MY THOUGHTS

[DevilsJim89]

I was just thinking about "Lost & Found". This album is pretty much dead y'all. It fell out of the Top 200 the second week of September. That same week that TRL premiered the "Party Starter" video.

First and foremost, Will should've dropped the movies like he said he was going to. If you want a hit album/2nd single, you have to be out there performing like crazy. You can't just build up some hype then just sit back and allow Interscope to delay the release of "Party Starter" all the way to August/September. Lets get real here. "Party Starter" should've been released Early July. It would have been a summertime smash hit. Milking 'Switch" was real bad. I wasn't for it. Only till late June.

Look where we are now, "Lost & Found" is done selling. Not even "Tell Me Why" will save it. New singles AND videos at the same time released 3 months apart should have been the strategy. We could easily blame Interscope and you know what I place half the blame on them but Will could've easily done something.

Flashback Mondaty March 28, 2005

Setting: BET 106& Park

Will: "I'ma be doin music the next 6-8 months...etc"

...blah blah blah

I'm hate to say this but FP is a freakin liar y'all. FRESH PRINCE JUST DROP THE MOVIES! Ugh it pisses me off so much. He should've gone on tour immediatly. And this hasnt just affected this album, but look at "Code Red", "Willenium", "Born to Reign"...all those albums didnt sell well because he never toured. Singles wont even be a hit if you dont go out and perform once in awhile. At this day and age, yeah Gold in the US/Platinum worldwide is alright for FP. Nothing special though. Gold isnt the standard tho, Platinum is for Will.

If FP can't even do music like he promised and stopped doin movies for like a year, then i barely care. Hes my fav rapper and all but like hes got all this money in which he can afford to stop doin movies. Jada also makes money too. If FP is a rapper first, THEN PROVE IT. Not for just 3 months either. I'm talking about droppin albums evey 2 years. And he wonders why he doesnt get the respect he deserves. get Overbrook going Will, you put yourself out there. You put other artists out there. F tha movies.

I just dont understand anymore. It really is heart breaking to see this. I'm sorry, I'm really harsh on this.

[Jazzy Julie]

is not Wills fault, its interscopes, radio and tv.

He did promise 8 months and he gave us 8 months. That includes the time it took to record the album not just promote it.

I think hes nearly finished filming puruit of happyness, hopefully in time to promote tell me why or even party starter if we are lucky. Every1 here is way too pessimistic and also setting the standard of sales too high.

[Angel Amor]

is not Wills fault, its interscopes, radio and tv.

He did promise 8 months and he gave us 8 months. That includes the time it took to record the album not just promote it.

I think hes nearly finished filming puruit of happyness, hopefully in time to promote tell me why or even party starter if we are lucky. Every1 here is way too pessimistic and also setting the standard of sales too high.

I agree with Julie. Now it ain't WS fault that ppl are choosing this fake gangsta rap for real hiphop. Like I said PS isn't really getting a chance. Lets see what happens. Switch started of slow. Now when you think about it LnF did pretty good 4 itself. I only saw 2 commercials for LnF. Will has been promoiting it by himself and reach gold status. Now thats pretty good. I think that ppl here are setting the standard 2 high. Even if WS did stop doing movies. Will is also a father and a husband. Will has other things he wants 2 do. Like the 46664 Foundation and The Momentum Experience. This man did promote like he said. Now we can't lose hope so quickly. Vote like hell on MTV or BET, on the internet. Spread the word.

[bigted]

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.

Edited October 5, 2005 by bigted

[mistaboe]

........

Edited January 3, 2007 by mistaboe

[MaxFly]

Will certainly had ample time to promote the album. He did an excellent job of it early on, however, there are just so many times he can perform Switch. The single releases were botched. It took nearly 6 months for the second single to come out, and that's simply unacceptable. There's no excuse at all, whether it is Will's fault or Interscope's. After May, Lost and Found was poorly promoted.

It seems Will took off upwards of a year between movies. That's the best a person can ask for. He enjoys acting, and a year in the life of a major movie star is a long time. He's not just a rapper anymore, so taking that much time from movies at his position right now in hollywood is already a sacrifice. I think that more could have been done to promote the album, but I also think he had had enough time. The time just wasn't managed well it seems.

