Does Will Like/Listen to Gangsta/Hardcore Hip Hop?

[bart5]

"Everybody wants to be a gangsta, bup bup bup bup, but no more, thanks to me"

"Why did Biggie and Pac have to fall in the street?"

I don't think Will likes gangsta rap, but I have seen him talk about 2pac and B.I.G. a little. Now they are both gangsta rap artists. Maybe he only talked about them because they died tragically and he feels for them. Or maybe he doesn't like gangsta rap, just only a few gangsta rappers speciffically. Whats your intake on this.

Also I remember reading some where that Will doesn't listen to a lot of hip hop now, and he has some other musical tastes that he is in to. Is this true? Is he into rock or jazz or something?

Edited October 18, 2006 by bart5

[sonic1988]

Well, I figure that he mentions Biggie and Pac because they are a part of rap music and did die tragically.

Will would listen to other kinds of music. Usually when your life is in a certain type of music you will tend to listen to other genres with your free time. You'd be suprised how many rockers (actual musicians, I mean) will listen to a lot of rap, and how many rappers will listen to rock music.

[DevilsJim89]

This is something I've always wondered myself, in a '93 interview about "Code Red" on this site, Will says he was bumpin "The Chronic" and how it was a hot record yet he says "Gangsta Rap is so wack" and its what made him leave music to pursue movies.

I think he just doesn't like how gangsta rap ate up the industry at the time. who knows

[bigted]

Aight let me break this down, I think Will criticises gangsta rap 'cause of the fact that people constantly diss him for not being a real rapper 'cause he ain't hardcore, he don't really have anything against gangsta rap, he's not a hater, he talks about Pac and Biggie 'cause he likes their music, it's more of a thing that he's angry at how the record companies only promote gangsta rap and fans get brainwashed into thinking that if you ain't a hardcore rapper then you're soft, he's basically saying that just 'cause I ain't a gangsta rapper don't mean that I ain't a talented rapper, like he says on "I Wish I Made That" that people sleep on his talent 'cause he don't make hardcoresongs like "Drop It Like It's Hot" and "Lean Back" but if you put Will in a battle with Fat Joe and Snoop he'd definately hold his own lyrically at the very least where more than likely he'd crush them, what's wack about the rap game is that people buy albums off of image instead of talent, if you ain't rapping about booze, guns, and drugs then you ain't gonna sell records even if you got mad talentand that's what makes gangsta rap wack, and ironically as I'm typing this I see the brand new Jay-Z Budweiser commercial come on in between the Mets game I'm watching, it's like people diss positive rappers like Hammer for advertising healthy things like cereal and Gatorade but if you're a hardcore rapper advertising Budweiser or Miller Lite(Flava Flav's my man but thumbs down to that) then you're looked at as cool....

Talib Kweli got much more elevated wordplay than Eminem does but he ain't rapping about killing his mother so he ain't selling anything, Kel Spencer would've blown up like 50 Cent by now if he was rapping about getting shot 9 times, sad but true but it's just like how there's probably a lot of average looking girls that could sing really good but don't have dynamite bodies like Britney and Christina so they won't get record deals, the whole music industry's that way, that's why I don't really pay attention much to mainstream stuff, I'm more into good music rather than the image, it don't hold much weight to me, I think Will does probably listen to a lot of different types of music besides hip-hop too...

Edited October 19, 2006 by bigted

[Hero1]

Will listens to a lot of old school rap. He views 2pac and biggie as poets.

[rcpbball30]

I think that Ted and Tim put it well, I have nothing to add, lol.

[JumpinJack AJ]

2Pac isn't a gangsta rapper. Listen 2 his lyrics. I would consider him a street poet and versitile artist. He did political Hip-Hop, hardcore Hip-Hop, true school Hip-Hop, party jams, everything. Only his time on Deathrow really showed the unbalanced 'Pac who dedicated alot of his lyrics 2 over-the-top street stuff. On top of that, 2Pac and FP were actually cool. FP does like the early 90's harcore hip-hop and g-funk...but there waz actually some brains involved in that. He respect Dre's and Snoop's stuff. U gotta remember that Ice Cube mixes hardcore Hip-Hop with political Hip-Hop. Dr. Dre's stuff mixed classic P-funk with hardcore Hip-Hop, and Snoop's music is an extention of Dre's style. While i don't like cussing and over the top thugged out stories, alot of that music kept my attention. What is considered "gangsta rap" now is just a joke. No classic samples, introspective political views behind the lyrics. In fact, usually there isn't any redeemable quality 2 the music. I'm not totally overlooking some of the talented artists like Snoop...cuz he's guilty of that from time 2 time 2. Back then, FP actually listened 2 that stuff along with true school Hip-Hop. He stated that in interviews.

As Mr. Nice Guy/Team Player, FP supports everyone...but listen 2 "Lost + Found"...need i say more?!?

[bigted]

I remember watching the AMA's last year and saw Will high fiving the country singers when they were winning their awards, cheering like he's a fan of them

And again what he says on "Lost and Found" displays how he's critical more of the music industry than he is other rappers 'cause the truth is no matter how real some rappers might claim they are if corporations throw them enough money they'll promote negativity to get it, if the record companies concentrated less on signing the most thugged out rappers and actually looked for the rappers with the most talent then I believe that there'd be more balance in the rap industry and music in general, it's not good for our young girls to grow up either and have anorexia 'cause they want to get to Britney Spears'/Beyonce level, you should be able to get a break in the music industry without changing your image but through hard work and building up talent, now I think Will appreciates acting more 'cause it's more about quality than image, really you gotta be a talented actor to break into Hollywood and it ain't about what role you play in the movies as long as you do it well, it ain't that way with music though it seems, if you don't live up to a certain image in music then you won't sell records or get rewarded on the most part, if "Lost and Found" was a movie it'd been his biggest 'cause the effort he put into that was big but the image that he don't live up to is the reason why it didn't do as well as it should've, but when he puts his heart into movies he don't get any criticism....

