bigted

Now AJ, you bring up about how Snoop has had so much success in the rap game but you gotta remember that Snoop gives props to Master P for helping him learn more about how the rap industry is when he left Death Row and signed to No Limit, Master P gave Snoop a lot of financial advice, Master P's like Puffy and Jay-Z, even if you don't like their music, you can't deny the way that they do buisiness, they have something to fall back on but with Bow Wow all he got is rapping, he's another dime-a-dozen basically, once he loses his record deal he'll be back to the unemployment line, Bow Wow's been in the spotlight for about the last 5 years, basically his time's up too, he ain't gonna have no 20 year career like LL, it was a joke that he compared himself to being the next LL, no hip-hop head would ever put those 2 in the same sentence, he lives in his own dilusional world, just like when he said mcs don't need to write their own rhymes to be great lyricists, get out of here? lol This kid spits on the hip-hop game by making such disgraceful comments, he's a disgrace to be called hip-hop, more like hip-pop, one bar on any LL's album is better than any line Bow Wow'll ever write, if he ever writes, it's obvious that Snoop was on heavy weed when he discovered this kid 'cause he's a joke...

Bow Wow's music sucks just as bad as their music does, he makes lightweight pop rap songs that he don't even write for that matter, it's like crap vs. crap here, I hope they cancel each other out personally, real artists are the only ones who have long careers I feel you there, Bow Wow's fame is gonna run dry too once the lil' girls find somebody else to listen to, what makes you think he's gonna have a long career?

Well don't get confused I think he's a great actor too, I like the "Bad Boy" movies, "Men In Black", "Hitch", and "Ali", "6 Degrees...", etc, but I don't want it to get to the point with him doing so much movies that people forget about his rap career, he came in the game as a rap artist and he should get recognition for the work he's put into that, I'd like to see Will win an Oscar in 2007 and a Grammy for best rap album in 2008 or at least nominations in both areas, he deserves credit as an rapper/actor, not just as a great actor and a washed up rapper, you're cool with the fact that Will's acting career has overshadowed his rapping career? I'm not, I want him to be like LL Cool J where people give him credit as an ultimate entertainer who makes great music and movies, LL does 1 album for every movie he does basically, he don't have the face value that Will does in his movies but he's a very good actor too, it's better to compare Will to LL than Snoop in that sense, LL got skills all around, in fact it's like LL could probably actually take a couple years off of rapping 'cause he gets enough credit there already and focus on raising his face value in acting and get an Oscar nomination while with Will I think he could afford to take time off of acting and focus on raising his status as an mc by releasing more albums and getting some Grammy nominations... Will released at least 10 movies in 10 years and only 4 albums in the last 10 years, you're ok with him doing movies every year but doing music every year is too much? I thought music is Will's first love, he sure don't act like it...

Who do you think we're gonna say? Jazzy Jeff...

Yeah even Will wants money and fame though, I don't think anybody wants to fail, if he was making a lawsuit like this you'd back him up on it, every artist has a right to fight for their chance to get airplay, especially if there's thousands of people saying that they wanna hear it then that means the radio should play it, and the reason why it's $500 million dollar lawsuit here so it could put pressure on the label but Master P would only get a small percentage if he won the lawsuit but that might be Bow Wow's publishing and he won't be able to rap again, I hope that happens and a real mc that gets slept on takes his place, I seriously wish Bow Wow could trade places on the charts with Public Enemy, he could sell 5,000 albums while Public Enemy sell 800,000, that way Columbia would get pressure to sign better artists if they wanna stay in buisiness, it's about time the wack artists fall off the charts...

Yeah Will should spend a year on music and a year on movies, I could live with that, but 3 years of movies and 1 year of music?!! At that rate people'll continue to call him an actor and not a hip-hop artist :bat:

Thanks guys, yeah it feels good that now that writer does respect Will after all as a hip-hop artist :1-cool:

It's about time that something from Outkast's coming out, it's been a long wait, I haven't heard it on the radio yet, so if u get the track post it here...

If I get a re-release of an album then I usually look for the cheapest bargain I could find...

