bigted

Basically what AJ's saying here goes back to what I said earlier, if DMX got a problem with how he was treated by Jay-Z he should just diss him, he shouldn't take it out on Rhianna, I think he could destory Jay-Z in a battle though, he's one of the toughest lyricists

Exactly man, hey it actually shipped platinum though, a lot of real mcs can't even go platinum once in this shady industry that promotes wackness, but it's a damn shame "Tell Me Why" never came out though, even if it didn't help sales much I wanted to see the "Tell Me Why" video shot, it'd been truely a work of art, I think Will should make a video for it still and put it on DVD for us real fans to see

:word: Bow Wow is basically just crying out for attention the way I see it, no matter what he says it don't change the fact that he's wack, basically he's the only one saying he's one of the best out, that's right he's garbage like 98% the other rappers on TV, lol, btw Doug was one of my favorites when I was growing up too, I taped basically every episode when it was on, I might have to bring out some of those tapes, lol

Well good luck whenever you get to go

That goes to show you how much of a nice guy Will is, most rappers'd probably just hang up the phone if Bow Wow called them :stickpoke: I think Bow Wow saw the light at the Kids Choice Awards seeing how much the kids loved Will when he won :1-eek: btw, I heard that Master P was ripping the lil' punk's ass backstage at the Kids Choice Awards, lol, I seriously think that he's talking out of his ass too about Will wanting to do a movie with him, lol

Here's the Vibe.com review I was mentioning yesterday: http://www.vibe.com/music/revolutions/2006..._smith_def_jam/ LL Cool J - Todd Smith (Def Jam) By: Michael A. Gonzales April 3, 2006 In 1985, during the golden days of flat-tops and sipping champagne at the Rooftop, a cocky rapper named LL Cool J first made his mark on the hip hop scene. And 21 years after his exhilarating debut album, Radio, made young James Todd Smith a household brand, this chief rockin’ rapper is still trying to prove that he’s better than you. Like that middle-aged uncle at the family reunion who insists on shooting hoops, and then—much to your surprise—proceeds to spank that ass, LL still has a few tricks up his sleeve on his 12th disc, Todd Smith. Forget that he’s nearing 40—the brother from Hollis still has enough youthful arrogance to step behind the microphone and morph into a savage street talker. Indeed, the proof can be found in the cross-generational collabos. On “It’s LL and Santana,” Uncle L joins Dipset standout Juelz Santana for a swaggering, hard-core, one-two alliance that bridges the gap between hip hop’s yesteryear and the new era. Even more appealing is the aggressive braggadocio of the Freeway-assisted joint “What You Want.” Having discovered long ago that if he wanted to stay popular, he had to keep the soul sisters jiggling, LL Cool J has never strayed far from the musical formula that made the ladies love him and the girls adore him. On the hyperelectro-funk club anthem “Control Myself” (with undercover B-girl Jennifer Lopez giving us her best Madonna/femme fatale impersonation on the hook), LL is still doin’ it and, doin’ it, and doin’ it well. Meanwhile, the saccharine, Track Masters–produced wedding song “Down the Aisle” sticks to the safer side of the ladies-first template. In addition, there are moments on Todd Smith that express a rare pathos, simultaneously strange and raw. Creating a perfect blend of rugged rap and retro soul, LL and Lyfe Jennings construct “Freeze,” a stellar track detailing the life of a mack. Reminiscent of the Time’s R&B classic “Gigolos Get Lonely Too,” Uncle L strips off the vanity and boasting (“...please don’t change the locks on the door”) to reveal his “I Need Love”–style vulnerability over liquid grooves and sparse production. Still, this reworked sensitivity hardly prepares us for the mental crack-up that occurs on the maddening “I’ve Changed,” a Fatal Attraction–like tale that explores a volatile relationship gone awry. As new jack singer Ryan Toby harmonizes like Curtis Mayfield in the background, “I’ve Changed” proves as disturbing as it is fascinating. Becoming more and more paranoid as he breaks his ex-girl’s new man’s headlights (“Call the po-po, I ain’t afraid....”), the lyrics are complemented by haunting Track Masters production that contrasts with their usual commercial sheen. What’s most puzzling is Todd Smith’s excessive reliance on collaborations. “We’re Gonna Make It,” a hip hop–gospel hybrid with Mary Mary, is the kind of track best left to choirboys like Kirk Franklin. There’s no denying, however, the sonic beauty of “Preserve the Sexy,” which could be the scorching theme song to a blaxploitation flick, with hot girl Teairra Marí riding shotgun. All in all, though many rap fans may believe LL hasn’t been relevant since he stung like a bee on his 1990 masterpiece, "Mama Said Knock You Out," this offering proves the G.O.A.T. is still swinging.

