big will smith debate on okayplayer

[Hero1]

http://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=sho...3330&page=2

makes for interesting reading.. about black radio not playing Will

[TopDawg14]

As I was reading the responses it just sounded like a lot of those cats aren't really informed about Will in particular and REAL hip-hop in general. I just get tired of hearing people say that Will is corny cuz he doesn't talk about hood stuff. The dude got a scholarship to MIT! They don't hand those out to anybody. What was Will supposed to do - fake about being a thug? It just kills me with the whole "corny" talk.

Will never compromised his style for anybody and I have great respect for that. His style was the same when cats were bumping Brand New Funk, Parents... and Summertime. It's not that Will changed; it's just that the industry changed. People allowed all of this garbage to be considered hip-hop. The industry squeezed out artists like Will, Mos Def and others for nonsense like you hear on the radio now. Standards have changed. It seems garbage is more acceptable now.

What it really boils down to is that hip-hop is in its 2nd(or maybe even 3rd) generation and there is a generation divide happening within the community. Those of us who remember what hip-hop was like in the 80's shake our heads at the crap that's out now. It's all changed... and it's getting worse by the moment.

Edited August 7, 2007 by TopDawg14

[Hero1]

That's so true TD.. :adore:

[ash trey]

It's just weird that it's okayplayer they usually respect artists like Mos, Roots, Common etc

[Jazzy Julie]

Its weird how they were saying it was a bad thing that Will speaks clearly. i dont know about everyone else but i want to actually understand the lyrics to a song, another reason why i like Will, he doesnt mumble or speak some weird language he just made up.

[Typhoon20]

TD summed it up perfectly.

Though it's sad to read ignant people like those talk about stuff they don't really know, pretty depressing.

[Schnazz]

That was a good read... The thing that stuck out to me was the idea that he's too corny and black folks don't like corny. That statement's just all kinds of sad. Though it really makes me consider Will compared to Ice Cube. Cube, obviously, started off very "street", a whole lot of credibility. As time went on he got a softer edge, doing movies like Friday, Barber Shop, and even Are We There Yet. If you're to compare, say, Are We There Yet, or even Barber Shop to Tell Me Why, Cube comes off as the corny one. Or try comparing Ali to You Can Do It, Will should be getting more credibility. But even so, and it seems as though this is something that even Ice Cube learned as he went on, it's good to be light hearted at times. It's good to laugh and very good to make people laugh.