUD ON THE TIRES 8,686 25 6,960 1,912,111 134 JACKSON*MICHAEL NUMBER ONES 8,659 138 3,631 918,169 135 DREAM THEATER OCTAVARIUM 8,634 -68 26,781 35,577 136 PRESLEY*ELVIS ELVIS BY THE PRESLEYS 8,575 6 8,067 177,622 137 PATRIOTIC COUNTRY VOL. 2-PATRIOTIC COUNTRY 8,543 999 116 8,659 138 GRANT*AMY ROCK OF AGES 8,391 63 5,141 28,267 139 FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND HOURS 8,329 999 21 8,356 140 KIDZ BOP KIDS VOL. 7-KIDZ BOP KIDS 8,319 10 7,580 344,867 141 BREAKING BENJAMIN WE ARE NOT ALONE 8,132 -1 8,201 951,254 142 GUCCI MANE TRAP HOUSE 8,001 -1 8,060 35,906 143 YOUNG GUNZ BROTHERS FROM ANOTHER 7,957 -31 11,449 98,956 144 ALKALINE TRIO CRIMSON 7,832 -21 9,931 72,931 145 MEMPHIS BLEEK 534 7,758 -25 10,399 118,871 146 MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK COMMIT THIS TO MEMORY 7,689 -52 15,993 23,768 147 LIFE OF AGONY BROKEN VALLEY 7,688 999 53 7,741 148 LEE*AMOS AMOS LEE 7,604 3 7,391 107,024 149 COODER*RY CHAVEZ RAVINE 7,347 999 29 7,381 150 EVANS*FAITH FIRST LADY 7,346 -2 7,500 394,827 151 CASTING CROWNS CASTING CROWNS 7,324 25 5,864 401,212 152 MXPX PANIC 7,317 -53 15,413 22,457 153 LAMBERT*MIRANDA KEROSENE 7,256 16 6,260 170,579 154 RAY SOUNDTRACK 7,184 52 4,738 1,367,452 155 DISNEY DISNEYMANIA 3 7,182 18 6,075 248,443 156 BONE THUGS-N-HARMONY GREATEST HITS 7,142 13 6,312 256,106 157 SWITCHFOOT BEAUTIFUL LETDOWN 7,135 16 6,137 2,017,367 158 MARS VOLTA FRANCES THE MUTE 7,109 6 6,736 354,862 159 INDIGO GIRLS RARITIES 6,996 999 38 7,036 160 PLANT*ROBERT & THE STRANGE SEN MIGHTY REARRANGER 6,946 3 6,755 89,229 161 LOPEZ*JENNIFER REBIRTH 6,928 7 6,499 652,556 162 LAVIGNE*AVRIL UNDER MY SKIN 6,840 5 6,488 2,739,497 163 RIMES*LEANN THIS WOMAN 6,830 11 6,152 350,816 164 ISLAND DEF JAM RECORDING PRESE ISLAND DEF JAM RECORDING PRESE 6,801 999 19 6,820 165 LORDS OF DOGTOWN SOUNDTRACK 6,760 -39 11,133 27,058 166 FIVE FOR FIGHTING BATTLE FOR EVERYTHING 6,706 25 5,356 738,194 167 VARIOUS WOW HITS 2005 6,704 18 5,678 368,369 168 SLIPKNOT VOL. 3-SUBLIMINAL VERSES 6,665 4 6,403 1,129,069 169 GARBAGE BLEED LIKE ME 6,561 -9 7,236 202,259 170 BATMAN BEGINS SOUNDTRACK 6,515 999 10 6,525 171 PHANTOM OF THE OPERA-EXPANDED SOUNDTRACK 6,470 11 5,836 220,540 172 MARIO TURNING POINT 6,433 -3 6,628 1,094,985 173 KRAUSS*ALISON & UNION STATION LONELY RUNS BOTH WAY 6,419 44 4,446 617,413 174 KEYS*ALICIA DIARY OF ALICIA KEYS 6,389 6 6,008 4,276,740 175 BLOC PARTY SILENT ALARM 6,375 -8 6,949 102,750 176 CHOSEN FEW EL DOCUMENTAL 6,358 -6 6,742 40,903 177 FOLDS*BEN SONGS FOR SILVERMAN 6,333 -8 6,899 131,349 178 SIGEL*BEANIE B.COMING 6,332 -13 7,247 348,699 179 BETTER THAN EZRA BEFORE THE ROBOTS 6,319 -26 8,574 29,707 180 MOTLEY CRUE RED WHITE & CRUE 6,297 3 6,129 378,680 181 LYNYRD SKYNYRD THYRTY: 30TH ANNIVERSARY COLLE 6,228 32 4,712 568,582 182 WICKED ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING 6,226 5 5,918 391,624 183 PRINE*JOHN FAIR & SQUARE 6,151 23 4,996 70,088 184 JUANES MI SANGRE 6,134 -1 6,199 357,698 185 JENNINGS*SHOOTER PUT THE 'O' BACK IN COUNTRY 6,022 28 4,708 74,267 186 WALLFLOWERS REBEL SWEETHEART 6,019 -24 7,964 52,220 187 PATRULLA 81 DIVINAS 5,965 -7 6,380 93,314 188 SNOOP DOGG R&G (RHYTHM) 5,928 -7 6,387 1,590,959 189 BOWLING FOR SOUP HANGOVER YOU DON'T DESERVE 5,912 8 5,477 420,528 190 BROOKS & DUNN GREATEST HITS COLL II 5,906 23 4,789 602,189 191 JONES*NORAH FEELS LIKE HOME 5,882 11 5,296 4,100,805 192 PITBULL M.I.A.M.I. (MONEY IS A MAJOR I 5,870 3 5,691 454,438 193 TRICK DADDY THUG MATRIMONY 5,850 -5 6,164 839,510 194 NELSON*WILLIE SONGS 5,754 87 3,084 123,436 195 SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PA SOUNDTRACK 5,750 -6 6,140 17,875 196 LUNY TUNES & BABY RANKS MAS FLOW 2 5,735 1 5,662 114,150 197 JARS OF CLAY REDEMPTION SONGS 5,679 48 3,828 41,011 198 DISNEY DISNEY GIRLZ ROCK 5,650 4 5,458 11,123 199 PEYROUX*MADELEINE CARELESS LOVE 5,550 2 5,447 280,982 200 VARIOUS NOW 17 5,546 2 5,427 2,971,959 TOTAL SALES 4,800,059 4,622,492 166,094,097