[DevilsJim89]

That is true Ted. Yeah I came off a little harsh. It is more Interscope's fault than FPs.

[Jazzy Julie]

i think mistaboe has some good points. At the end of the day we have 2 choices, an album like bws that sells millions but has songs like jiggy on it (which i like too but other ppl dont seem as keen) or an album like lost and found which has moderate success with sales.

personally i prefer to have lost and found. I do want it to sell, i want the tour and i still think it has a lot of potential but we did get this amazing album. Not another box office hit but the best Will has ever done. Will made the album bcoz he loves doing it, for himself and the fans, who cares about these kids with 2 braincells.

[bigted]

A lot of people are basing Will's success on record sales. Who cares about sales and how many times the single is on TRL. Lost and Found is an album that does not appeal to everyone, like it or not. But this is the REAL Will Smith. Will has made an album that he's proud of. The only reason people care about sales is becasue they dont want to get dropped form the label, or because they wont get money from sales. But Will doesnt need any of those. I think he realized this, for the second time in his music career, Code Red was the oterh one.

: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.

Edited October 5, 2005 by bigted

[Hero1]

the thing is "Switch" pushed the sales of Lost and Found to gold.. another great album that people have got no idea what its about.. Switch was supposed to be the anesthesia before will hit us with the cold water..unfortunately the cold water never came maybe a drop when everyone had left.. I think its sad that people will never know the type of album lost and found is.. the same thing happened with code red..people heard boom! shake the room and thought jjfp sold out, hand had no idea what the album was like.. You know if Will had released Lost & Found the track as a first single..it probably would have sold 100, 000 but people would have known Will was serious and what they could expect on the album.

[WesSyde]

yeah it's sad to think of what could of been, but then again, hindsight is always 20/20. i feel sorry for people who are still pissed over this, cuz it's kinda stressing. fortunately for me, i pretty much lost in interest in Party Starter/Lost & Found when Interscope refused to release it while we were desperately waiting for it. from there, i didn't really care if Lost & Found failed or whatever cuz it totally lost my interest, i just couldn't be bothered with caring about it anymore. i remember there was a time when we were thinking that Interscope would be a lot better then Columbia, but i'm not so sure about that.

this is reminding me of a line Jadakiss spit on Gang Starr's last album:

"They wonder why I invest in the haze and in the dope/

Cuz right now I'm currently a slave for interscope"

haha unfortunately it seems that Will is a slave for interscope too :sick:

[bigted]

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.

Edited October 6, 2005 by bigted

[rcpbball30]

Promotion could have been better, and L&F, PS, Tell Me Why all would have been better singles, but he made a great album, and really, that's all that matters. In the grand scheme of things, album sales were decent. All in all, it was a good album and true hip-hop fans have appreciated that, and at the end of the day, that's all that really matters.

[fan 4ever]

That is true Ted. Yeah I came off a little harsh. It is more Interscope's fault than FPs.

Y'all need to wake the f up y'all! Jim is right! It's not Interscope's fault it's FPs! Face it! He could have said no to the new movie his making now! Interscope didn't say "Will, you have to do this movie"! NO, it was FP who wanted to do this movie! I for one believe that it's FPs fault that Lost & Found didn't go platinum! Sure, he performed some songs,but he only did Switch! He could have done so many songs, he had a new album out! People got tired of hearing the same old song...and besides...whose going to buy an album because of one song they like? Only US, the real fans! Face it, Will has the blame here! Sure, Interscope should have released Party Starter sooner, that's there fault, but Will could have done so much more to promote the album!

[Hero1]

Will wraps Hitch in March 2004.

Will begins work on Lost and Found.

Will has the first single Switch ready in July 2004.

Will finishes the album in August.

Will wants Lost and Found out in October.

Will performs with Jeff around the world from June 2004 till June 2005.

Switch isnt released till February 2005

Lost and Found is released March 2005

Will continues performing.

He cant do anything other than Switch because its the only single out.

May June July goes by with no new single released by Interscope.

In late August 2005, 15 months after Will wrapped his last film, and with 15 months focused on music, the WORLDS biggest movie star begins his next film. In those 15 months Will could have shot 3 movies and made 60+ million. Instead he recorded a new album, performed with Jeff, and promoted Switch and lost and found. How yall could blame Will I got no idea... :shakehead: