*mimi*

what bugs me the most is people think he's imitating Ludacris on Party Starter. These idiots don't realize Luda let Will use his hooks and his vocals are on the track. We need to let these fools know at least this. Will ain't imitating nobody

i'm surprised by the responses. It's good though. I though ya'll would go ballistic. Glad to see you're not

^^^it's from Blender Magazine. He has a good interview/article thing in there

^^^oh same here... I just wanted to see the reaction it would get around here :)

SMITH ALLOWS CHILDREN TO LISTEN TO GANGSTA RAP WILL SMITH is happy to let his young children listen to gangsta rap - as long as the swear words are taken out. The SWITCH rapper, who prides himself on using clean lyrics in his tracks, admits his three children are allowed to listen to whatever they want - as long as the cursing is removed. He tells BLENDER magazine, "I don't shield my kids from any of that stuff. They listen to everything. "But they do all the clean versions. You can go on the iTUNES music store and download clean versions of everything." 20/05/2005 19:35

I definately take back my Run DMC comment (i forgot that they made deals with Addidas), that's a big thing for sure. But toothpaste? for MC Hammer? How many rappers have gone on and done toothpaste deals? If you're tryin to say he paved the way with endorsement delas sure, but he if created his own line of toothpaste (lol) that wouldn't be an endorsement. LL wasn't the first rapper to appear in movies.

it isn't an argument. If you're gonna give props to the old school for making an impact, U gotta give some (only a rare few) newer guys credit too. Jay did a lot of firsts in the business world for rap. Why does everyone assume i'm tryin to argue with ppl?? I wasn't even startin up ****!

... Anyways, Jay wouldn't be what most call a B or C level rapper. He's a big commodity that has, whether u like it or not, brought a whole business side to hip-hop, and the possibilities out there for rappers to make profits. Diddy, on the other hand, is a B or C level rapper with no talent and a waining record label. As much as I don't like P. Diddy as a rapper, I acknowledge that he's a smart buisiness man too and a great producer with mediocre rhyme skills(he ain't the only producer that can't rap) but neither him or Jay-Z were the 1st entrepeneurs in hip-hop, cats like Run-Dmc, JJFP, LL Cool J, and MC Hammer were the pioneers to help rappers find other ways to make money besides music, you got give them credit whether you like their music or not, they've done for hip-hop artists to have commercial success today, Jay-Z or Diddy wouldn't be the same if hip-hop never crossed over in the late '80s and early '90s.

wow smartie... what are u psychic? I'm not a huge fan of old, old school rap like Public Enemy or LL Cool J, I admit, but I do love some early 90's stuff. I grew up on Pac and Biggie, to me that era was prime. Sorry, but u don't know me, so don't talk about obvious. I don't like Jay-z as a rapper, all I said was he was a good business man. When it comes to business ventures and expanding hip-hop culture into the mainstream, this guy has done it. Sorry, but u read me wrong.

All of Us is NOT cancelled. It moved to Mondays from 8:30 to 9 after "one on One." It's still ON!

it was diddy. Although it is a coincidence that Jay and Steve Stoute are now business partners since Steve Stoute is close to Nas (his manager it think?). Anyways, Jay wouldn't be what most call a B or C level rapper. He's a big commodity that has, whether u like it or not, brought a whole business side to hip-hop, and the possibilities out there for rappers to make profits. Diddy, on the other hand, is a B or C level rapper with no talent and a waining record label.

investing in a company isn't gonna only benefit Will and Jay, especially when it brings more attention to the company. The beauty line mostly goes after African-American women, so this will help their sales too. I wouldn't say it's a selfish tactic only to make more money for Will and Jay. Hey, it's 2 strong, black males makin money in the business world. More power to them. If it was only about the music, Will or Jay wouldn't be as successful as they are today. Will made movies and did TV, now he's an international superstar. Jay was just a rapper, who then got into clothing, shoes (the fastest selling Reeboks), now he's a CEO and part time owner of the Nets.

