bigted

Yeah I don't think Nick Cannon'll be a legend or anything like that close to Fresh Prince but I'm just acknowledging that at least he ain't trying to be a studio gangsta...

I don't think Nick Cannon's quite on Will's level but I think more people hate on him 'cause he ain't a hardcore rapper just like they do for Will so there is a similarity there, the kid got some skills, his show "Wildin' Out" is funny as hell, I think his new song "Dimepiece" is a banger, that's cool that he sampled BBD's classic "Poison" for it, I might check for his album when it drops too, I respect him more than most rappers out now...

RIP to Proof and everybody that died today, whether they're famous or not, and just 'cause he's a hardcore rapper don't mean anything, you can't forget that even JMJ was murdered and he didn't have a hardcore image, I don't think we have to like Proof'smusic just 'cause he passed away either but we could give our condolences no doubt, and of course since he's famous though hopefully this'll show the rap fans and the public in general not to take life for granted...

Allhiphop.com didn't say it was terrible, they gave it 3 1/2 stars and wrote a respectable review, there needs to be no question about whether an LL album is dope, he's the most consistant mc of all time, some commercial rap heads might hate though 'cause he raps about more important issues in life than guns and drugs in his songs, I rather here a million songs about love and passion than a million songs about how much of a thug you are, LL's the realest mc next to Fresh Prince, I hope this album goes double platinum and wins a Grammy instead of the 98% of the wack rappers on the radio: Todd Smith Artist: LL Cool J Title: Todd Smith Rating: 3 1/2 stars Reviewed by: The Closer What more can be said about the career of the original Hip-Hop Icon? LL Cool J has been an enduring presence in Hip-Hop for the duration of it’s mainstream history. Before the Tupac’s, the B.I.G.s and the Jiggas ,and even before the Snoops, there was the Uncle. The Future of the funk. The very definition of trailblazing legend, LL has dropped many styles and flows over his years as the prince of rap from adolescence to grown man. Here on his 12th go round, you can see his growth and progress. Todd Smith (Island Def Jam), the new joint, features an LL focused on staying in his lane. The album opens up with the driving "It's LL and Santana" a pairing with one of the upcoming lions in the game, labelmate Juelz Santana. The point of the song is two-fold; to connect LL with today's generation of Hip-Hoppers and to introduce Juelz to a wider audience. The song features a driving beat but lacks the chemistry and strength of Cool J's earlier collaborations like "Rampage" with EPMD or 4,3,2,1 with Method Man, Redman, DMX and, ahem, Canibus . Much of the album is produced by the famous Trakmasters duo. Unfortunately that's where the problem arises. A significant portion of the album feels dated. "Favorite Flavor" featuring Mary J. Blige feels mired in 1994. While that was a great year for Hip-Hop, it's 12 years behind in evolution. Been there, done that. Also dragging the album down is the melancholy "Freeze", which pairs Cool J with promising newcomer Lyfe Jennings. Jennings is underwhelming and the Uncle's flow is formulaic for the too-slow beat. It doesn’t take advantage of LL's energy and charisma at all. Thumbs down on that one. All is not lost however. The album begins to pick up with the energetic "What You Want" featuring dynamic chemistry and an old school feel with Cool J spitting back-and-forth heat with Freeway with an old school rapid delivery. The album begins to change direction and gains steam with the dramatic and powerful "I've Changed" which features a "Song Cry"-esque story of love lost and it's-not-overism. New Comer Ryan Toby delivers an eerie performance reminiscent of a young Curtis Mayfield. This is easily the highlight of the album and LL at his storytelling finest with a sense of desperation and passion. Other highlights feature the Latin-tinged "#1 Fan", the spiritually inspiring "We're Gonna Make It", featuring Mary Mary, and the "Planet Rock" inspired and Jermaine Dupri-produced lead single "Control Myself". The cherry on top is the "Human Nature" powered "So-Sick Remix", which sounds like an early 90's Ron G mixtape blend. All in all, LL manages to stay in the lane he's carved out. The muscle bound man is no longer getting his face in the sand, and the Mama inspired knockout artist is married with children and happily making that cheddar. Nothing wrong with that. Todd Smith is a solid disk and a welcome dose of love and upliftment in the present misogynist Hip-Hop environment. Just don't call it a comeback. Mature listeners only.

"We're Gonna Make It" definately needs to be released as a single, probably LL's most powerful song since "Father" in my mind, it's the type of song that could impact the rap industry in a big way, that song "I've Changed" with Ryan Toby is another one of my favorites on there too, this is definately another solid album in Uncle L's catalog no doubt, btw here's a review from Allhiphop.com I just found on it, they're really showin' love to the real mcs, that's become one of my favorite sites, I might rate some of the tracks myself later: Todd Smith Artist: LL Cool J Title: Todd Smith Rating: 3 1/2 stars Reviewed by: The Closer What more can be said about the career of the original Hip-Hop Icon? LL Cool J has been an enduring presence in Hip-Hop for the duration of it’s mainstream history. Before the Tupac’s, the B.I.G.s and the Jiggas ,and even before the Snoops, there was the Uncle. The Future of the funk. The very definition of trailblazing legend, LL has dropped many styles and flows over his years as the prince of rap from adolescence to grown man. Here on his 12th go round, you can see his growth and progress. Todd Smith (Island Def Jam), the new joint, features an LL focused on staying in his lane. The album opens up with the driving “It’s LL and Santana”, a pairing with one of the upcoming lions in the game, labelmate Juelz Santana. The point of the song is two-fold; to connect LL with today’s generation of Hip-Hoppers and to introduce Juelz to a wider audience. The song features a driving beat but lacks the chemistry and strength of Cool J’s earlier collaborations like “Rampage” with EPMD or 4,3,2,1 with Method Man, Redman, DMX and, ahem, Canibus . Much of the album is produced by the famous Trakmasters duo. Unfortunately that’s where the problem arises. A significant portion of the album feels dated. “Favorite Flavor” featuring Mary J. Blige feels mired in 1994. While that was a great year for Hip-Hop, it’s 12 years behind in evolution. Been there, done that. Also dragging the album down is the melancholy “Freeze”, which pairs Cool J with promising newcomer Lyfe Jennings. Jennings is underwhelming and the Uncle’s flow is formulaic for the too-slow beat. It doesn’t take advantage of LL’s energy and charisma at all. Thumbs down on that one. All is not lost however. The album begins to pick up with the energetic “What You Want” featuring dynamic chemistry and an old school feel with Cool J spitting back-and-forth heat with Freeway with an old school rapid delivery. The album begins to change direction and gains steam with the dramatic and powerful “I’ve Changed” which features a “Song Cry”-esque story of love lost and it’s-not-overism. New Comer Ryan Toby delivers an eerie performance reminiscent of a young Curtis Mayfield. This is easily the highlight of the album and LL at his storytelling finest with a sense of desperation and passion. Other highlights feature the Latin-tinged “#1 Fan”, the spiritually inspiring “We’re Gonna Make It”, featuring Mary Mary, and the “Planet Rock” inspired and Jermaine Dupri-produced lead single “Control Myself”. The cherry on top is the “Human Nature” powered “So-Sick Remix”, which sounds like an early 90’s Ron G mixtape blend. All in all, LL manages to stay in the lane he’s carved out. The muscle bound man is no longer getting his face in the sand, and the Mama inspired knockout artist is married with children and happily making that cheddar. Nothing wrong with that. Todd Smith is a solid disk and a welcome dose of love and upliftment in the present misogynist Hip-Hop environment. Just don’t call it a comeback. Mature listeners only.

I bought the album yesterday, I think it's better than his last couple albums combined, it got a lot of heart and soul to it, I'm definately gonna be bumpin' this all summer :wiggle: btw, I was checking LL's message board and a girl posted about how she attended LL's "Life and Rhymes" special that was shown on MTV the other day, it shows you how LL keeps it real to his fans, lol: http://www6.defjam.com/site/deffam_messageboard.php LL, if you read this, please know that you have made your TRUE fans dream come true! I attended the taping of "Life And Rhymes" for MTV2 and you called me onstage to sign my copy of your autobiography. I have been in love with you since 1990 "Around The Way Girl." My friends remember when I wrote the lyrics to that song on my trapper keeper. I felt that song was written specifically about me!! I just wanted to share that since I read your autobiography, I have a deeper respect for you. I love the part when you talk about your kids going to Benihana's! Not many of your fans can say this, but I have a scar on my left inner knee from trying to "freak" the tv with one leg up when you came on some TV show I HAVE SCARS FOR YOU LL!!!! In any case, when you brought me onstage and signed my book for millions of people to see, it just solidified everything I ever imagined you to be and you have truly made me a fan for life. I was the biggest LL fan ever (since Krush Grove), but know, I'm totally obsessed!! I love you so much and wish God bless you and your family always. I WILL BE PICKING UP YOUR ALBUM TOMORROW, APRIL 11TH!!! champ3700@hotmail.com P.S. Whenever my husband has anything smart to say to me, I now reply to him by saying "LL would never talk to me that way, LL said he loved me!" I LOVE YOU LL COOL J!!!!!!!! YOU ARE THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME!!

Speaking of Eminem, if he wants to bounce back and get more respect for his music again he should start making postive songs in the memory of his friend Proof, if this don't change him for the better nothing will...

Hopefully this is a lesson to these rappers in the game now to stop glorifying violence in their songs and in real life, carrying a gun with you is not "keepin' it real", **** having street cred and even if people call them soft at least they'll live longer, I pray that these rappers like Eminem and 50 Cent learn from this and grow up....

Good thing I got LL's "14 Shots To The Dome" last summer, that's a dope album, I don't get why it gets hated on so much, that's far from his worst one, I think "10"'s probably his worst one....

I think that the VH1 list is very more on point than this MTV list, they actually do a better job covering hip-hop and of course there's some flaws with that list too no doubt though, you could move some way down the list like Nelly, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Jay-Z, DMX, and Puffy, then move JJFP up to about the top 20 or top 15 at the very least, I have no problem with that if they list the other legends that deserve due, as long as they get a mention at least, I mean it should be mandatory to mention JJFP on every list just like it is to mention Pac on every list, there's no perfect top 10 list that's definitive but I'm just saying that there shouldn't be an all time hip-hop list that don't have JJFP on it for all they've done and continue to do for hip-hop, not many work harder and stronger than them, btw you could say MC Hammer's the opposite of Common/Talib Kweli, he's not that strong of a lyricist but he probably could outperform everybody on stage, today's mcs might have more complex lyrics than those 15-20 years ago but they can't perform like those 15-20 years ago did, it's hard to compare Run-Dmc to Dipset, different styles/ different eras, but JJFP have been complete artists and that seperates them from the others, Fresh Prince's lyrics have been strong in every era too with Jazzy backing him on the boards and their performances are the best, that's what makes them all-time greats 'cause they're basically the best in all times, but I think 'cause they don't have a hardcore image people tend to sleep on that but their peers respect them though, ol' school rappers never would say anything to put them down and their might be a few ignorant young rappers like Bow Wow that might consider them soft but there's also some contemporaries like Nelly and TI that respect them at the same time...

Don't front man if Fresh Prince had a hardcore image like Pac and released 9 albums in a span of 20 years with the top notch flows and lyrical schemes he has, it'd be a no brainer that'd he'd be ranked in everyone's top 10, people look at "street cred" more than skills and that's sad, Fresh Prince could rip the mic with the best of them for real...

Nah I copied and pasted from an allhiphop.com post in the IC :stickpoke:

I found this list posted over on Allhiphop.com, sad to see some classics on there going out of circulation like that: Above the Law - Time Will Reveal Above the Law - Uncle Sam's Curse Aceyalone - A Book of Human Language Afu Ra - Life Force Radio Akinyele - Vagina Diner Akrobatik - the EP All City - Metropolis Gold Allfrumtha i - Allfrumtha i America is Dying Slowly compilation Analog Brothers - Pimp to Eat Ant Banks - the Big Badass Ant Banks - Big Thangs Ant Banks - Do or Die Ant Banks - Sittin on Something Phat Apache - Gangsta Bitch Bad Azz - Executive Decision BB Jay - Universal Concusion da Beatminerz - Brace 4 Impak Benzino - the Benzino Project BG Knocc out & Dresta - Real Brothers Big Daddy Kane - Daddy's Home Big Daddy Kane - Looks Like a Job For Big Daddy Kane - Prince of Darkness Big Daddy Kane - Taste of Chocolate Big Daddy Kane - Veteranz Day Big Mike - Hard to Hit Big Noyd - Episodes of a Hustla Biz Markie - All Samples Cleared Biz Markie - the Biz Never Sleeps Blackalicious - Melodica Black Sheep - Non Fiction Blahzay Blahzay - Blah Blah Blah Boogiemonsters - Riders of the Storm:the Underwater Album Brand Nubian - Foundation Bulworth soundtrack Da Bush Babee's - Ambushed Bushwick Bill - Universal Small Souljah Busy Bee - Running Thangs Busy Bee - Thank God for Busy Bee Calhouns - Made in the Dirdy South Caught Up soundtrack Cella Dwellas - Realms & Reality Cha Cha - Dear Diary Channel Live - Armaghetto Channel Live - Station Identification Chi-Ali - the Fabulous Chi-Ali Childrin of da Ghetto - Children of da Ghetto Chill Rob G - Ride the Rhythym Chuck D - Autobiography of Mistachuck CJ Mac - Platinum Game C-Murder - Bossalinie C-Murder - Life or Death C-Murder - Trapped in Crime Compton's Most Wanted - It's a Compton Thang Comrads - Wake up & Ball Cool Breeze - East Points Greatest Hits Cormega - Hustler/rapper Convicts - Convicts Coolio - El Cool Magnifico Coolio - It Takes a Thief Coolio - My Soul Coup - Genocide & Juice Coup - Kill my Landlord Craig G - the Kingpin Craig G - Now thats more Like It Craig Mack - Project: Funk da World Cross Movement - House of Representatives Cross Movement - Human Emergency Dana Dane - Dana Dane With Fame Dana Dane - Rollin wit Dane Danja Mowf - Word of Mowf Defari - Focused Daily De La Soul - AOI: Bionix Demigodz - the Godz Must be Crazy Diamond D - Hatred, Passion & Infadelity Dice Raw - Reclaiming the Dead Digital Underground - Who Got the Gravy DITC - DITC D-Nice - Call me D-Nice D-Nice - to tha Rescue Doctor Dre & Ed Lover - Back Up Off Me Doggy's Angels - Pleezbalevit Donald D - Let the Horns Blow Donald D - Notorious Doug E Fresh - Play Edan - Primitive Plus Ed OG & the Bulldogs - Life of a Kid in the Ghetto Ed OG & the Bulldogs - Roxburry 02119 Eminem - Infinite EPMD - Business Never Personal Erick Sermon - No Pressure ESG - Ocean of Funk Extra Prolific - Like it Should Be Fat Boys - Fat Boys Fiend - Street life Fiend - There's One in Every Family 50 Cent - Power of the Dollar 50 Cent - Guess Who's Back 504 Boyz - Goodfellas Flatlinerz - Under Satan's Authority Flavor Unit - 100% Hater Proof Freddie Foxxx - Industry Shakedown Freddie Foxxx - Is Here Gang Starr - No More Mr Nice Guy Game Over compilation Game Over vol 2 compilation G-Dep - Child of the Ghetto Ghetto Comission - Wise Guys Ghetto Mafia - On da Grind Ghetto Mafia - Straight from the Dec Grand Daddy IU - Smooth Assassin Grandmasterflash & the Furious 5 - the Adventures of Grandmaster Flash... More of the Best Grand Puba - 2000 Gravediggaz - Nightmare in A Minor Guerilla Maab - In the Mist of Guerillasz Gza/Genuis - Words From the Genuis Hammer - the Funky Headhunter Hammer - Too Legit