This is awesome news, sales are getting higher and "Switch" is going up on the charts too, when "Party Starter" comes out "Lost and Found" might hit platinum status immediately! :jazzy:

The late '90s was a better time in commercial rap than now, there was a lot more solid releases that time period that topped that charts, even a few veterans like Slick Rick, Public Enemy, and KRS-ONE almost went platinum besides Will and LL's albums, it actually took some skill to sell albums back then, but it ain't really that way so I don't think "Lost and Found"'ll approach the same numbers as "Big Willie Style", at least he's still on the charts 'cause a lot of great mcs sales dropped significantly since that time, I think it could do "Willenium" numbers which was double platinum if it gets the right promotion and the tour at the end of the year could help too.

A'ight now it's my turn to flow some heat You'll find out soon that you're cut from your team Eliminated from the playoffs like Kobe Your shots are way off to dethrone me Y'all amateurs playing soft are gonna feel lonely I could beat y'all for sure even if I was in a deep coma sleep I'm at the top, you're at the bottom I bring the boom bap hip-hop like Afrika Bambataa My lyrics rock the spot, I wonder why y'all bother Since I'm a veteran defending my spot, then when I win I'm popping my collar Like Uncle L I "make it hot", I put my work in to get my dollars Y'all couldn't beat me with a wrecking ball Trying to compete is a wreckless call Acting all clumsy and getting a broken jaw Wack mcs don't get impress me at all Being jabbed in an instance when you front on me and fuq bringin' it raw

I'm bumping this up again for anyone that wants to listen to this, this is something all hip-hop heads should hear, KRS is dropping a lot of knowledge in this speech.

Cormega does make some good points there, everybody's running to Lil' Jon and Kanye West for a hit and great producers like Large Professor get forgotten, it's dope to see a rapper today respect the history of the game like this.

This is amazing how well this album's doing considering that there wasn't much hype on it compared to other rap albums coming out(he didn't have too much guest appearances. high album ratings, or big name producers on it) but Will's a household name who could sell a lot on his own and could probably even sell 100,000 on an independent label but I won't be happy until I see this album outsell 50 Cent's and bring real hip-hop back to the top of the charts, "Party Starter" and "Tell Me Why" could be strong enough to do it in my opinion.