http://www.vibe.com/news/news_headlines/20..._why_he_top_mc/ Bow Wow Ends Feud With Will Smith, Explains Why He Considers Himself a Top MC By: Mark Lelinwalla April 6, 2006 Bow Wow endured a lot of criticism from the media and hip hop fans for aligning himself with the top MCs in rap and the controversial remarks he made about Will Smith in an issue of XXL Magazine months ago. Print Email Comment (6) However, all Bow Wow wants is his fans and the media to be clear about he and Smith and why he felt like he was among the best three MCs in hip hop at the time of his comments. Bow Wow explained his comments in XXL, in which he said Smith "isn't a real rapper" and was "more of a bubblegum rapper." "I'm going to be the first person to tell you this, but me and Will Smith had a sit down talk, eye-to-eye," Bow Wow told Vibe.com exclusively Wednesday (April 5). "Me and him (Smith) talked for like 30 minutes in my trailer and we worked it out. We walked out the trailer laughing, cracking up like crazy and that whole thing is deaded." Bow Wow, who's responsible for the smash single "Fresh Azimiz", cites the truce with Smith as an important step of growing as not only an artist, but a man. "That's me growing up learning a lot of things," he said. "I felt like it was only right as a man now, looking at me that I talk to another man eye-to-eye, instead of keep going on with the hoopla, so I called Will Smith myself and I respected him for even coming to meet." Bow Wow also went on to say that he and Smith reached an understanding and hit it off to the point in which the different generation hip hop stars even talked about movie scripts. With that situation patched up Bow Wow proceeded to explain his other controversial remarks. The young prince of hip hop told XXL in the same issue that, "The only real rappers out there right now are me, Kanye, 50 and maybe Jay (As in Jay-Z, the President of Def Jam)." In hindsight, Bow Wow insists that his comments shouldn't be taken as a knock to other notable hip hop artists and that he was among the aforementioned group of MCs in the main spotlight at the time. "I had just got off tour about to go do another tour, 50 was doing Get Rich or Die Trying, he was still hot, and Kanye had just dropped the College Dropout and when he did that I was still on The Scream Tour," Bow Wow told Vibe.com. "I wasn't downplaying my other hip hop peers- Ludacris will always be hot, Snoop is going to always be hot and I respect everybody in hip hop, but at that particular moment that's what I was really talking about. I'm not saying I'm the best ever, can't no nobody touch me, but I was just really giving myself props and the people that were on the TV every three, four, five seconds. "Every time I would turn on the tube and at that particular time it was myself, 50 and Kanye West and that's all that I was saying." Bow Wow's Wanted album is available in stores now.

There's no perfect label out there, it's the industry on a whole that sucks, I think the real artists need to put their money together and form their own label

Will has progressed as an artist and as a person over the last 15 years, you can't expect everything to sound the same as it did back then, what'd be the point of releasing albums still if it was that way, real artists grow with their music, that's why Will's still out there now 'cause he always brings something fresh

Jazzy Jeff didn't produce every track on "Homebase" and "Code Red" either but they're still considered JJFP albums, "Willenium" is definately a classic JJFP album in my book, I think it was just Sony that wanted it to be called a "Will Smith" album since they wanted to taint his image, I bet if it was called an official JJFP album I bet it'd even sold more among rap heads than it did

whats talib kweli in??? i saw him in a commercial advertising to watch the college basketball tournament i think

I don't see nothing wrong if Will's music was featured in a soda advertisements, maybe if it was 15 years ago you could say that he'd be selling out doing that but a million rappers have done that since then though, hip-hop is a billion dollar industry now, it's hard to call a rapper a 'sell-out' for doing advertisements now, even underground rappers like Talib Kweli are in commercials now, there'd be too many rappers to name if you did, lol

J-Lo was barely on the track though and she ain't even that popular anymore, now maybe if Ciara was on the track you could say that but LL's popular already even without guest appearances, that's like saying Michael Jackson needs 50 Cent to have a hit, lol, he works with artists 'cause he wants to not just 'cause he wants a hit, I honestly don't see much new music that's so fascinating in the first place but what I meant by "Mama Said Knock You Out" is that some rap fans maybe not you just wanna hear LL do battle songs like he did on that album, it's just like when rap fans get upset when they want all of Nas'albums to sound like "Illmatic", rap fans want all Will's albums to be like "Homebase", all PE have to be "lt Takes A Nation...", they don't like that all Ice Cube albums don't sound like "Amerikka's Most Wanted", etc.LL has matured now and he ain't gonna rap the same way he did 10-15 years ago andin my opinion he has nothing to prove anymore either,and if you don't like ityou don't have to like it, that's your opinion, the rap game on a whole is getting boring, I'd honestly rather hear LL getting more airplay than 99% of the game 'cause his love songs are much more interesting than hearing a million songs about hustling... :stickpoke:

Ice Cube: Steady Mobbin' By Tiffany Hamilton After a six-year solo album hiatus, Ice Cube is back. With his new album, Laugh Now Cry Later due out this summer. While it’s not the Dr. Dre produced Helter Skelter project we’ve been twice promised, it is backed by Lil’ Jon, who has currently helped turn the lights back on in E-40’s hall of game. After two very profiled listening parties, only a few calendar pages separate Cube from the charts. The man who last time reemerged as “Don Mega,” spoke to AllHipHop.com. Cube responds to the mixed reviews to his FX show Black.White. The MC also gives context to his album, for the vast majority who has not had a glimpse. In looking ahead, Cube also touches on the fast from the past that we may see again, and some “guerillas” and “chicken-hawks” that are likely to remain there. When it comes to knowledge, Cube spills at will. AllHipHop.com: First things first, your show Black.White., debuted on FX recently and it has cause quite a stir in both communities, what was you initial intention when you created the show? Ice Cube: I just wanted to get dialogue and get people talking about race; I wanted the show to reflect that there is still a problem with race relations in America, and that there are many layers dealing with the subject. Until people talk about it, and get an understanding of what is going on, there will really be no solution. I really don’t care what people say about me, because honestly I am used to it. [laughs] My intent [is clear] when I say, “The things aren’t to offend anyone, it’s to hopefully open the viewer’s or the listener’s eyes to see that there are problems out there and to get people to talk about them.” I think everyone has a racist point of view, and that’s why these shows and people addressing the issue head on, whether it be through a record or whatever, is needed to get people talking and dealing with their own selves. There is never a clear cut or simple solution to any problem and that is why I say the things I say and do the things I do because if no one brings them up, people have a tendency to think that it doesn’t exist. AllHipHop.com: Stepping out of the realm of acting and directing, your new album Laugh Now, Cry Later is due to be released in June, what directions can fans expect for you to go with the album, because we haven’t heard from you in a while as an MC? Ice Cube: Fans will get a little of the old and something new, I definitely tried to give them some of the new me without leaving out the old. I am talking about a lot of things that are dealing with the state of life, America, Hip-Hop and the world today. So I definitely have the gangster records, but I also have the records with something to say which brings out the Laugh Now, Cry Later aspect of the record. AllHipHop.com: With the political and social consciousness on two songs on the album, “Black White” and “Why We Thugs”; now that you have such a universal appeal are you afraid of the backlash that you will receive for these types of records spilling over into your film career? Ice Cube: Not really, I started my career doing records and saying what I feel, I am not going to avoid doing that and not be true to myself or Hip-Hop to avoid somebody in Hollywood’s feelings. I think that when you are doing Hip-Hop, it should come from the heart, it should be how you feel and how you see it, so I am just going to let the chips fall where they may; because in Hollywood I have always been known to create my own lane, no one has ever walked and given me anything because I’m Cube. I had to earn it. AllHipHop.com: From the looks of things, it seems you have reunited with a lot of your old crews. You are working with WC on your upcoming album and the album is released on Lench Mob Records, is there a future reunion with you and Mack 10 and Da Lench Mob in the works? Ice Cube: [Mack 10 and I] haven’t talked about anything yet; I am going to work with WC on his album and then I will start working on my next album after that, so as of right now I am not sure what or if we will do a project. As far as with Da Lench Mob, they are still disbanded, honestly I am really trying to press forward and not looking back, now I have a new squad and a new family that I’m rolling with and I am going to move forward from here. AllHipHop.com: A while ago there was a rumor that there was beef between you and Dr. Dre because he didn’t want to work with you on your album, can you shed some light on that topic? Ice Cube: That’s not true. I respect [Dr.] Dre and everything he is doing in the game and I know that although we couldn’t do anything on this record we may on the next, I don’t know. But I do know that if he wants to work together we will, if not I will keep it moving. We are both businessmen, so there would never be any beef over something like that. AllHipHop.com: At AllHipHop.com, we recently did an interview with Luke and he was stating that due to his persona in the industry he didn’t receive a lot of credit for a lot of things he helped pave the way for. Do you feel as a veteran in Hip-Hop that you guys are starting to be overlooked especially when it comes to comebacks, because of your age and who you were? Ice Cube: Sometimes the industry tries to snub off the older MC for the new light, or the unsigned hype. To me, the industry is like the NFL - the older you get the more you are dismissed for the rookies coming in. I think that’s a shame because if you are an artist, it doesn’t matter what age you are, if you are dropping records that people are excited about that’s all that should matter. Honestly, that is what the older MC is striving for; to make sure that each album he drops gets the people excited just like a new artist does. I mean as an MC, we want to make sure that our place in history is set and I think that is where Luke’s frustration comes from. After all his hard work and what he has done in the game there is no one saying ‘thank you’ for it. That’s why when I do my records I make sure that they are from the heart, because at the end of the day you may be the only one left with the records and I want to make sure that at the end of the day, at least I can say I am proud of everything I said because it was true to me and what I felt at that moment.

Yeah "Control Myself" is probably one of LL's most popular songs in recent memory, it made it to #2 on TRL a couple weeks ago, there's always some hardcore rap heads that call him soft 'cause they don't like that he makes songs for ladies but that's what he's being doing his whole career, were they expecting him to do gangbanging rhymes or something? lol Ladies Love Cool James is who he is, it's like Public Enemy doing political songs, that's what they do and if you don't like them for that then you won't like them, LL does very well at making love songs so why should he stop doing that, brothers are just jealous, lol, btw Vibe.com is giving the album a 4 out of 5 rating so it sounds like another hit album to me, can't wait to pick it up next week, I don't think that Will's really that good at making love songs the way that LL is, that's why "Born To Reign" might've sounded kinda awkward 'cause that ain't his style quite frankly, Will's better at making club songs, hardcore rap fans might hate on Will too for doing songs like "Switch" but that's what he does best, every rapper has their own style and really a lot of mcs coming out have bitten that off of LL, they try making love songs and they're not as great as him in doing it though

Yeah I heard Ghostface sold 120,000 in his first week of release and it's getting a lot of positive reviews

I don't like it how people always wanna say how wack an artist become just 'cause their recent work don't compare to what they've done in the past, I'm not expecting this album to be another "Mama Said Knock You Out", but I don't expect it to be horrible though, I think it'll be another solid album from LL, even if it's his worst album I'll take it over 90% of the wack rappers out now, I'm getting the album out of respect, Kanye makes r&b songs and a lot of fans love him so why they gotta diss LL for it? I think some fans are just dissin' LL 'cause they just wanna see him diss mcs in his rhymes but he don't want do that anymore so they need to accept that

Btw I was about to post this on here, I found a link to it on Allhiphop.com message board, a lot of people are saying that the album's wack, it's kinda ironic that they're giving props to Will yesterday and dissin' LL today, lol, btw I'm gonna get the album of course when it drops before I listen to it myself too

I got respect for what NWA and Wu-Tang Clan have done for hip-hop but I'm not really that much into them and I don't own all their albums since they ain't really my favorites, I always check for what Ice Cube does individually, he by far stands out the most in NWA and the group crumbled once he left, I could understand the same thing about those who might not be that much into Will's music but as long as they respect his impact on the game is all that should matter, you don't have to own every album to have respect somebody... The one thing I don't get is why do they just honor Rakim, why ain't it Eric B. + Rakim getting honored? That's just as wack as Eazy-E being honored but not NWA, Eazy-E needed NWA and Rakim needed Eric B., that's when they were in their music primes, that'd be like honoring Will Smith and not Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince, I hope that don't happen either :paperbag:

Yeah Eazy-E is probably the weakest mc in NWA by far, it's wack that they honor him before the other members just 'cause he's dead, that'd be like honoring Flava Flav and not Public Enemy, in fact Flava Flav is probably a better mc than Eazy-E, lol, there's no question Big Pun is by far a better lyricist than Eazy-E, he could rap circles around him, he didn't have many hits but if they go by hits then they wouldn't honor Big Daddy Kane, KRS-ONE, or Rakim either 'cause they didn't have much commercial success, I wouldn't complain if Pun got honored before Eazy-E

Amazon.com Jumps Gun on NCAA Winner Tue Apr 4, 11:58 AM ET SEATTLE - College basketball fans may have been surprised to turn on their computers Monday morning and find an e-mail from Amazon.com Inc. proclaiming, "UCLA Wins." ADVERTISEMENT The online retailer mistakenly sent the e-mail to customers ahead of the NCAA championship game Monday night between the Florida Gators and the UCLA Bruins. The body of the e-mail included the message "Congratulations (placeholder for winning team)," and went on to offer customers the chance to purchase an NCAA cap and other goods. "I don't know if we had some Bruins who were wishful thinking," Amazon.com spokeswoman Patty Smith said, adding, "Clearly, it was a mistake." Florida won the championship game.

Former Leaders Of The New School Member Dinco Disses Busta Rhymes By Nolan Strong Date: 4/4/2006 3:45 pm Former Leaders of the New School member Dinco has recorded a diss track directed at fellow ex-member Busta Rhymes in a new song titled "F**k Touch It." Dinco, who raps over the instrumental to Busta Rhymes' hit single "Touch It," said he recorded the single in response to comments Rhymes made on a DJ Clue mixtape. "I heard it on a Clue mixtape where [busta] called us a bunch of b***hes," Dinco told AllHipHop.com. "He said some real foul s**t, saying my crew's acting like a bunch of b***hes. And Brown's mother s***ted him out. And following conversations, he's just been mad disrespectful to me." Leaders of the New School was a pioneering group that released two critically acclaimed albums, Future Without A Past (1991) and T.I.M.E. (1993) via Elektra Records before calling it quits in 1994. Dinco D. was a member of the group along with Busta Rhymes, Charlie Brown and Cut Monitor Milo. The trio is also featured on A Tribe Called Quest's 1992 party anthem "The Scenario." After the group disbanded, Rhymes struck out on his own and appeared on several high profile singles, including the remix to Craig Mack's breakthrough Bad Boy single "Flava In Ya Ear." Rhymes inked a deal with Elektra in 1995 and a year later dropped the classic single "Whoo Haa," taken from his 1996nalbum The Coming. Leaders of the New School recorded a reunion song on Busta Rhymes' 1996 disc The Coming titled "Keep It Movin," which featured Rampage The Last Boy Scout, Dinco, Charlie Brown and Cut Monitor Milo. Since then, Dinco has continued producing and now resides in Atlanta. Another recent incident between Rhymes and Dinco led to Dinco penning the lyrics: "I zoomed in on and focused on the chain closer/The S from the leaders musta got pushed over/And landed on his chest/Soupened him up, Superman being too much/Now he's in a bunch/No longer the original man/More like Peter the Pan/Now go skip along, your interviews are so bland." Dinco was referring to a new diamond studded chain Busta Rhymes has been wearing that incorporates the Leaders of the New School's logo and the words "leader of the new school" in diamonds. "I was joking with the dude and I was like can I get a Leaders of the New School chain?'" Dinco said. "He was like 'yo those cost a lot of money, I don't know if you can afford it.' I was like 'You a funny dude.' He took that out of context, like 'what do you mean I'm a funny dude?' I was laughing with him. He wasn't trying to hear it.'" When asked if he was trying to exploit Rhymes' recent media attention, Dinco replied: "I don't know what they [fans] gonna take it as, but they [fans] gonna get it." Dinco's new album The Black Pirate King James-Tha Los' Leader Album is available in Apple's iTunes Music Store. The rapper is also currently working on an album due this spring. For more information visit: http://www.myspace.com/dinco Representatives for Busta Rhymes refused to comment on Dinco's song

Tribe Called Quest or De La Soul haven't been honored yet, maybe they'll be honored the same time as JJFP, in 2015, lol

Yeah Columbia thought that Will would never be relevant in the music industry again and told him to stick to movies in 2003 when they dropped him but then Will went platinum and wins an AMA basically outselling all of Columbia's roster, they probably wished they kept him now 'cause with Bow Wow being their only popular artist there they'll be going bankrupt soon :lolsign:

Thanks for letting us know about this, I'm gonna check out for this interview