bigted

Naughty By Nature "Holiday"

:werd: It'd be easier to make a top 10 list of the top mainstream mcs and albums out in '96 that u could actually listen to, u couldn't do that in '04, check this out: 1996 1-2Pac ("All Eyez On Me" was probably the best hip-hop album released since '96, unfortunately though he was murdered that year and hip-hop's been goin' down ever since then) 2-Nas ("It Was Written" put him on the mainstream scene, "Illmatic" was an underground release) 3-LL Cool J("Mr. Smith" went triple platinum) 4-Fugees("The Score" sold almost 10 million) 5-Foxy Brown(What female in '04 actually could spit with the fire that she did then on "Ill Na Na"? :dunno: ) 6-De La Soul(They were actually getting some airplay with "Stakes Is High") 7-Busta Rhymes(He was bringin' humor and comedy to hip-hop when he released "The Coming") 8-Coolio(He was a west coast mc that wasn't a gangsta wannabe when he released "Gangsta Paradise") 9-Tribe Called Quest (another ol' school hip-hop group that got some airplay when they released "Beats, Rhymes, and Life") 10-Warren G(he was bringin' that refreshing "G" Funk Style when he released "Take a Look Over Your Shoulder") Don't get me wrong it wasn't the golden year in hip-hop, but compared to now it is, to say '04 was better than '96 would be like saying the '04 Pistons would beat the '96 Bulls, it wouldn't happen. You could actually listen to a hip-hop radio station back then which you can't really now. The only mcs in '04 that were worth listening to on a mainstream level were LL Cool J("The Definition"), Kanye West("College Dropout"), Twista ("Kamakaze"), and Nas ("Street's Disciple") but they didn't get as much airplay as though artists above did.

Wow damn AJ, you're collection bigger than all of ours put together! :cya: I'm surprised that I'm the only one here that has a James Brown album in my collection, they're hard to find though man, he put out 38 albums in over 50 years now, I wanna try and get more of them 'cause his songs are amazing, you can't love hip-hop and not love James Brown, the Godfather of Soul! :bowdown:

Public Enemy doesn't have guest appearances on their albums either, they collaborated with KRS-ONE on the "He Got Game" soundtrack and they collaborated with Moby on the '04 Olympic Soundtrack, on their last album "Revolvolution" they actually had a contest over the internet where some fans remixed some of their songs and it sounded dope, that would be a great idea if JJFP did that with this album! :rock:

Andre 3000 also had a different sound on "The Love Below" that we wouldn't expect on an Outkast album. I don't think that there's anything wrong with mcs experimenting with their music instead of doing the same ol' thing all the time, when you're creative with your music that's what makes you a hip-hop artist rather than just a rapper. :werd:

Hey AJ u should seriously look into being a writer for a hip-hop magazine, that's a nice article there! :thumb:

I agree with Will too, that's why I ain't rushing for a record deal like a lot of ignorant young cats my age are doing 'cause I ain't tryin' to be pimped by the record company and alot of mcs that're getting fame are following the same trends like everyone else, I admire Will a lot too 'cause no matter what anyone else does he keeps it positive, other than him there's only really LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes, Naughty By Nature, Lauryn Hill, Wyclef, and Nas that've had some mainstream success for being themselves in these recent years, I look more to the underground mcs like Talib Kweli and KRS-ONE these days for inspiration to keep rhymin' or else I'd quit being an mc myself.

The mcs that're signed to ATOJ would destroy Ludacris and his DTP crew if they battled, why couldn't some of them get on the album with Will? I have nothing against Ludacris though 'cause some of his videos are hilarious and he has some talent but a lot of his songs on his albums are inconsistant compared to the singles, he ain't the worst mc in the game and I wouldn't diss him but he ain't nowhere near the best either, I don't think when we're old they're gonna rank Ludacris as an all-time mc, he ain't on the same level as Will is, if JJFP did a whole album together with no guest appearances, it'd be a classic album, just like "He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper" is without guest appearances, most of the great albums released in that golden age of hip-hop in the mid-late '80s had no guest appearances, I think that there's too many guest appearances now, there should be no more than 3 guest appearances on an album, if I wanted to listen to Ludacris I would buy his album and when I buy a JJFP album, I wanna listen to JJFP.