oh geez... for a guy who claims to be a hip hop head, I'm surprised u know nothing about the connection between Pac and LL's "I shot ya." After Pac got shot 5 times in the New York recording studio, Biggie made a song "Who Shot ya," or released it soon after anyways. Then LL put out the song "I shot ya" which implied to 2Pac that LL was mocking the shooting, and the situation Pac was in. Pac was offended cause the song titles, plus the nature of both songs seemed to be aiming at him or teasing him about it. It's a well known thing in rap. I though you would know that. You are so good at implying things. Thank you for putting words in mouth that I never said! I never said 50 is original. I never said 50 is better than LL. What i was doin is comparing the kinds of exceptions people here give to Will, LL, and Pac simply b/c ya'll are fans. There's a lot of contradictions and excuses given when it comes to defending your favorite rappers. And why bring Nick Cannon into this? Don't talk about his "rap" career with me, I'm thru with him for one. Why are u sayin "If 50 ever disses LL" when he hasn't? Wishful thinking perhaps? I ain't acting like a 50cent groupie when I simply said he doesn't do drugs. And my defense was for myself, that I heard what he said and i believe him. If someone told u (with no credible source) that 50 cent kills people, drinks, etc, u would believe it in a heartbeat. That isn't fair to be honest, i don't care who u are. If I made my point already you wouldn't be sittin here puttin words in my mouth and still puttin up weird, biased accusations against 50. How am I a groupie when I'm not a fan? You're the one acting like a LL Cool J groupie for defending him in a "diss from 50" in a situation that hasn't even happened. I don't need to respect Jesse Jackson if I don't want to. I respect Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, and the people who didn't contradict themselves in their speech from their actions. I used to think Jesse Jackson was alright, until he started contradicting his speech from his actions (now don't bring this back up in your next post-I'm not gonna have a civil rights topic with u) And if u believe so strongly in the words of Pac, "only God can judge me," why don't u do the same, even for people you seem to hate, before u judge them

same here, there's so many Pac songs, I forget which one it is.

I think it's "against all odds" but there's a infamous Pac song where he says "LL I'll rock your mother****in bells." (related to LL's song Rock My bells-that's the title right?). It was basically Pac dissin a couple ppl in that song so it wasn't meant to be given a positive light

one more thing Ted, I understand that since Pac showed different sides of himself, it's okay for him to do a song like "I get around." However, those were the types of songs tht got Pac into trouble from people calling him a thug, a mysogonist, all the negative images of Pac. No critics saw the good sides of him. I remember reading letters in Vibe magazines from readers who responded to any Pac interview or article while he was alive. Half of them blastied him calling him egotistical, a hoodrat, etc. Now 50cent doesn't have much variety. His passion IS different from Pac. But have I heard a few 50Cent songs that tackle other subjects besides sex, drugs, and violence? yes. But does the media or 50 haters ever mention those? No. After Pac died, was the only time people really took time to discover what he had to say in his music. Now 50 can NOT speak half the realness Pac had, but remember that a lot of Pac haters looked at 2Pac the same way 50 haters look at him.

Pac gave props to LL on "Old school" then dissed LL on "Against all odds." That's cuz LL dissed Pac on "I shot ya." If u know anything on Pac, he and LL weren't cool after that. BTW, Jesse Jackson shouldn't be looked up as some moral role model either. He's had an affair with a couple women, and a child with one of them. If u don't like 50 fine, but u completely threw away and ignored the reason why I got into anything with u guys on this topic, is 50 doesn't drink or do drugs. Period

yes... i'm sure there are a lot of married men with wandering eyes who can relate to LL. haha And lovin girls and partyin are the things we should be tellin kids and hope they use it as influence. 50 and LL both have their faults in music so stop puttin LL in a good position. He may seem a good influence now, but he was the guy who said in a song "she's got a big ol butt... so i'm leavin u." Yup, telling the "kids" (the most important rap audience it seems) to go after the girls with the bigger asses. Let's just drop this thing. I thing I made my case early on, but this thing turned into a whole other dicussion

^^^so instead of laughing u wanna respond?? Whoa girl, you're rude. :poke:

^^^so instead of laughing u wanna respond?? Whoa girl, you're rude. :poke: Okays honey, I'll respond. You posted your reply specifically stating: Now the key word in my post was that I am a HUGE fan of 50. I have several albums of his, I download most of his mixtape tracks, I have downloaded all of his music videos, and I really like 50. So there's no such thing as hating 50 Cent here. So please don't twist my post. But the guy is a low-down dirty criminal and even if I enjoy his music a lot, that is a fact. So if you want to continue by posting your assignments to a criminal lawyer course, please go ahead. I'll try and not interfere with it. :thumb: but my post in response to your quote was not directed at u only. I'm mostly talkin to the other people plus the fact u seem to be so convinced he's a drinker and a smoker I could tell you're a fan, and I've heard of the "down low" criminal activity. But we can't just assume. If there's proof to that, I'll believe it. But in the meantime, I still believe he isn't a drug or alcohol user.

