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*Official* Lost and Found Review Post


Hero1

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I was waiting for the part where he goes into dissing The Fresh Prince of Bel Air... because... "Smith, it seemed, could do it all - none of it particularly well, of course, but that hardly mattered more than the six-figure checks he was raking in." Right...

I apologize on behalf of the student body at Harvard. We're not perfect. Not everyone has good tatse. You just read an example in essay format.

I would rip this "essay" apart piece by piece, sentence by sentence... and I really want to... and maybe in the near future I will... but, as for now, it would be a waste of precious time and result in a bit of lost sleep. But I will say this...

This person evidently hasn't been able to separate Will Smith's film career from his music career, yet this is vital when you're analyzing the work of someone who's been rhyming longer than you have been alive. When you start a music review with banter about the subject's film career, how many figures he makes, and how bad you think his film career has been... well let's just say that you may as well scream out the word "BIAS." Unfortunately, Shane didn't listen to the music closely enough, and relied on his preconceptions to write this review. He lacks any comprehension of what a playful or light track is (pump ya breaks, If you can't dance). Yet what's most disturbing and indeed telling is his reluctance to praise the good attributes of tracks such as party starter, tell me why and loretta... When the worst you can say about a track is...

When he says, for instance, "dance, an aphrodisiac / women gyrating, simulating sensual acts," he has to mutilate the pronunciation of "aphrodisiac" and insert a lengthy pause after "dance," all so he can juxtapose it with "sensual acts" - a phrase that barely rhymes anyway.
you know you're really searching for something negative to say.

In closing...

His assertions of originality also fall flat. How original can he be, after all, when he lifts the entire premise of "Tell Me Why" - a series of vaguely political questions starting with the word "why," combined with a passionately sung chorus - from Jadakiss's far superior "Why," next to which Smith's version has about as much soul as a stem cell?

I really wonder if Shane bothered to listen to the words of Jadakiss's "Why" seeing that it make some of the most ignorant statements to ever come out of a rapper's mouth. "Why did Bush knock down the towers..." Really? When did Bush knock down the towers? Where was I when this monumental event occured? I wonder...

Back in highschool, when I was a tad interested in journalism, the first lesson we were taught was that a good review of a product lacks bias and is fair and balanced. As it stands, though Shane Wilson is allowed to have his own opinion, I am ashamed to call him a journalist. His editorial, or essay... review, whatever you want to call it... lacks focus. It goes off on so many tangents that I found myself re-reading certain portions to make sure he was still "analyzing" the album. You also never want your article or review to be forgettable... yet, with his longwinded tirades, he's managed just that. Journalistic obscurity is something a writer strives against. It seems Shane hasn't reached that level quite yet. Here's hoping he make it, for his sake.

Edited by MaxFly
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I'm not sure whether he hates Will or not. It seems that he's just seen Will in playful movies like MIB and Wild Wild West and has instantly characterized him as a comedy actor, not to be respected as a rapper. Yet there is a great deal of bias here too, that's for sure. No mention of Will's excellent performances in Ali (oscar nominated), Enemy of the State, and Hitch... not sure if he just hasn't seen these movies or if he's in denial, but he definitely comes into this "review" with a slanted view of what Will is all about.

Like I said above, no praise for Will's flow in Party Starter or Loretta, the subject matter and emotion in "Tell Me Why"... In fact, he believes "Why" was better than "Tell Me Why"... He was either high when he wrote this, or there's definitely some bias there...

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i wouldn't dwell on this one, it was written by those same assholes @ Harvard who called Jada "heteronormative" when she gave her speech there a couple mths. ago, notice how they're still so bitter about it, they tried to take a stab @ her in the article.....how you gonna get mad just b/c Will and Jada are NOT homosexual? LOL

Edited by willjadafan
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Indeed, Smith's obsession with his own cleverness is part of the problem: often he seems so excited to use a particular rhyme that he neglects to make the surrounding rap anything but weakly supportive scaffolding. When he says, for instance, "dance, an aphrodisiac / women gyrating, simulating sensual acts," he has to mutilate the pronunciation of "aphrodisiac" and insert a lengthy pause after "dance," all so he can juxtapose it with "sensual acts" - a phrase that barely rhymes anyway.

So I haven't said anything in this thread for a few days... and I've been listening to Party Starter... specifically, the above mentioned rhyme... maybe it's me, but am I the only one who thinks that is a hot rhyme?

Dance, an aphrodisiac

Women gyrating, simulating sensual acts

To stimulating musical tracks

I thought I was just gon’ come out tonight & get a brew & relax

But no! Uh uh, when you’re the party starter

It’s like, you’re on call, you’re what the doctor ordered

It’s like you gotta block the border to the door

& shock em when it’s boring…

Get on the Floor!

I swear that rhyme is fire... Maybe I'm the only one...

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^^^I agree, I thought that part was tight. To each his own, I guess.

Here's my Amazon review:

1. Here He Comes (3.5/5) - A real hot verse and tight production by Will's main man Jazzy Jeff is somewhat ruined by the corny hook. Still a good song.

2. Party Starter (5/5) - Hot beat. Hot verses. Hot song. One of the best party songs out there right now.

3. Switch (5/5) - Big Will chose his first single to be the club hoppin' "Switch," and he was in his right mind when he chose that. Great song.

4. Mr. Niceguy (4.5/5) - Even though Will can't curse, he could still drop a nice quasi-diss song. And can anyone really top Will's flow in this song?