Well most of the best mcs in the game right now are over 35 years old which is not saying much about the mcs coming out now and getting fame for bringing inconsistantly that's why JJFP and other ol' school mcs would dominate if they had the promotion from the record labels that they deserve, I mean what's up with Jay-Z being named the president of Def Jam, there would no Def Jam without LL, LL should own Def Jam for all the work he's put in, it's a shame how ol' school artists get dogged! :sad6:

Hey I've been wanting to buy that album for a while now, is it as good as "It Pays Da Cost To Be Da Boss", I like that album a lot but of course I don't think he could ever top "Doggystyle", that was a definate classic hip-hop album! :rock: btw right now I'm listening to Alicia Keys Feat. Tony Tony Tone! "Diary"

That's a funny list! :roll: :roll:

Hey Tim and Julie I'm feelin' that artwork! :thumb: I might have to holla at y'all one day when help making an album cover when I decide to make an album. :rock:

Damn that sounds dope! :thumb: Too Bad I couldn't get in though since I'm only 19! :bang:

:werd: I couldn't say it any better than that! I personally don't see what would be wrong with working with an underground mc? A lot of those mcs on the underground scene are hungrier than a lot of these mainstream mcs and I'm an ol' school head so most of the CD's I buy are before 1990, there ain't nothin' wrong with ol' school artists either, recognize there wouldn't be hip-hop if it wasn't for James Brown making those songs that were played at block parties by Grandmaster Flash when hip-hop origniated in the '70s, we gotta respect the history, realise one thing to one day rappers like Ludacris are gonna be old too, so if you diss certain artists 'cause they're old, expect people to do the same to Ludacris and other mcs out now in the future.

Well since that point in '96 though hip-hop has gotten worse but once Will starts droppin' more material, he'll dominate again since there's no competition for him right now! :ali:

Nas "Got Yourself A..."

That's a shame in 2005 we gotta still say that but black people need to do more than just play basketball, rap, act, and dance if we're gonna get respect in society that we still don't have yet, but when we act, play basketball, and dance we need to potray better images than what we are or else we're gonna get put down. :ditto:

Public Enemy actually tours about as much as Jazzy Jeff does and like Jazzy Jeff they're slept on a lot, I'm looking forward to Jazzy Jeff's new album as well in May. It's such a shame that a lot of these ol' school artists don't get the recognition they deserve from the mainstream and a lot of these younger artists comin' out and gettin' fame should recognize that if it wasn't for these ol' school cats, they wouldn't have any success.

When I buy an album I like to listen to the whole album when I 1st listen to it and I don't like skipping over tracks, but there's not too many albums out now where I could actually do that for 'cause they don't make quality albums they only a few hot singles that're only worth listening to now and by the next year you're sick of those songs too, I don't mind JJFP collaborating with younger artists but they should collaborate with those that're talented underground mc's looking for a break rather than those we heard of on a mainstream level, fans that're fiending for true hip-hop'll appreciate that, it's better to attract a few loyal hip-hop fans than to track a bunch of bandwagon pop/rap fans, as long as JJFP are willing to continue puttin' out quality hip-hop and are healthy there should be no reason for them to stop, I don't see KRS-ONE, LL Cool J, or Public Enemy slowing down, so there should be no reason for JJFP to slow down now! :dj:

I'm sorry I couldn't enter this time, I've been pretty busy lately with work and school so I haven't had much time to go on the internet to battle, hopefully I'll be able to participate in the next battle. :bang:

Well I always like to set goals for myself all the time, I don't wait for the new year to come to make resolutions, but a few goals that I have this year is: 1-Stay healthy and not take any day for granted 2-Graduating my college course I'm taking 3-Get myself a great job by the end of the year so I don't have to work retail anymore 4-Continue freestylin' and writin' songs to sharpen my mc skills 5-Find myself a girlfriend that'll have time for me and'll show respect like I would for her

BDP(KRS-ONE) "Love's Gonna Get Cha" The song's 15 years old now but it's still relevant today! :thumb:

I'm looking forward to Public Enemy's new album this year, I read something on PE.com a few months back saying that they're working on a new album again! :switch: Is Rakim gonna finally release his album this year, I read in an article almost a year ago on the internet saying that he was gonna start his own record label after Aftermath dropped him and everytime I check his website it says the new album's comin' soon, does anyone know when it's coming? :dunno: Hopefully JJFP, PE, and Rakim all drop albums this year to bring real hip-hop back again. :ali: I like Christina Aguilara and Mariah Carey a lot, they're the most talented female pop singers, I'll be looking forward to their albums.

Maybe my birthday wish is gonna come true after all then!

Nas doesn't need to collab wit Jay-Z, Jay-Z ain't on Nas' level, but it's cool though if they wanna do somethin' positive for hip-hop