to Quit Heather B - Eternal Affairs Heather B - Takin Mine Heavy D - Blue Funk Heavy D - Heavy Heavy D - Living Large Heavy D - Nuttin but Love Heavy D - Peaceful Journey High School High soundtrack Ice T - Home Invasion Ice T - 7th Deadly Sin Ice T - VI:Return of the Real I Got the Hook Up soundtrack Ill Al Skratch - Creep Wit Me Ill Al Skratch - Keep it Movin Illegal - the Untold Truth I'm Bout It soundtrack Isis - Rebel Soul Jamal - Last Chance No Breaks Jayo Felony - Crip Hop Jaz - to Your Soul Jaz - a Word to the Jaz Jaz - Ya Don't Stop Jean Grae - Attack ot the Attacking Things Jemini the Gifted One - Scars and Pain Juggaknots - Re:release Jungle Brothers - J Beez With the Remedy Juice - 100% Juice Jungle Brothers - Raw Deluxe Jungle Brothers - VIP Just-Ice - Gun Talk JVC Force - Doin Damage Kam - Kamnesia Kam - Made in America Kam - Neva Again Kausion - South Central Los Angeles K-Dee - Ass Cash or Gas Keith Murray - Enigma Keith Murray - It's a Beautiful Thing Kid Capri - Soundtrack to the Streets Kid Sensation - Rollin with Number One Kid Sensation - Seatown Funk Kid Sensation - the Power of Rhyme King Sun - Righteous but Ruthless King Tee - Act a Fool King Tee - At your Own Risk King Tee - IV Life King Tee - tha Triflin Album KMD - Black Bastards KMD - Mr Hood Kool G Rap - Roots of Evil Kool G Rap & DJ Polo - Live and Let Die Kool G Rap & DJ Polo - Road to the Riches Kool G Rap & DJ Polo - Wanted Dead or Alive Kool Keith - Matthew Kool Keith - Sex Style K-Otix - Universal K-Rino - No Mercy K-Rino - Pay Back Krumb Snatcha - Snatcha Season vol 1 Krumb Snatcha - Snatcha Season vol 2 K-Solo - Tell the World My Name K-Solo - Time's Up Kurious - a Constipated Monkey Kwame - A Day in the Life: A Pokadelic Adventure Kwame - Boy Genuis Kwame - Incognito Kwest the Madd Ladd - This is my First Album Lady of Rage - Necessary Roughness La the Darkman - Heist of the Century da Lench Mob - Planet of the Apes Lil Buddy - Major Lil Keke - Birds Fly South Lil Keke - It Was all a Dream Lil Keke - Platinum in da Ghetto LL Cool J - 14 Shots to the Dome Lord Finesse - the Awakening Lord Finesse - Funky Technician Lords of the Underground - Keepers of the Funk Louis Logic - Sin-a-Matic Low Profile - We're in this Thing Together Mac - Shell Shocked Mac - World War 3 Mad CJ Mac - True Game Made Men - Classic Limited Edition Mad Kap - Look ma Duke, No Hands Maestro - Black Tie Affair Maestro - Naah, Dis Kid Cant be From Canada !?! Maestro - Symphony in Effect Mad Skillz - From Where ??? Magic - Sky's the Limit Magic - Thuggin Main Source - **** What You Think Marley Marl - In Control Marley Marl - In Control vol 2 Masta Ace - Slaughta House Masters of Illusion - Masters of Illusion McGruff - Destined to Be MC Eiht - N My Neighborhood MC Hammer - Let's Get It Started MC Lyte - Act Like You Know MC Lyte - Aint no Other MC Lyte - Bad as I Wanna Be MC Ren - Shock of the Hour MC Ren - Villain in Black MC Serch - Return of the Product MC Shan - Born to be Wild MC Shan - Down by Law MC Shan - Play It Again Shan MF Doom - Mm Food? MF Doom - Operation Doomsday MF Doom & MF Grimm - MF Doom & MF Grimm Mia X - Good Girl Gone Bad Mia X - Mama Drama Mia X - Unlady Like Mic Geronimo - Long Road Back Mikah 9 - Tible Mil - Street Scriptures Missin' Linx - Exhibit A Motion Man - Clearing the Field Mr Mike - Rhapsody Mr Serv-On - Da Next Level Mr Serv-On - Life Insurance Mr Serv-On - Take a Sip Mr Serv-On - War is Me Ms Toi - That Girl Murs - F'Real Mykill Myers - It's Been a Long time Coming Mystic - Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom Mystik Journeymen - 4001: the Stolen Legacy Mystik Journeymen - Worldwide Underground