5. Ms. Holy Roller (2/5) - The only song on the whole CD I skip over. The beat gives me a headache and the hook is bad.

6. Lost and Found (5/5) - Best Will Smith song ever. He puts an outstanding amount of heart in these deep, scathing lyrics and, damn that beat is fire.

7. Tell Me Why (5/5) - Easily the 2nd best song on the CD. Accompanied by the talented Mary J. Blige, Will just can't fail with this deep, serious song. If this isn't the 2nd single, Will must be crazy.

8. I Wish I Made That/Swagga (5/5) - As tired as it is with Will's lyrics about the media, he spits nothing but truth in these songs. "Black radio, won't play me though..." Definitely one of the best songs on the CD.

9. Pump Ya Brakes (4/5) - With Snoop Dogg covering the hook and the beat sounding an awful lot like "Vibrate" from Petey Pablo, this song can't go wrong. The only bad part is Snoop's verse.

10. If U Can't Dance (4.5/5) - Will comes back with another party song, and he's still going strong. His verses are good, flow is tight, and the hook is great.

11. Could U Love Me (4/5) - Solid lyrics, and one of the tightest beats on the CD.

12. Loretta (4.5/5) - Well...I wanted a Will song story and this is what I got. I got more than I expected in this great song, even if the tone is outstandingly dark.

13. Wave Em Off (3.5/5) - It's another song for the haters. And by now, these songs are getting lyrically tiring. But Will finds a way in his verses to make it likeable. And the hot beat doesn't hurt.

14. Scary Story (2.5/5) - A decent track, but the lyrics and his flow just don't match here for some reason. The beat is pretty good though.

15. Switch R&B Remix (4/5) - A much more mellow, laid back version of "Switch." It has almost an opposite feel of the original, and it's clearly good.

16. Switch Reggae Remix (4.5/5) - An absolute dancehall song. You will like this song only if you liked the original it seems. And Elephant Man is...well...incoherent.

OVERALL: 5/5 - A Will Smith classic. You just can't go wrong with this CD.

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Music Review: Lost and Found

Filed under: Music Albums— ankit @ 2:35 am

Music Review: Lost and Found

Artiste: Will Smith

Album: Lost And Found

Rating: 3/5

Will Smith don’t gotta cuss in his raps to sell records, well, I do, Eminen once rapped, and then he did.

Nice Guy, a sarcastic track from Will Smiths’ somewhat entertaining new album, Lost & Found, borrows Em’s style ( (but not his lingo) to go after his own enemies (including mildly, Eminem); the blitz is less than devastating.

The hopped-up club track Switch works better, and so does Pump Ya Brakes, a Snoop Dogg collaboration. And then there’s Ms Holy Roller, a mystifyingly mean-spirited attack on a born-again Christian detractor. He sketches the woman’s un-Christian past then raps, You can’t do dirt your whole life, then say, Oops oblivious, it seems, to the existence of a spectacularly well-read book that says you can.

The actor and MC reunites with D J Jazzy Jeff for several tracks on his ninth album, which also includes appearances from Mary J Blige, Timbaland and Snoop Dogg.

There’s enough steam yet on Lost And Found. Grab it while it’s hot.

http://movies.dcealumni.com/archives/0705-...lost-and-found/

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Music Review: Lost and Found

Filed under: Music Albums— ankit @ 2:35 am

Music Review: Lost and Found

Artiste: Will Smith

Album: Lost And Found

Rating: 3/5

Will Smith don’t gotta cuss in his raps to sell records, well, I do, Eminen once rapped, and then he did.

Nice Guy, a sarcastic track from Will Smiths’ somewhat entertaining new album, Lost & Found, borrows Em’s style ( (but not his lingo) to go after his own enemies (including mildly, Eminem); the blitz is less than devastating.

The hopped-up club track Switch works better, and so does Pump Ya Brakes, a Snoop Dogg collaboration. And then there’s Ms Holy Roller, a mystifyingly mean-spirited attack on a born-again Christian detractor. He sketches the woman’s un-Christian past then raps, You can’t do dirt your whole life, then say, Oops oblivious, it seems, to the existence of a spectacularly well-read book that says you can.

The actor and MC reunites with D J Jazzy Jeff for several tracks on his ninth album, which also includes appearances from Mary J Blige, Timbaland and Snoop Dogg.

There’s enough steam yet on Lost And Found. Grab it while it’s hot.

http://movies.dcealumni.com/archives/0705-...lost-and-found/

You can’t do dirt your whole life, then say, Oops oblivious, it seems, to the existence of a spectacularly well-read book that says you can
Thats quite funny coz its true!!

which also includes appearances from Mary J Blige, Timbaland and Snoop Dogg.

Where was Timberland?? Do you think this guy actually listened to the album?

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  • Admin

‘Switch’

Will Smith

Overbrook Entertainment/Universal Music Australia

Gone is the “Fresh Prince” and “Big Willie” styles, leaving a more mature Will Smith with a re-invigorated approach to his first love – Hip-Hop.

‘Switch’ is something different for Smith as it isn’t about how parents just don’t understand or how he rolls large with Gucci this and Prada that, ‘Switch’ is just a straight party jam that makes you want to hit the floor.

For someone old enough to remember ‘I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson’, it’s interesting to see Smith’s evolution as an emcee and see that he can still entertain.

The R&B remix featuring Robin Thicke isn’t the party joint that the original ‘Switch’ is, rather this is the joint you drop once you’ve got home from the club and need to get into a different groove…

Khyam Baines

http://www.grooveon.com.au/rev01.cfm?article=2733

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