Francis Lawrence as a director, horrible choice... :shakehead:

Well thanks for clearing it up

You know as a fan I don't really wish Will to fail in anything he does, I want to see people recognise him for his music as much/more as his films 'cause he puts a lot of work in, I don't know man I was just trippin' out 'cause I was reading that article on a hip-hop site talking about how Will only got mentioned 'cause he's an actor and he don't count as a rapper in being among the top 100 people in the world, I'm usually the one that likes to focus on the positive things that people say about Will but that upset me, I figure that hip-hop media would embrace Time recognising a hip-hop legend but I guess not, btw I thought that Will was angry that people consider more of an actor as a rapper when he released "Lost and Found", he was talking about how his acting career was killing the rapper inside of him, but I guess I worry about it more than he does, how could somebody seriously say that he felt heartbroken that he was doing more movies than music but then turn around to do nothin' but movies rather than music? I thought he says he don't do it for money, he should take a couple years off from shootin'/promoting any films if he really feels that way, he's caving in to the criticism, they tell him a million times that he's a better actor than rapper and now he's brainwashed by that, the critics want him to do more movies than music and he's going along to it, I wanna see him prove them wrong, where's the competitive fire that I thought he had for hip-hop: "My flame for hip-hop burns eternal", ok we see him on Access Hollywood more than we do see him freestylin' on Rap City so how deep is the love for hip-hop Will? The glass is half empty the way I'm ranting here, but most rappers his age have the glass empty, so half full ain't as bad as I make out to be but I mean damn, you really think Will's happier that more people want him to do movies than people want him to do music? Hip-hop is not only a part of his career but a huge part of his life, so I'd imagine he'd feel more hurt.... Do you think the criticism of him as a rapper makes him not want to record, do you think maybe he's tired of being dissed?... Btw, I like a lot of other artists but Will's my favorite one, I guess if he does 5 movies for each album I'll be one of the few that'll actually consider him one of the best mcs, I do think it's ridiculous that you have to do albums all the time to get respect, people should appreciate him already, "Lost and Found" is one of the best albums of this decade, people should give him credit for that, it should be quality over quanity, the rap game is messed up, ultimately though I really'd like him to release a few dope albums over a few years to make up for the other wack rappers releasing wack albums and getting credit for it, like I was saying if you're in the creative groove as a recording artist, why stop and run off to do movies? I don't think he needs to drop an album every year but he could keep bangin' out hit after hit after hit if he really wanted to after hearing "Lost and Found", I know he could, it's dissapointing that he's putting the rapper inside of him away for another 5 films instead.... It does bother me a lil' bit that he don't get credit for his music 'cause he's my favorite recording artist and you know I'd be happier if Entertainment Weekly did an article on how much Will gives back rather than focus on how much he makes, it's like I don't really care how much he makes, it's like I wanna see him as the most generous entertainer, not the most rich entertainer, that don't feel right...

Sometimes I wish Will was like Snoop Dogg where his acting sucks so they could talk about his music more and nobody would be begging him to do films and he could have time to record more music, I just don't like it how his acting career overshadowed his rap career, it's like Will could keep on releasing classic albums since he's in a creative groove with what he did on "Lost and Found" but now that he's doing all these movies that shuts down that creative groove :paperbag:

Well I guess making $25 million dollars each film is the reason why he doesn't make that much music anymore, maybe if a record label offered him $30 million then he'd have an album out this summer and if it's another classic it'd be worth them investing every penny into him like that, lol, that seems like that's what it'd take, doing 5 movies for 1 album shows that it's all about the money even though he denies that but at least he ain't as bad as Queen Latifah who's done like 20 since her last rap album or Marky Mark who just quit rap altogether, it breaks my heart though 'cause I defend him, I guess it's better to be famous for something rather than being slept on all together if he just did music all the time, basically critics do have a point when they say that he don't count as a hip-hop artist anymore and is just an actor, it won't be like the JJFP days anymore where he'll do 5 albums in 7 years with lots of touring, that's reality, as fans I guess we should just celebrate what he did a lot back then, does once in a while now with music, and respect that he's successful as a full time actorather than if he was gone from the spotlight altogether, like what Xzibit says rings true sort of except you could say $25 million instead of $20 million: "Sometimes I feel like Will Smith, Why should I rap since I could make $20 million a flick?", the music industry don't have respect for the artists anyway so I guess they gotta do what they gotta do then, it makes me sad that Flava Flav is doing all these stupid reality shows rather than releasing his solo album but I guess he gotta get paid too, can't be that mad about it but I just wish labels would pay artists better, this should be Willywood anyway...