Nate Dogg - G-Funk classics vol 1&2 Naughty by Nature - 19 Naughty Nine : Nature's Fury Naughty by Nature - 19 Naughty 3 Naughty by Nature - Poverty's Paradise Neek the Exotic - Exotic's Raw Nice & Smooth - Jewel of the Nile Nice & Smooth - Nice & Smooth Nine - Cloud Nine Nine - Nine Livez the Nonce - World Ultimate Nonchalant - Until the Day Nutty Professor II: the Klumps soundtrack OC - Bon Appetit Odd Squad - Fadanuf fa Erybody OGC - the M-Pire Strikez Back Organized Konfusion - Equinox Original Concept - Straight from the Basement of Kooley High Original Flavor - Beyond Flavor Original Flavor - This is How It Is the Others - Past Futuristic Penthouse Players Clique - Paid the Cost Pharoahe Monch - Internal Affairs Planet Asia - the Last Stand PMD - Business is Business Polyrhytym Addicts - Rhyme Related Poor Righteous Teachers - Black Business Poor Righteous Teachers - Holy Intellect Poor Righteous Teachers - New World Order Poor Righteous Teachers - Pure Poverty Pop da Brown Hornet - the Undaground Emperor Professor Griff - Pawns in the Game Public Enemy - Greatest Misses Pudgee the Phat Bastard - Give em the Finger Queen Latifah - All Hail the Queen Queen Latifah - Nature of a Sista Queen Latifah - Order in the Court Ras Kass - Soul on Ice Ras Kass - Rassassination Real Live - Turnaround : Long Awaited Drama Rhyme & Reason soundtrack Rhyme Syndicate - Rhyme Syndicate Coming Through the Roots - Organix Rumpletilskinz - What is a Rumpletilskinz ? Run DMC - Back From Hell Run DMC - Down With the King Saafir - Box Car Sessions Saafir - Trigonometry Salt n Pepa - Brand New Sauce Money - Middle Finger U Self - What About my Life 7L & Esoteric - Soul Purpose Showbiz & AG - Good Fellas Showbiz & AG - Runaway Slave Shyheim - Manchild Silkk the Shocker - Charge it 2 da Game Silkk the Shocker - Made Man Silkk the Shocker - The Shocker Sleepy's Theme - Vinyl Room Smoothe Da Hustler - Once Upon a Time in America Snypaz - My Life as a Snypa Sole - Skin Deep Soulja Slim - Give it 2 em Raw Special Ed - Best of Special Ed Special Ed - Legal Special Ed - Revelations Special Ed - Youngest in Charge Spice 1 - Black Bossalini Spice 1 - Spiceberg Slim Steady B - Let the Hustlers Play Stetsasonic - Blood, Sweat & No Tears Stetsasonic - On Fire Suga T - Gettin It Suga T - Paper Chasin Supafriendz - the 804 Compilation Terminator X - the Valley of the Jeep beats Tech N9ne - Calm Before the Storm Tech N9ne - the Worst Teflon - My Will Three Times Dope - Original Stylin Timbaland - Tim's Bio: Life from da Basement Timbaland & Magoo - Indecent Proposal Timbaland & Magoo - Welcome to Our World Tim Dog - Do or Die Tim Dog - Pencillin on Wax Tonedeff - Underscore Tone Loc - Cool Hand Loc Tracey Lee - Many Facez Tragedy Khadafi - Against All Odds Tragedy Khadafi - Intelligent Hoodlum Tragedy Khadafi - Still Reportin Tragedy Khadafi - Tragedy:Saga of a Hoodlum Trespass soundtrack Tru - da Crime Family Tru - Tru 2 da Game Tru - True Tru - Who's da Killer ? Twista - Runnin off at da Mouth Two Kings in a Cipher - From Pyramids to Projects II Tru - a New Breed of Female Ultramagnetic MC's - Four Horsemen Ultramagnetic MC's - Funk your head up UMC's - Fruits of Nature UMC's - Unleashed Vanilla Ice - Mind Blowin WC & the Maad Circle - Aint a Damn thing Changed Whodini - Six Willie D - Controversy Willie D - Goin out Like a Soldier Willie D - Play With ya Mama Willie D - Unbreakable Wu-Syndicate - Syndicate X-Clan - Xodus Yaggfu Front - Action Packed Adventure Yo Yo - Black Pearl Yo Yo - Ebony Yo Yo - You Better Ask Somebody Yvette Michele - My Dream YZ - Sons of the Father YZ - The Ghetto's Been Good to me Z-Ro - Look What You Did to Me

Street cred doesn't make you "real", you should be real by being yourself, Will's not a hardcore gangsta and he shouldn't have to act like one just for a certain crowd to feel him

Will could release 50 albums and sell 100 million in his career and still he won't be mentioned 'cause of his "soft" image, we have to deal with it, in a couple years they'll probably even say Bow Wow's a better rapper than him, you can't expect much from a channel that caters to 12 year old girls :shakehead: Seeing the way the media puts down Will as an mc, you can't really blame Will for doing movies more these days 'cause they respect him more there since you don't have to have street credability to be an acclaimed actor, they actually judge them actors off of talent unlike how the music industry just likes artists for a certain image, probably in his 20th year of acting they'll be putting him on the top 10 actors of all time lists...

How funny how things could change, people called MC Hammer a sell out when he would try other ways to make money other than rapping but now everybody gives props to Jay-Z, yeah I noticed Chuck D wasn't mentioned either, no top 10 is complete without Chuck D....

When I sent my message to MTV, I dropped a rhyme in it about Will, lol: "Sure you say he could rock the big screen with Jamie, Martin, and Denzel/But he's also a top mc like Jay-Z, Nas, and Uncle L", I really hope they post that one :wiggle: Btw, out of all the rappers that they listed in the top 10 you say LL, shouldn't be there?!! Come on now, lol

Send an email to MTV like I did if you're upset that they don't mention Will and need to get it off your chest :stickpoke: Like I said earlier the reason why I think people sleep on Fresh Prince as an mc is 'cause he ain't 'hood like 99% of the rappers they mention: "Even though the fans went out and bought enough/I guess they think Will ain't hard enough/Maybe I should just have a shootout..." Also I think it's 'cause Fresh Prince never really battled any famous mcs, the reason why LL gets mentioned is 'cause he destroyed Canibus and Kool Moe Dee, if it wasn't for that they'd sleep on LL too, maybe if Fresh Prince destroyed Eminem in 2000 maybe when he was called out people'd have a change of heart but my god though how many gangsta rappers have 4/5(maybe even 6 if I throw "Homebase" in discussion?) classic albums in their catalogs spanning 20 years? Maybe Ice Cube if you count NWA's early stuff and they mention him no doubt, LL ain't a gangsta rapper but we all know that LL has quite a bit of classics himself too but like I said earlier if he didn't respond to Kool Moe Dee or Canibus who knows if he'd even be mentioned, he'd be slept on like Will.... Obviously those who can't recognise that are 12 year olds who watch MTV, Fresh Prince got more classics than Em got albums, there should be no debate that he's top 10, most from his era don't even make albums now but he's probably one of the best today and he was one of the best then, Will coulda stopped when he won the first rap grammy and have his legacy set with 2 classic albums and going into acting full time but he just kept going strong: "Rock The House" "He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper" "Code Red" "Big Willie Style"(maybe not 'cause of weak production on some traxs) "Willenium" "Lost and Found"(same as "Big Willie Style")

http://community.allhiphop.com/showthread....581447#poststop Basically they're all saying the same thing we're saying, DMX's dissing Jay-Z/La Reid(Def Jam management) for having them jack 'Switch' for Rhianna's first ever single and releasing that before his single last summer, he also says I line in that verse making fun of La Reid wearing Chinese Slippers so it's obvious that was his intentions

Yeah I really don't think the list is as bad as it could be, I was just implying that just 'cause FP wasn't mentioned on the list doesn't mean that he don't deserve to be, MTV don't really give that many pioneers the props they deserve anymore, VH1 does cover hip-hop history much better these days, I think that documentary they've done on hip-hop and the Hip-Hop Honors shows are just way more on point than what emptv has done, I'm just happy that they at least mentioned KRS and Big Daddy Kane and didn't put Dre and Puffy again, you can't expect much from emptv so don't take it too seriously, btw we could all send them emails saying that Fresh Prince should be mentioned, somebody already left feedback for him already, some people leave some really good lists btw: http://www.mtv.com/news/youtellus/hip_hop/ "Where is the MC who has been around since day one, the man who won the first rap Grammy? Yes, I'm talking about the Fresh Prince himself. Show Will Smith some love. Brian, 25 West Greenwich, RI"

Will said the n word a few times in some interviews for rap magazines so what's the big deal with TI saying it?!! There's nothing wrong with using the n word if it's in a positive context like that's my dude right there, he's basically saying that Will's a real dude