Cormega on Why We Need the Boom-Bap Back Cormega Labels don’t care about Hip-Hop culture no more, they care about success and dollars, so everyone’s following a formula rather than being original. First everybody started wearing suits and making those R&B friendly songs. Now people are going too far to the left with it. It’s played out. The producers started using the sped up vocals on their production and MCs even started singing. If that’s the case, we may as well be R&B singers with it. What happened to the knocking bass and the 808’s? And really, what happened to the DJ with scratches and stuff like that? Mike Tyson used to come out to Public Enemy. The s**t that’s out right now don’t get you hyped like how that Boom Bap s**t did back in the day. People play Rap for their kids now. There was a time when songs used to come on in the club, and you would just want to fight. It was adrenaline filled. People are scared to make those kinds of records. That Boom Bap was an era of greatness. It was like watching an NBA All-Star Game. Gilbert Arenus made the team this year. Let’s just say you take it back to when Jordan and Bird and Barkley, certain people couldn’t be an All-Star during those eras. Jay-Z is able to shine during this age because he has flow. Rap is all about who has the dopest flow right now. Rakim and Kane are from the era when it was about what you were saying. You f**kin’ with a Hip-Hop historian. That’s where the term “wack MC” comes from. You can’t say “wack MC” today, because it’s all about flow. If you look at flow, Vanilla Ice had a dope f**kin’ flow. The record that Pharell produced with Fabolous rappin’ on it, he used Vanilla Ice’s flow. I know this for a fact because Pharell told me himself. Mase had a dope ass flow. But “The Message” by Melle-Mel isn’t the record it is because of the flow, it is the record it is because of what he was saying. Nas is one of the last rappers from the say-something era. If I was A&R a Kane or a G Rap, I’d say, “don’t follow the formulas of these rappers today, because you’re downsizing yourself. These guys are more accomplished financially. But as far as great artists, they’ve yet to catch up to you guys.” When KRS-One did Return of the Boom Bap, I think he was just trying to bring it back and step it up. At that time, a lot of rappers on the East Coast was going into the Jazz sound. There was a lot of experimentation going on. That smooth G-Funk was dominating too. Also around that time was Black Moon. That is Boom-Bap too! If you look at it nowadays, all the artists that were trying to represent Hip-Hop as an art form aren’t getting the love they deserve. Of course it’s the MC’s responsibility to keep it Boom-Bap too. A lot of MC’s don’t have balls. Everybody wants to accommodate the radio. Everybody’s running out to get a Kanye West beat or a Lil’ Jon beat because they’re the hot producer right now rather than using a new producers whose beats are crazy or working producers like DJ Premier and Large Professor whose sound is why we fell in love with Hip-Hop in the first place and now we treat them like they’re less of a priority. On every album, I show love to a new producer. So far I introduced Sha Money XL, J Love, and Emile to the industry and now they’re big producers in the Hip-Hop. I didn’t chose them because they had a name, but because their s**t was hot. Right now, we’re extracting all the juice out of Rap. It’s getting to the point where it’s so wack, so boring, so predictable that people tend to forget what made Rap what it was. The sped R&B vocals tracks producers are using is played out. When I did that on The Testament, it was the early 90’s. Now I’m trying to get away from all that because it’s overused. I’m trying to make music that’s timeless, classic Hip-Hop. That’s one of the reasons why people are still able to listen to my album The Testament which we just put out in February. It was recorded nearly a decade but it doesn’t sound like the typical record you hear today. They all have the same formula. I don’t ride with what everyone else is doing. Rap has been very abusive to its pioneers. I told Large Professor, he’s dope – I’m definitely going to put him on the album. He’ll look at me like, “word word?” So many people tell him that, but don’t do it. Take MC Shan. When we did the QB’s Finest album, I told him, “Don’t try to do what we do. Do what you did. Because what you did, made us want to do what we doing. The way you rapped is timeless. It’s not played out.” That’s one of the reasons why I like Soul music because it’s classic. Marvin Gaye’s album, What’s Going On, is a classic that you can listen to even a hundred years from now and it still has relevance and meaning. In a way, when they first introduced the term “old school,” it was cute. It was a fun term. It was a piece of slang that some of the older people used to use. It was actually a term of endearment. But now, it’s almost a term of ridicule. You’ll hear a younger dude say, “Oh, he old school.” If a throwback jersey comes out, they don’t call it an old jersey. It’s vintage, or it’s retro. When the old Jordan’s come out, they don’t look down on those. When I made The Testament and The True Meaning, it was a debatable topic as to which is better. To have that argument in itself is a compliment to both albums especially because The Testament wasn’t released when it should have come out. If it had been, it would have been crazy. I’m just happy it’s finally out. Now the challenge is to try and outdo them both on my next solo album, and fill what might have been missing from them and from Rap music at the same time. What’s missing from Hip-Hop is that Boom-Bap sound. In 1992, I made a record called “Sex, Drugs, Bitches, and Money.” It’s just like Biggie’s “Dreams of F**kin’ an R&B B*tch.” I didn’t have an album up, but back in the day that music would circulate. It was a hit record in Queensbridge projects. Grandmaster Vic would make mixtapes in Jamaica, Queens. I was making songs like that. I had a song called “Set It Off” with a group called PHD on Tuff City Records. This album is called Without Warning, and it’s out there from 1991. I know somebody’s gonna try and bite me, but on my next album, Urban Legend, I have a track with PMD, Grand Puba, KRS-One, and Big Daddy Kane. It’s my greatest accomplishment. It’s not even a Boom-Bap record, it’s a feel-good record and my way of paying tribute to the MCs who came before me. I didn’t ask them to give me 16 bars on any kind of topic, I just told them to be themselves. I also told them how much I appreciate them as artists. Urban Legend is my solo third album coming soon and it's gonna be a challenge to myself. I don’t even include The Testament; that’s more of a collector’s album, or Legal Hustle which was a collaborative album. A third album is a defining moment. The one that can make you or break you. A lot of artists only get two or three albums. This one will prove if I’m going to stay or leave. So I’m going hard with it and I gotta bring back that loud Boom Bap s**t. Enjoyable, but loud. I want to f**k up people’s speakers. I want people to complain. I also want n***as to respect what I’m saying. Reprinted with permission from Elemental Magazine issues #68