Here's a list I found of all the 100 people, it shows the testimony for all 100 of them: http://rap.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.ht...e/2006/time100/

I got the author to respond to my rant I made in the response area, if Time magazine decided to take out Will 'cause he ain't the most talented rapper then they'd have to take out George Bush since he ain't the smartest man in America, lol, just 'cause you're popular doesn't mean you're better than everybody else, but that just means that you influence more people, basically that's what was implying there: "As for Will, nobody said he's trash. Like you said, he's on that list as a representative of artists that walk the fine line between rapping and acting, and that's what i pointed out. Go read the Time synopsis on Will, and you'll see that he's not there on a hip-hop level. And, I'm sorry to break it to you, but I NEVER NEVER EVER evaluate the strength of an artist based on how many platinum plaques he owns. There are so many underground artists that are much more creative and artistic than your beloved platinum-plaque careers like Will Smith, but that doesn't make them any weaker." Then I responded back just now: "Well I don’t measure talent by record sales either but you figure that Time magazine wouldn’t talk about an underground rapper that only die hard rap heads ever heard of, you have to be a household name like Will Smith and have an influence on popular culture, Will Smith has a lot of talent though as an mc, the thing that got me pissed off is that you said that Will doesn’t count as a hip-hop artist and that’s wrong ’cause he’s respected as a hip-hop artist too,you mention Public Enemy in your article, Chuck D respects Will as a rapper and respects his performance, Will battled underground rappers in Philly when he came into the game and for him to have this kinda success now is amazing, it should be celebrated by the hip-hop community not put down, many hip-hop artists have short careers while Will has manifested, his hard work and dedication should be an inspiration to the hip-hop community, a lot of artists just do it for money but Will puts heart and soul into his work I understand your points of not talent equaling sales that’s why it’s a list of the most influential people in the world, there’s quite a bit of underground rappers that could go toe to toe with Jay-Z as well, but this list isn’t about who’s the most talented, it’s about who’s the most popular that influence many, so people like Dr. Dre, Jay-Z, Will Smith, and LL Cool J are the only names in hip-hop that have both popularity and influence on popular culture in my eyes, even though they might not be the most talented" Btw, he responded to me again: "There you go. That’s exactly what i was trying to say - the list doesn’t reflect the influential people within our community. By the way, if you’ve been frequenting this site, you’ll notice that one of Will’s song is mentioned among the greatest hip-hop songs ever. He just kind off changed direction in the 90’s, and I’m not a fan of that." Then I responded back again: "Well the sad thing is that a lot of the most talented artists in the hip-hop game never get the fame and attention in the mainstream as they should, but Will is representin’ for hip-hop on the Time 100 list, you can’t say he’s just an actor, he’s a rapper/actor, Time should’ve talked a lil’ bit more about his music than they did but he’s more popular in acting than rapping at the moment, the list is for this year and Will’s not as popular in 2006 as he was in 1996, maybe if he was the highest selling rapper and had a hit movie out at the same time then they would mention more about his music, I could understand why they didn’t mention much about that and more hip-hop artists should be mentioned of course, thanks for replying to me, I appreciate it "

Thanks for the pic, I get cut my hair like that all the time too so I guess that's why ladies don't like me much, lol, I didn't know he was there, BET was showing everybody hanging out at the Premiere on "106 & Park", I wonder why they didn't interview Will? Kanye West, Twista, and Keyisha Cole performed the song for the movie there too, too bad Will wasn't featured on the song, I thought he was Tom Cruise's favorite rapper, you figure he'd hook a brotha up, lol...

Yo AJ since when does good music have to do with sales and airplay? So Mike Jones, Ying Yang Twins, G-Unit, Nelly, etc. make the best music like Bow Wow according to that statement right? Not saying that Lil' Romeo's a good artist but it's obvious that people wanna hear his song 'cause 700,000 people streamed it on Yahoo, I wished that the same amount of people signed the petition for "Tell Me Why", if Master P could sue Columbia why can't Will sue Interscope for not releasing "Tell Me Why"? It's a shame so many people would like either Bow Wow or Romeo 'cause they're both wack, it's obvious if that many people are listening to the song then you figure the radio would pick up the airplay along with the other wack songs on the radio that I don't bother to listen to much, it wouldn't surprise me if Bow Wow did something like that 'cause he doesn't seem to be mature, that's kinda low in my opinion if he'd be scared of Romeo getting airplay, lol, if he's scared of Romeo dissin' him then he might as well quit rapping forever since he'll never get respect in the rap game by any rap fan over 18 years old, it's sad to see that the rap industry is dictated by what lil' girls like to listen to instead of what real hip-hop heads like...