Now I don't mind listening to some gangsta rap even if I don't agree with some it's messages, the main thing with me is that the artist is talented, Snoop is a very entertaining artist with the way that he flows but 50 Cent and Young Jeezy annoy me 'cause they can't really flow that well on the most part, and positive rappers are cool but that don't mean that they're all on the same level as Rakim(talking about those like Nick Cannon and Kanye West), really all these labels on rap is weak, I just appreciate talented rap music, I appreciate good music in general beyond any label or an image, Will probably comes across that way too and probably a lot of artists in the music industry, everyone on this board probably has different tastes in music but I think a lot of us come across that way too, the problem is that majority of music buyers don't seem to be that way, they'll put an artist down if that artist don't live up to an image even if the music is good...

[Turntable]

I keep it simple. "Yes".

[mfuqua23]

I keep it simple. "Yes".

This is the best answer in the whole post.

All this talk, talk talk, argue argue argue. Will has listened to NWA "F*** The Police" for goodness sakes. And says "That's what everybody felt in their hearts". Of course, how much creditibility does Will stand to make supporting NWA.

And as I was skimming thru what people said, I disagree with Ted on how a certain rapper raps, then they will make it. Lie to get what you want? Would anybody listen to me if I said I got shot 10 times? One more than 50, and I'm only 20 years old. haha

I would've said more, but there's no need to argue on such a factual topic.

----------------------

(The following is a bigted edit): What the world? Be anorexic to be like Britney or Beyonce?!? I have yet to see an anorexic girl that has a booty like B. I think the celebs you're looking for are Nicole Richie and Lindsay Lohan (according to whoever enjoys talking about them) If any image was allowed in the music industry, the 1000s that do it everyday would stand to make it. I guess then it would be talent, chance, and persistence, huh? Let them have their little certain image. Somebody is bound to break that plane.

What artist hasn't lived up to the image and gotten criticized even when the music was good?

Those people that say Hip Hop is dead, I can stand by saying they are wrong now, because I think they're lookin at it at the business aspect. The way business used to do for Hip Hop. Now look at it, is it dead or is it changing just to something bad (according to the real Hip Hop heads)?

Edited October 19, 2006 by mfuqua23

[bigted]

I keep it simple. "Yes".

This is the best answer in the whole post.

All this talk, talk talk, argue argue argue. Will has listened to NWA "F*** The Police" for goodness sakes. And says "That's what everybody felt in their hearts". Of course, how much creditibility does Will stand to make supporting NWA.

And as I was skimming thru what people said, I disagree with Ted on how a certain rapper raps, then they will make it. Lie to get what you want? Would anybody listen to me if I said I got shot 10 times? One more than 50, and I'm only 20 years old. haha

I wouldn't said more, but there's no need to argue on such a factual topic.

I need to learn from Turntable to keep the answer short and simple, lol, now if you or me say we got shot 10 times we'd be lying, 50 really was shot though, that shouldn't be promoted as it is but that really turned to blow his career up, it wasn't his fault but Interscope used that as a promotional tool for when he came out and it helped sell him all those records, if he didn't go through that negativity he wouldn't have made it as big as he has, people are fascinated by that image, and those up and coming rappers that don't go through that drama or choose not to rap about that don't make it on the most part

[Turntable]

True, but I'm having a hard time blaming 50 for using that, cosnidering all the money he makes. Man If I could make money like him by acting his way I'd do it, cant front on that,lol. I cant blame him for people beeing stupid enough to fall for his crap till they en up buying his records.

Edited October 19, 2006 by Turntable

[bigted]

Well I ain't blaming 50 either, basically it's the way society is, we pay attention more to negative things going on than we do positive things, that negative turned into a positive for him which is a good thing, it's like I said in a poem that I wrote: "Most people only want to talk/About their own troubles/Nothing positive is soft/But we let good things remain undercover/Because it's only cool to talk /About the negative things that happen in a scuffle" Now of course if a rapper tries to stretch the truth it really hurts their popularity in the longrun, like if it's discovered for some reason that 50 really didn't get shot then he won't sell anymore records after that, the talent hasn't really carried his career talent don't sell records, image does, the same thing happened to 2Pac's career after all the turmoil and drama, his record sales skyrocketed the moment he got shot/went to jail than it was before even though he was always talented, Interscope marketed him strongly as well 10 years ago, people talk more about his image now than his music which is kinda sad in a way, in all fairness LL's been popular for so long 'cause of his ladies loving image and that he's a sex symbol, KRS-ONE is just as talented but he don't have that type of appealing image so he ain't popular anymore, Will got hit Hollywood movies so record labels will always sign him whenever he wants to make a record(and the fact that his solo records outsold the JJFP albums says that his career's been more marketable 'cause of his Hollywood fame to a degree) as opposed to another high skilled legend in Rakim who has to wait years to get a record deal since he ain't marketable, btw I gotta add that the moment Janet gained weight her record label didn't want to release her album until she lost it, it's all about image, the music industry is more about image than it is about talent no matter if that artist has a lot of talent or not

Edited October 19, 2006 by bigted

[Turntable]

Word. Thats true.

[Jazzy Julie]

well im not going to answer the question bcoz i did last time and dear God im not getting into that again. But i just want to add i hate gangsta rap but i like 2pac, its bcoz the guy is so talented (in my opinion). You can make exceptions for certain artists, but if some untalened fool just blatently uses gangsta to sell that just wrong.

Will most probably likes other kinds of music too, i mainly like hip hop and RnB but i will listen to other types just for a change.