Why would Will diss Snoop since they did "Pump Ya Brakes" together? I'm not trying to diss gangsta rap by saying that it's overrated, it's dope as hell, but other forms of rap get overlooked that's just as dope. "He's The DJ..."'s on the same level as "Straight Outta Compton", "Code Red" is on the same level as the "The Chronic" and "Willenium"'s on the same level as "Chronic 2001".

BEP's not "sell-outs", they just experiment with their music just like Common and The Roots do, speaking of Common, it looks like the hype for his album's fading faster than I expected, I figured that album was gonna hit platinum by now with all the hype it had before it dropped, it's amazing that Will might outsell Common this week since Common's on his second single already and Will hasn't even released "Parter Starter" yet. btw, I was figuring Fat Joe would outsell 50 cent this week, considering the hype he had for dissing 50 Cent but I guess the peeps are tired of this tired weak beef already, hopefully "Lost and Found" can surpass all these weak albums this summer.

I agree with the majority, Will has to bust out the new single! :jazzy:

Hip-Hop artists JJFP, LL, and Public Enemy have had as much impact as NWA and Snoop Dogg have had and definately more than Fat Joe and 50 Cent but yet they get ranked below all of them, that's Will's beef there which I agree with, gangsta rap is overrated.

I don't understand how they could say record sales don't matter when they ignore albums like Will Smith's "Big Willie Style", Fugees "The Score", and LL Cool J's "Mr. Smith" then they put Eminem's "Marshall Mathers LP"(he bites off 2Pac/Biggie like everyone else but gets shine 'cause he's white, Beastie Boys were mentioned already so he shouldn't get any merit), Jay-Z' "The Blueprint"(more impact than Big Daddy Kane or even Biggie?), and Kanye West's "College Dropout"(more impact than "Paid In Full"? that just came out last year too, give it some time and we'll see not that much impact) which were high selling albums but didn't have that much of an impact, they gave too much props to gangsta/hardcore rap then they should've but I guess that's the only rap rock heads get down with. I think Slick Rick(for storytelling), 2Pac(for making introspective/thugged out rhymes that most rappers do now), and MC Hammer(for the way rappers make videos) should've been mentioned too 'cause they're influence on commercial rap is evident today. Queen Latifah and MC Lyte had more impact on female rappers than Lauryn Hill and Missy Elliot have had even though their album were great, that'd be in the top 200. I noticed D'angelo's album was the only r&b album they mentioned, they should've mentioned Babyface, Boyz II Men, Guy, Bobby Brown, New Edition, Keith Sweat, Mary J. Blidge, Toni Braxton, Jill Scott, and even Usher before they mentioned D'angelo. How the hell could Michael Jackson's "Bad" and Janet Jackson's "Rhthym Nation" be ignored? This list does suck but it's make a perfect list with music categories together but you could say that JJFP, 2Pac, and LL Cool J have had a big impact just like Public Enemy and Run-DMC for people that don't even listen to rap so they should've been mentioned.