^^^so instead of laughing u wanna respond??

how do u know 50 doesn't include reality in his music. Name me 5 songs of his that aren't singles that possibly relate to his own life. If u can't, either u only heard of his singles, or u refuse to listen to anything by him. Every rapper nowadays makes songs with bs in them. You think "Switch" is a reality song? No. It's party music as it's meant to be. Do u think "Disco Inferno" was meant to be a song about reality? No. So LL speaks about real life in his music? Hasn't he made party songs too? If LL goes on talkin about pickin up women in his songs, and he's married, let's all applaud him for that! :speechless: That's not his reality!! But should I judge LL's content of his albums by just 2 singles on the radio? No. Like most rappers (except for Chingy or Nelly), I will give most rap albums a fair enough listen. Now all (well most) have a variety of different songs. Lost and Found had a majority of songs about how Will really felt about himself and rap music in real life. But then again he had a couple party tracks that mostly revolved around women. I say he can have both, as some other rappers are doin. I never said u gotta have a PA sticker, but the reality line in rap music is so blurred. Don't just give exceptions to your favorite artists. But if u wanna talk about "real" music, I don't even think LL is the one u should be puttin the shine on.

the reason why I bring Will up in this is because a lot of people here give special exceptions to Will. In no way am I comparing 50 or Will's lifestyles or morals. It wouldn't work. However, in a lot of "rumors" or any stories realting to 50, none of you accept any of the possible good sides to him. Since he comes across as an arrogant, misguided, selfish guy, anything that's "bad" about him is taken as the truth. Yet anything that's not the way u want him to be, it's taken as false information or lies. Give me a break. Anything good with Will MUST be true. Any flaws or mistakes of his MUST be lies. Anything good with 50 MUSt be lies. Anything bad with 50 MUST be the truth. That's how ya'll are closing yourself in with your blind opinons. Now this has nothing to do with who's the realer rapper. It's just the fact is 50 has said he doesn't drink or smoke, and he came across as genuine when he said it in the interviews I've read with him mentioning it. Even me, a person who doesn't like 50 much can accpet it. But u guys just hate him soooooo much, that you're ignorant to anything that seems "moral" about the guy.

stop with all this "military" talk. It sounds dumb...

I get what u guys are saying, i'm not defending 50's actions like ya'll are misinterpreting. My main point was that he does not do drugs or drink in real life. Just accept it, and leave it at that. Now most rappers (about 97%) put up a facade to keep whatever image they have. So 50 has a thug/gangsta image, but u all know damn well that he's super wealthy. Once u make all of that money, you aren't a thug. Thugs are the ones robbin, hustlin out in the streets. 50 doesn't need to do any of that. So calling him a "studio gangster" might be more appropriate. Now, LL cool J has an image of being a ladies man. We all know he's married with kids. Yet, in his songs, se woos women and girls as if he was a single man. Do u think he's doin all that in real life? No. But he, like 50 has an image they need to keep to maintain their audince. This is not a comparison between a possible criminal and a good guy. But for u guys to not get why 50's gotta talk about drugs (which doesn't necessarily make up all his songs like u imply) and then to accept LL's image as a womanzier (when he probably isn't pickin up girls in real life) doesn't add up. This isn't thugs vs. guys who never get in trouble. Basically, 50 and LL are doin the same thing by keepin their image to cater to their fans. 50's formula works, why not roll with it? So he talks about drugs? He grew up in a world of drugs. Drug dealers, his parents, friends, etc. If he grew up in a drug related world, can he not talk about it? Is he not allowed to rap about what he saw growing up? Why does HE have to do drugs for him to rap about it? He's said before the drug dealin business and how it relates to murder and shady business turned him off of drugs. Seeing how those guys messed their lives up dealin and doin the drugs kept him drug free. Ya'll are forgettin that rappers do indeed include other people's experiences in their songs. a lot of rappers admit to it, but of course, they get a pass. But when it comes to 50, he gets berated. *I'm not a staunch 50cent fan either, so don't think I'm stickin up for my "favorite" rapper or anything. 50's far from my favorite. I don't even own his CD's, but I've heard enough of his music to judge that he does not always include drugs or alcohol in his songs. Even if u only listened to his singles from the Massacre, how many of his songs are about drugs or alcohol? "Disco Inferno"-not about drugs, "Candy Shop"-not about drugs, "Just a Lil Bit"-not about drugs. If u want to make your case that "In Da Club" has a reference to dugs with Bacardi, what clubs don't serve alcohol? Most club goers drink alcohol, and I think it's legitimate to say "drink Bacardi" for a club song (unless of course, your club experiences are goin to "Disney mania clubs" or "senior citizens only clubs" or somethin