Happy Birthday AJ, we appreciate your contributions to the board :rockon:

I find it insulting that Will's not being embraced as representin' for hip-hop on the Time article, but the matter is though society respects Will more than they do any other artist in hip-hop, Will's a household name, and now to question whether Will's a hip-hop artist is idiotic, how many rappers released 9 albums in 20 years, his last album went platinum last year that means he's still relevant as a hip-hop artist in the music industry now.... Of course his music ain't as popular as his movies, but basically there's more people going to see Will's movies than they are gonna buy any rap album and that's why other rap artists of today like Bow Wow, 50 Cent, and Ludacris are trying to get into film 'cause they know that movies are more popular than rap is, Will brought hip-hop to Hollywood, you wouldn't see Kanye West on the red carpet with Tom Cruise if Will didn't help rappers get accepted in mainstream, now if I don't call that influential than what is? Whoever wrote that article should be fired: "They thought I was wack/When I wanted to act/Now every brother and his mother in rap being trying to do that"... http://rap.about.com/b/a/257668.htm Time 100 Greatest People - No Hip-Hop? Not that this is the first time it's happened, but I found Time Magazine's non-inclusion of relevant hip-hop artists (emphasis on relevant) in their recent Top 100 as a ridiculous oversight. Who said hip-hop hasn't shaped the world in the last 25 years or so? What magazine have these guys been reading? What radio station are they listening to? And, no...Will Smith doesn't count, since the jury's still out on whether he'is to be considered a hip-hop artist or not. In fact, Will's inclusion was based solely on his acting roles. Sean Combs, who Time found worthy of inclusion, is a pioneer in his own right, but Jay-Z has done more for hip-hop than Diddy. Jay has set countless cultural trends that altered urban America as a whole. Add that to the fact that he swiftly transported the game from the streets to the corporate office. Well, what about Public Enemy? Hell, even a Kanye West inclusion will do. Yeah right. Who am I kidding? Kanye hasn't earned that stripe yet, but you get my drift. If country music is represented by the Dixie Chicks; pop music by Bono, and if Daddy Yankee (of all people) is flying the latin music flag, then who's representing hip-hop on that list? What do you think? What hip-hop artists should have made Time's 100?

Check this out, this is some funny ****, I hope he wins the lawsuit so that wack label that screwed Will over could die off ... :kekeke: Master P Claims Sony Exec's Blocking Lil' Romeo, Filing $500 Million Lawsuit By EbenGregory Date: 5/5/2006 6:40 pm Hip-Hop mogul Master P said he is filing a $500 million lawsuit against Sony Music, alleging that its executives are trying to keep Lil' Romeo's, "U Can't Shine Like Me" from getting played on radio. The song, which responds to Bow Wow's "Fresh Azimiz," began playing on Los Angeles radio station KKBT in February. Apparently the beef between the young stars started when Lil' Romeo took offense to the track, "Fresh Azimiz," which the Miller's considered a shot in their direction. In "U Can't Shine Like Me," Romeo responds by saying he could take Bow Wow's "chick," and the video features a woman resembling Ciara, the pop star Bow Wow dated until recently. Since debuting several weeks ago, it has been streamed more than 700,000 times on Yahoo! Music. The record is not enjoying the same success on the radio stations in the United States. According to monitoring charts, only three stations in the U.S. have added the song to rotation - KKBT, WQUE in New Orleans, and WEMX in Baton Rogue. According to Master P, unnamed Sony Music executives have been calling radio stations, demanding that Lil Romeo's record not be played. "How can Sony Music executives call radio stations and tell them not to play the Romeo record "U Can't Shine Like Me?" an inquisitive Master P asked AllHipHop.com. "Los Angeles was the first city to play it. Usually, if you get played in Hollywood, the world will follow. Every station that played the Bow Wow song should have at least tested the record once or twice or played it on their 'Hit or Dis' show by now." "I had a distribution deal on the table with Jive Records that fell through the crack - hint. Sony BMG," Master P continued. "I wonder why. Jive is a Sony BMG label. Sony BMG is the parent label for Bow Wow's label, Columbia Records. "There is no beef with us and Bow," Master P explained. "We got love for the little dude. He just doesn't know when to shut his mouth. His arrogance and cockiness are turning fans and their parents off." According to Master P, Romeo's upcoming LP, God's Gift is scheduled for an August 22 release with or without major label distribution. Lil' Romeo will also tour to support the album. Representatives for Sony Music were not available as of press time. For more information on Romeo's new album, log on to http://www.guttarmusic.com.

Hey Wes, I know the feeling man, I'm still waiting till the end of the month for starting work so I really don't have any money to buy much albums, not really anything coming out I'm looking forward to anyway...

Will shouldn't really have anything to prove, I think he's clean image is the reason why some fans have hated on Will over the years 'cause he clearly has more skills than most rappers, for example I like Snoop Dogg but Will has a better album catalog than Snoop does but the reason why people like Snoop more than Will is 'cause of image, lyrical content, if Will wasn't a clean cut rapper I bet he'd have less criticism than he had to endure, that's what he was referring to in "I Wish I Made That", Will clearly has as much talent if not more talent than Jay, Dr. Dre, Snoop, and 50 Cent but the reason why people like him less is 'cause he don't make hustlin' music, but good things come to those who wait I guess, fans are coming around, if people learn to appreciate artists for their skills and not for being the most thugged out than maybe Will's gonna get more credit, their needs to be more than kids from the suburbs listening to rap, that's why it's hard to find credability on what gets played on the radio 'cause there's no variety to gain other types of audiences besides kids, that's what it comes down to, it's really about people waking up, Will shouldn't have to do anything anymore unless he desires to, he shouldn't have to make albums until he's 70 years old until people appreciate him, he should get these props now, I mean 2Pac's dead and people still praise him, we shouldn't forget about the legends that pass on but why can't people appreciate the artists that're living and still doing it big?

Well it looks like Will was able to have a nice comeback off of releasing "Lost and Found", going platinum, winning an AMA award, and solidifying himself as one of the greatest mcs ever amoung hip-hop heads after Columbia tainted his image for a lil' while, Columbia wishing they probably never released him, lol, I knew it was gonna happen when even a lot of us were doubting and I actually predicted that with Kanye's success that some contemporary fans would open up to Will and that did happen actually, not all commercial rappers are hardcore like it was a few years ago... Will lost his popularity 'cause there was a lot of popular gangsta rappers and he didn't fit in with that image, "Code Red" didn't sell much then even though it was one of JJFP's best albums, there was worse quality albums in '02 that outsold "Born To Reign", gangsta rap was popular then too, people got tired of Will's clean image and wanted some G ****, but people're came around later on and they're coming around again now too, that's why people gave Will a chance, people get tired of hearing everybody make songs about guns and drugs, like he said: "When them other rappers are done getting you to jump/I give you what you really want", they want an alternative and it was perfect timing for Will, everything happens for a reason, it's nice to know that his career's still alive, the label that he sign to Interscope could've pushed it better and it would've been the highest selling album last year but they didn't water down his image and that's the most important thing, now the hit single that blew up "Switch" was a party track but all the people who heard his albums over the years know that he's a great lyricist, you don't need a song on the radio to tell you that, most rappers don't release their most lyrical tracks as singles, 2Pac and LL released a lot of party singles too, there ain't nothing wrong with party tracks, hip-hop started with nothing but party jams, hip-hop needs to have more fun music again, too much beefing, Will could do serious songs but he still needs to make club jams that rock the dancefloors and arenas, he's great at that as the "Party Starter", lol... If you're a fan of rap you buy albums and the album's content tells you if it's a dope artist or not, some mcs just have dope singles and wack albums too(most rappers out now, well even their singles suck for that matter sometimes, lol), Will basically raps about more things than 99% of the rap industry, most rappers make a million songs about drug dealing but Will raps about issues in the community and in his life, he's a real mc, and with LL and his new album now "Control Myself" is probably his least lyrical song on there even though it's mad popular, people who listen to radio don't listen for lyrics most of the time, maybe 15-20 years ago but the last 5 years that changed especially, what's the most popular song in rap since 2000, "In Da Club", is that really more lyrical than "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It"? lol.... That's why some of the best lyricists of all time don't even have that many hits, Kool G Rap could probably rip 99% of the chart rappers today even though he didn't have many hits, that's why "Party Starter" didn't have much radio success but rap fans loved it though, a lot of people on rap boards loved it, I brought this topic back to rub it in the doubters face, I told you so, can't count Will out!!!

yeah probably most who consider "lost and found" the best album are probably bandwagon fans 'cause it's his recent album, probably most who said "He's The DJ" or "Code Red" are the regular ones who post here, I said "He's The DJ..."