Well the thing is that most of those rappers on that list were battle mcs, Will didn't really battle anybody in his career and I think that's the thing that might have the media sleep on his mc skills 'cause there's a lot of focus on battles, and there's not an mc out there that has made nothing but perfect songs in their careers either, most rappers actually only have a handful of great songs that they're known for, for example Nas' "Nastradamous" is probably just as weak as Will's "Born To Reign" but that don't hurt his status, "Encore" should actually be putting Eminem on the worst mc list it was so bad not only for the wack rhymes but he didn't rap with any heart on that album either, I mean "Born To Reign" still has soul even though it wasn't Will's best work, and a lot of rappers have had ghostwriters in their careers and they still get recognition, I mean MTV made a list a couple years ago and had Puffy and Dr. Dre in their top 10s and they don't write ****, a lot of people love Kanye but Rhymefest wrote his biggest song "Jesus Walks" so to put Will down for ghostwriters is just a part of hating, Will's wrote most of his rhymes in his career, a hell lot more than those 3 have done combined, lol... Will's image is basically the thing that hurts him the most though when it comes to the media, if they actually listen to the albums it's hard to deny his skills, it's just that he don't curse in his rhymes, if he rapped about hustling like Jay-Z he'd be in MTV's top 5 if not number one, that's not a knock to Jay but Will's got as much cadence and rhyme ability that Jigga has but people look at image more than anything, if you think about it there's a lot of rappers out now making hustlin' songs like Jay-Z but there's not any credible rappers that make clean cut songs that Will does, Wyclef was hot for a while but people sleep on him too now, he's not a hardcore rapper like most famous rappers are known for, that's why a lot of the pioneers get slept on too 'cause they didn't make hardcore music then, Will actually stayed true the most to the essence of hip-hop 'cause it started off as feel good music, before 1990 there wasn't much hardcore rap but now everybody's hardcore, hip-hop has changed so much over the years and it wouldn't be realistic to say Will's the G.O.A.T. since he's the only one out that don't curse in his rhymes, individualism don't get celebrated in the rap game it seems, Will's a unique mc, and to say Will don't bring effort anymore is a joke, it's like he just made one of the strongest albums of his career and in hip-hop in recent years in "Lost and Found" almost 20 years after he started, most rappers don't even make it that far, what has Big Daddy Kane done lately? If they could rank him in there for what he's done 20 years ago, why can't they mention Will who's still going strong today? How many albums does Will have to release to get recognition from the media, 50?!!! Will expanded this platform, that's what he should get respect for, if he retired or died right now, he should be celebrated for what's he's done already!!! It's not like Eminem's gonna be able to put out a strong album in 2020 either the way he's burned out now already, lol, there also seems to be a dead rapper bias too, it's like Biggie and 2Pac wouldn't be so ranked high now if they were still alive now, Coolio and Warren G were about as popular then but where are they ranked now? If LL was dead 15 years ago he'd be ranked #1, that's why I think these lists are corny, **** that list, Kool Moe Dee put Will at #23 on his top 50 list and he leaves Eminem out of his list, Will does get a lot of love worldwide too from hip-hop fans, his albums sold over 30 million worldwide in 20 years, he has fans from all generations, real recognises real, if MTV wants credability they'll play the film for Kool Moe Dee's "There's A God On The Mic" when it comes out

Eminem's style is definately the most annoying thing about him to me, there's many mcs with as much/more skills than him that put better content in their songs, it's not like he don't have any skills, he rapped with some heart in the beginning of his career I'll give him that but I think the last couple albums just shows that he's a slave to the biz and for MTV to call "Eminem Show" classic loses all credability for them, a real mc always puts their emotion into their rhymes, there's not an mc out there that has a flawless catalog of perfect albums either though let's be real but the thing that seperates the legends from the rest is that they always make songs from the heart and I just don't feel that from Eminem and a lot of today's rappers, most of them don't seem to do that much at all so like I mentioned earlier at least Eminem gets credit for doing that earlier in his career but I wouldn't consider him the greatest then either, I'll give him credit for that and leave it alone 'cause bashing Eminem in posts is getting played out now, basically he needs to come back and redeem himself if he wants a chance to be called a legend, he's not putting his skills to good use right now, at the end of the day though it's like who cares about these lists anyway, it's not like MTV has much credability these days anyway playing the same damn song all day with payola schemes, lol, everybody who buys albums from their favorite rappers are always gonna want to see them on top, real recognises real, hip-hop heads will always respect the true artists of the game even if the media don't

I tend to differ saying that Nas is too low, Nas is probably in my top 5 favorites so #5 is a great ranking for him, in fact it's debatable if he's better than KRS, Big Daddy Kane, Ice Cube, and LL, it's hard to compare different styles/eras but all of them should be in the top 10, and of course Eminem's the most overrated mc ever, there's no way he should be in the same sentence as those legends but MTV had to put at least one popular rapper on there at least to please their audience, now if you replaced him with Will the list'd be almost flawless, there's no perfect list that everyone'd agree on, so many legendary mcs deserve due that never get it

http://www.byroncrawford.com/2006/04/the_top_10_mcs_.html 1. Jay-Z 2. Tupac 3. Notorious B.I.G. 4. Rakim 5. Nas 6. KRS-One 7. Big Daddy Kane 8. Ice Cube 9. Eminem 10. LL Cool J Not a bad list considering it was MTV, I figure that they'd mention 50 Cent, Bow Wow, and Kanye, it's quite shocking that they mention KRS and Kane on there since most MTV fans don't know who they are :stickpoke: Of course like usual no mention of our beloved Fresh Prince and there's no pioneers before 1985 mentioned like Run-Dmc, Kool Moe Dee, or Kurtis Blow :tantrum: