DefCEM

I dont wanna sound too harsh, but this is what i honestly feel. I don't know what it is, but Will sounds off. It's like he's trying too hard to come off as dominant, superior, hard and at the same time he lacks confidence... which gives me a feeling of not being authentic. I totally understand why people are annoyed, especially the younger generation. He probably comes off as somebody who just started rapping. I have also read some comments and you really can't refute the criticism, when people f.e. point out that he rhymed "tonight" with "tonight" three times on Pretty Girls. His flow is very basic, his rhyme scheme is the same as 20 years ago. It looks like he never touched the pen in the past 20 years. As i mentioned previously, i think he is way behind his peers like LL, Rakim, Nas, which is very sad. His rap persona ego is just too big compared to what he delivers. I'm sorry that i couldn't be more positive and i don't wanna spoil the excitement, but as a long time fan i just had to express my true feelings. I still hope that he will go back to his roots and make some fun storytelling tracks with Jeff.

I struggled very hard when i heard the song for the first time this morning. The first verse was kinda funny with the full house reference. I thought it was a nice word play. Then it got simpler and cornier with each new line. I cringed very hard on the vanilla chocolate part. I saw the video a few moments ago and in conjunction with the visuals it was more entertaining. But from an MC/lyricist point of view, its pure garbage and embarassing. He's literally proofing the world he cant write rhymes without any help. Or that he's just lazy with the pen, i dont know. I havent bought tickets to his concert yet, and i think its better invested in other events. For me it ended with Lost&Found and i really cant support whatever he's trying to do with his music or his career in general at all. I have also listened to LL's "The Force" album this morning and theres really no comparison. LL is on another level regarding lyricism, energy and production quality. Songs like this will probably generate some clicks and likes commercially, but he's putting his reputation as an MC (if he still got one) on the line with trash like that. PS: I agree with ANALF00034. I dont think he's pathetic, but i have also lost a lot of respect for Will. First he buried The Fresh Prince, then Big Willie and now he's on a egocentric, self absorbed path giving zero f's about anything. The result is **** music like this that probably only like his crew, family and friends.

The albums growing on me slowly. I will have to reevaluate the whole thing in a few months or so

I think sonically it is far from what i'd expected, but i can't blame Will for that. Its just the way music sounds today. I don't like the genre mix, which also tops the genre diversity on Born to Reign. It may be his most ambitious project from an artistic and personal point of view, but as a hip-hop fan it doesn't meet my taste. Content wise he is saying more than he has ever said and his statements are more personal than ever. I was used to the uplifting positive vibes Will was putting his attention to on his previous albums. When he made music, he always put his listeners first. With this project its just about him, his ideas and how he feels. Maybe it'll sound a little bit provocative, but its kinda like a red table talk album. Honestly i am not that into his personal life problems. And the way he handled it was also a bit problematic (i really didnt want to know a lot of things they were openly talking about). Artistically it's cool that he's using music to deal with it, but as a fan it's just not what i want from Will Smith as a rapper. Overall I would rank this album as his weakest solo album. 1. BWS 2. Willenium 3. Lost & Found 4. Born to Reign 5. BOATS From a technical/lyrical point of view and his flow i think this is the best he has ever done. His voice is still not there and you can feel that he's been out of the game for two decades. Back in the day he was a lot smoother, now his voice sounds a bit pushed.

His flow on Hard Times reminds me of his Born to Reign era. Like it a lot. But my favorite song is still Beautiful Scars. I hope he will have more tracks with Jeff on his next "Season"

The beat is insane. So far the best song i've heard of the recent ones.

Nice, i hope he's gonna have some oldschool tracks with Jazzy Jeff on the other album releases

Great Song. Hope he‘s gonna drop a full length album (10-14 songs). Its refreshing to hear someone praise god in these dark times, while so many artists are worshipping and gloryfing the devil in their art. Will Smith has always been a light of positity in the business which made him stand out. We need more positivity and more love. This is what he is and this has always been the reason why i became and remained a fan.

i dont have any sympathies left for Will. He really had it coming. Why would you reveal your private life in public and put your traumas on display for everybody to get at you? As a long time fan its sad to see that a positive role model turned into the opposite. I was already struggling as a JJFP fan without any new music for almost 20 years and always thought that he didnt care about his legacy in hiphop. Besides all that, he put his family in danger with all the stunts he did and pushed others to do (his father in law got a heart attack right? wtf?), then his weirdo mindset and pseudo esoteric gibberish about the universe and last but not least his reckless behaviour at the Oscars. it seems rich and famous people just dont know how to handle life. Its either drugs or some other crazy **** that gets them.

For me it’s not particularly only about this incident, but his overall weird behavior in the past 4-5 years. I always liked him for the image of Will Smith he projected. To be positive and conscious about the message he puts out there. @Lerkot and that’s why I think it‘ll ruin his „I am Will Smith and everybody is my friend“ image. He will kinda end like Mel Gibson (who was also at the show), probably not as bad as his position, but he will always be remembered for this. I think there’s no dignity in humiliating yourself on the red table and using all this public attention to prostitute your deepest and most intimate thoughts and feelings. And all that to make money at the end of the day. Personally I think, that he’s totally lost, both in terms of his ambitions as an artist and as a human being. All those stunts and kicks he needed, putting other people he loves in danger, talking quite some esoterical nonsense, etc i just can’t overlook all that anymore. The Fresh Prince is gone and that’s it.

Agreed. This incident has probably damaged his reputation permanently. I don’t think he‘ll be respected as an artist as he used to be. Stripping away the Oscar and never invite him again would be the only logical consequence in my opinion. He disgraced and disrespected the whole legacy of that show. I’d be OK if he released a new oldskool kinda track here and there for nostalgic reasons, but I can’t really get into „Will Smith“ as that person became somebody I don’t like anymore.

This could’ve been handled more professionally f.e backstage This was immature and impulsive.

I haven’t been online here in ages and just had to come and share my feelings. I am really shocked and disappointed of his behavior and think that this is unacceptable. He didn’t even apologize to Chris at his speech. As a long time JJFP fan I must say, that the Fresh Prince I used to like and watch and listen to is no more. Will totally lost his sense of responsibility as an artist.. what it means to be a role model. He shouldn’t have made his private life so public in the first place. All that red table talk and stuff totally screwed him up. The showbiz is not the place to elaborate and therapy your life. my respect for him is on a low point and honestly he is more and more becoming an example on how NOT to do things in life. What a shame. I won’t support him anymore and will stick with his old stuff. But nonetheless I hope he’ll get out of this mess…

well, the hate was strong back in the day. Everybody was on the gangsta rap hype and people were smashing Will. Kinda funny how everybody out on social media now talks about Will like he's always been a legend, The Fresh Prince, the GOAT, etc. To be honest, people didn't support Will when he was still in the game. I don't take most of the positive criticism serious (from the older folks). HipHop has always been a macho and patriarchal domain with lots of people masking their insecurities and ignorance behind trash talking and fake attitudes. Over the years that really turned down my interest in the culture. On the other side I really appreciate a young and upcoming generation giving Will his props and respect. It really sparks my interest again. I hope this new generation will understand the importance of the responsibility you have as an artist. At least Hot97 don't disappoint with their ongoing hate on Will. They even asked the question if that verse was ghostwritten...

i thought thats interesting... LL talks about Will at 9:48 min

"That's hot..." :-)

Lerkot is living. My god, I feel like it's 2005 again... I just had to log in to write this comment.

long time no see. hope y'all doing well. glad to see some of y'all got the chance to meet JJFP. Here are my 2 cents about the new track. I think Will just doesn't care about what other people wish for. He probably did this track because he felt like it. I think theres no other oldskool rap veteran who experiments as much as Will with his music. They all keep it true to hiphop and to their own style to a certain degree. Personally i don't like the track, just because thats not my type of music. Born2Reign was similar in that aspect. He did a lot of experimental/non hiphop stuff on that album too. And his latest releases Caution in the Wild and the other one before that was the same. He tries to reach the mainstream Top 100 music listener of today, but the thing is, there are thousands of people who are better than him doing that type of music. Those recent tracks are forgotten already. Come to think, that he's very insecure about releasing music, this will just make it worse, if you look at the critics. To tell the truth, i think he never really cared about his music career. He could at least do some fan service and release some oldskoolish hiphop tracks with Jeff. Honestly i would find it better, if he released nothing instead. This stuff is not really convincing.

time to shake the dust off. something's happening!

nice to hear somethings happening *g* (check that oldskool smiley!)

i'm listening to the rain :)

seems fake to me... I think Em could drop some deeper lines than "Go **** yourself". The whole thing reads like some teenager's trying to be meaningful.

i'll be in düsseldorf tomorrow, but it depends on the girl whether or not we're going... oh and hi to everbody, it's been a while :)

There was also a making of. That was years ago on the will smith homepage, it must've been in the willenium era around 2001. Jada was also there and they had interviews with Biz, Slick Rick and all the people.

that was refreshing. i'm not really expecting new music soon. maybe when his kids stand on their own feet. but right now i think he's fully concentrated on his kids and his movie career.