bigted

"Who was there for when there was no-one around? Who had some time when there was no love to be found? Tell me baby, baby why u keep on doubtin me? Mama used to tell me, Misery loves company Now that I'm grown I see what she meant (just what she meant) Why is it people hate to see things when its right? And for some reason they come and try to mess up their life (tell me why)"-Keith Sweat "Trust Me"

Thanks for posting I already posted it though in the pinned topic for the album sales.

Russell Simmons' nephew BB Jay is a gospel rapper(people compare his flow to Biggie's, he's from Brooklyn too), he made an album called "Universal Concussion" back in 2000 and was featured on KRS-ONE's 2002 gospel rap album called "Spirtual Minded", which also features another gospel rapper called T-Bone, Fat Joe and Rampage are featured on the album too but of course they're not a gospel rapper either, lol, there's quite a bit of gospel rappers out there but it's mostly all underground, Kanye West is the most mainstream rapper that could make songs about Jesus but I think a lot of them got as much flow if not more flow than him too.

Gettin' in the top 40 is an accomplishment for an artist to do, even Kanye West's "Diamonds..." didn't get that high on the charts even with videoplay, now imagine if "Party Starter" got a lil' videoplay it could be top 10 easily.

Like 90% of R&B chicks except for Beyonce and Janet, looks but no talent, lol.

Great news, "Party Starter" is officially another hit by the Fresh Prince! :gettinjiggywitit:

Here's this week's sales, we still can't vote a week later! Kanye West had a big fall this week too but is still #1 'cause he went from 900,000 to 280,000, I guess 50 Cent'll have the highest selling album this year since his re-release pushed him to #2 he went from 20,000 to like 250,000, I wish "Lost and Found" could have that kinda jump, and btw Tim I see Casual ain't in the top 200 in his debut, I thought Hieroglyphics sell 100,000 .: 194 SMITH*WILL LOST & FOUND 4,781 -10 5,302 627,937 :worried:

It's still not there, I'm boycotting BET until they put it on the list! :shrug:

This is why we say "F*** The Police", there's no discrimination right? :therain:

http://p076.ezboard.com/fpoliticalpalacefr...opicID=68.topic -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Few Things to Ponder-LAPD Shut Down dead prez/KRS Benefit Show By Davey D Los Angeles, Sept 10th) It started out, as a beautiful thing…Not only was it beautiful, it was historic and on many levels political. To be honest it seemed almost too good to be true. We’re talking about this past Saturday’s sold out outdoor concert in South Central LA featuring Dead Prez, KRS-One, Self Scientific and Ras Kass. All these folks came together to perform a special benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina victims Initially this planned concert was supposed to address the issues surrounding 9-11 and assess where things were 4 years later especially as it pertained to young people and communities of color. Once the Katrina disaster hit, all those involved including thaFormula.com that sponsored the concert, used the gathering as a way to raise money and resources for hurricane victims. At the same time, the political nature of the concert would not be lost, because as we all know, Katrina opened up a huge can of worms on poverty, race and class. Hence, artists as well as many of the various community groups that were present at the event would address those issues. So here we are with a couple of thousand people from the hood coming out to support a worthy cause and get inspired by some of Hip Hop’s dopest acts. The make up of the crowd was mostly Black and Brown, with everyone vibing in harmony and thus shattering the overblown stories of Black-Brown friction in LA. Fidel Rodriguez, who hosts Divine Forces Radio on Friday Nights on Pacifica’s KPFK, kept things in step and set the tone by dropping an array of facts about the shady-behind the-scenes-antics of both local and national politicians. The cool thing about this, was folks were eating it all up as Fidel blasted away about Katrina clean up contracts being awarded to Vice President Dick Cheney’s old company Halliburton. Fidel also dropped some knowledge about LAPD including the sorted history of police Chief William Bratton and the increased militarization of the police. He also spoke about how a lot of folks in the hood were being depicted as potential terrorists and how there was new laws on the books that allowed the President to keep one in prison indefinitely after he slapped them with a label ‘enemy combatant. Folks were all up in the place soaking everything up. By the time I arrived KRS had already ripped it big time… Well known DJs like Mark Luv of the Zulu Nation held it down on the ones and twos and Ras Kass took the stage and repped in a major way.. On deck after Ras Kass was dead prez and judging by the enthusiastic applause it was clear folks came to see them. So Ras is rocking his set when suddenly everything is thrown off by the loud noise of LA’s infamous ‘ghetto bird’ (police helicopter). At first, everyone thought the copter was just flying by, when suddenly it circled around and flashed its big floodlights on the peaceful crowd. It made a couple of more passes and then almost on cue, the entire crowd started chanting ‘@#%$ the Police’ and put their middle fingers up to the sky. It was still unclear to most attendees as to why the police copter was flying around. During the commotion, Ras Kass announced that he was being shut down as organizers took the stage and told the stunned crowd that the police were stopping the event and that everyone should leave peacefully because LAPD was outside the venue waiting to bust some heads. It was at that point that the police copter flew even lower and beamed its search light on everyone. You could hear the officers barking on their bullhorn from the copter that everyone needed to leave in an orderly fashion. Of course this left, people very upset, especially when no clear reason was being given as to why the event was being shut down. There were no fights or any sort of drama. There was no alcohol being served. The concert was at a venue owned by the people who run thaformula.com. In addition, it was in a warehouse district away from residents. This meant that noise complaints could not be factor in the decision making by the police. The concert organizers tried their best to calm everyone down. They seemed very concerned that nothing would get out of hand as the crowd filed out chanting real loud ‘@#%$ the Police’. A few of the Latino homies had enough and let their anger be known. They were heated and ready to do something, and organizers had to calm them down and dissuade them for engaging in a fight where they were out gunned. When folks left the venue and hit the streets, they were met by a huge line of police cars and at several dozen officers dressed in riot gear with bully clubs drawn. One thing about LAPD for those who don’t know, is that they train all year for this sort of stuff. They have the militarism and intimidation tactics down to a tee. When you left the venue all the chanting stopped because it was clear that LAPD had strategically positioned themselves and had literally surrounded the venue and the people. The whole thing reminded me of gauntlet line with the police on a mission to intimidate. Some had their helmets pulled down and moved alongside of the crowd in a menacing manner. They were like a jarring occupying force-no different then the street gangs they're supposed to regulate. These cats just totally poisoned the air and ruined the spirit of the night. You felt like any moment they were going to attack. They were looking for a reason-any reason to show off and use their fire power and military tactics. At one point everyone braced when a passing car ran over a bottle. Everyone including LAPD thought it was thrown as a phalanx of officers quickly moved from across the street toward the leaving crowd. The whole time this is going on, everyone is trying to figure out what’s the reason for the show of force. Of course, we all know, there's always been an ongoing campaign to dehumanize, provoke and cause dissension in communities of color. One would think, if there were a legitimate reason to shut down the concert, that it could’ve been communicated differently. After all, this was a benefit concert.This was being done when everyone was being asked to come together and do not for self, but for the greater good. Now, this particular concert didn’t have all the fan fare and hype of the BET telethon that came on the night before. There weren’t any major TV outlets or newspaper on hand even though the event was widely publicized and the venue sold out. This was basically folks from the hoods of Southern Cali trying to help out folks who really bad off in the hoods of New Orleans. Anyone who had criticism about Hip Hop would've been proud that night to see everyone stepping up and doing what needed to be done in times of crisis. One would think that such efforts would be supported and encouraged. A fellow writer, named Ani, rolled up and tried talking to one of the officers to find out why they were coming at everyone sideways. She told them it was a benefit for hurricane victims. According to her, the officer made some snide remark and was dismissive. She’s currently writing about this as well. I will be placing a call to Chief Bratton’s office later on this morning to express my displeasure with the way this was handled. This should not be what our tax dollars are used for… As all this was going down, I could not help but think of all the reports I have heard from so called ‘refugees’ aka displaced people from New Orleans who have come on our airwaves and talked about police suppression being directed at them during their greatest time of need-in the aftermath of Katrina. Here we are trying to raise resources and do for self and its obvious such efforts were not supported by LA finest-at least the guys who showed up that night. Maybe they were upset to see Black-and Brown communities getting along and chilling with each other. Maybe they hated seeing KRS, dead prez, Afrika Bambaataa, Ras Kass and all sorts of , Hip Hop folks spanning the range in one place, building with one another. Perhaps they hated seeing folks who are accused of always looking for handouts –doing for self. Who knows? What we do know is that over the past few months southern Cali cops has been doing all sorts of crazy things including recently brutalizing Nation of Islam Minister Tony Muhammed. A couple of weeks ago the police shot a little baby girl to death. We’ve seen the police shoot more then 100 rounds at an unarmed motorist during a routine traffic stop.. The list of atrocities is a long one. All of this is happening in the backdrop of new legislation that grants the police more power. All I know is that a great event was cut short by a bunch of taxpayer-supported goons who used intimidation tactics as opposed to simple humanasque-respectful exchange. However, I guess this is to be expected when you don’t control the politics and economy of your neighborhood. According thaformula.com organizers there will be a rescheduling of the dead prez concert. We’ll keep you posted on the new dates as well as what sort of explanation we get for last Saturday’s police antics.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jackson Names 8 Artists for Katrina Song By SOLVEJ SCHOU, Associated Press Writer2 hours, 15 minutes ago Michael Jackson's publicist says eight performers so far have agreed to join a song to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims. Raymone K. Bain said artists who will appear on Jackson's song, tentatively titled "From the Bottom of My Heart," include James Brown, Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott, Lenny Kravitz, R. Kelly, Snoop Dogg and Ciara. But representatives for some of the artists said it was premature to say their clients were committed to the charity single, which hopes to duplicate the 1984 worldwide hit "We Are the World," which Jackson co-wrote to benefit African starvation victims. Representatives for Snoop Dogg said he would take part. But Jay-Z's publicist, Jana Fleishman, said the rapper had "been approached, but Jay told me directly he is not yet confirmed to be on that song." Several other publicists said their clients were in talks and had yet to confirm. Bain, however, insisted during a telephone interview Wednesday that Jackson had personally contacted all the artists himself. She said Jackson will record the tune on 2 Seas Records, the label owned by Sheik Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, son of the king of Bahrain. Jackson, who was acquitted after a grueling child molestation trial four months ago, has been a guest of Sheik Abdulla for the past several weeks. To confirm her account, Bain handed the phone to Sheik Abdulla, who said that he and Jackson had had talked to each artist personally. "He made every single call himself," the sheik said. Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Jackson tried unsuccessfully to put together a benefit song called "What More Can I Give." For now, Bain said, the Katrina relief song is "a work in progress," with a time, date and place of recording yet to be scheduled.

Also J.Lo and X-Zibit ? :lolsign: J.Lo ain't that good of a singer but she got nice movies and booty! :lolsign: Xzibit got some nice punchlines, he could rip a lot of mcs, he gave props to Will on his last album too, the worst artist that LL's worked with in my opinion is Ja Rule but he ain't really that bad either, LL works with a lot of talented artists.

"The Black CNN" of hip-hop has done it again! :gettinjiggywitit: I found an article about the song posted on his site today, it basically sums how a lot of us hip-hop heads feel, this music is our free expression even though a lot of current rappers don't feel that way but brothers like Mistachuck keep it alive: http://www.publicenemy.com "David Hinckley writes piece about HELL no WE aint ALLright! New Orleans under water, a rapper's anger overflows Chuck D voices his frustrations on 'Hell No.' Fish gotta swim. Birds gotta fly. Musicians gotta write songs. When the first television images made it clear what the wake of Hurricane Katrina was doing to New Orleans, Chuck D, longtime frontman of Public Enemy, couldn't swoop in with a rescue chopper or patch up the levees. He could, however, write a song. "Hell No, We Ain't AllRight," he called it, and he finished it a day before fellow musician Kanye West remarked during a relief fund-raiser on national TV that "President Bush doesn't care about black people." That's no coincidence, since "Hell No" springs from the same frustration. While Chuck D's song is less directly personal about George W. Bush, he's just as angry about the government George W. Bush leads. New world's upside down and out of order/ Shelter? Food? Wassup, where's the water?/ No answers from disaster, them masses hurtin'/ So who the f- we call - Halliburton? No diplomatic niceties here, not that we'd expect any. Public Enemy has always been a locomotive in whose path one stands at one's own risk. But regardless of how powerfully he writes and raps, Chuck D wouldn't matter if he weren't saying something his audience wanted to hear. In this case, after the country saw fellow American citizens pleading for food and water while their government was apparently taking a nap, Chuck D and Kanye weren't the only viewers who got angry. Chuck D calls rap "the CNN of black America," and while rap hasn't been very topical lately, that doesn't mean its fans didn't care about what was happening in New Orleans. Writing a song like this also ties Chuck D squarely into one of music's oldest traditions. Before radio, television and sound recordings, songs were a mass medium used to spread information and points of view. Slaves spoke among themselves for generations in a whole language based on songs and percussion. Partisans during the Revolutionary War put their arguments to music, and sympathetic minstrels went to taverns and town meetings to sing them. In "Hell No, We Ain't AllRight," Chuck D also calls out artists who care more about flashy jewelry for televised awards shows than their brothers and sisters. But he's a media guy himself these days, with a regular show on Air America radio, and like CNN, he returns in the end to his real point: Now what's over here/ Is a noise so loud/ That some can't hear/ But on TV I can see/ Bunches of people/Looking just like me. And they ain't all right. Originally published on September 14, 2005 "

This looks like some Vanilla Ice s***! You gotta take it "To The Extreme" to suck this bad, I know you're just messin' around there. :rofl:

That's dope! That brother could really freestyle, it'd be hot if Will did a song with him, it'd get him some more exposure.

I'm not a fan of Bloodhound Gang so this doesn't affect me in any way, Will could easily "Wave 'Em Off"!

AJ as much as you don't like Jay-Z you gotta realise that he's one of the most respected mcs in hip-hop, he might not be one of my personal favorites but I could admit that he got a lot of skills, 9 albums deep just like Will, so people that are hating on him are like the ones that hate on Will, they're blind, he's a legend, hate him or love him, Kanye has a lot of respect now too and is on that path of being one, I think all those legends you mentioned there give him props, Jay-Z' supposed to be on LL's next album too btw supposedly and anybody that's down with "The G.O.A.T." is dope in my book, Will likes him too btw, and after seeing "Fade To Black" DVD I could see why, he's a great performer and all those dope artists that were there showed love to him too and in return he respects them too, he was the first rapper to step up and say he liked "Lost and Found", I liked the part in "Fade To Black" where he started rapping out LL's "I Need Love", that was dope! Now I wouldn't mind if you put the second verse from Jay-Z' "99 Problems" along with the first verse from FP's "Mr. Nice Guy" with the first verse from LL's "One In The Morning", and the verse from Kanye's "Get 'Em High", the verses that Run-DMC did on "Down With The King", that'd be a lot of energy.

I have nothin' against anybody here that likes Em, it's your taste, but I feel that he's one of the reasons the rap game is right now, you can't complain the state of the rap game if you're a fan of somebody like Em that puts out meaningless songs 90% of the time, maybe one or 2 songs he might do a song like "Toy Soldiers" or "Sing For The Moment" but on the rest of the albums are a joke, nothing but negativity potrayed so that makes him look hypocritical, 50 Cent does the same thing, he talks about how much he loves Rakim and then he does trash songs, if you love Rakim why'd do something so foul? Rakim's one of the most positive rappers ever. If you wanna display a positive message you do it throughout the album like a real mc does but Em is lost, so obviously he doesn't mean what he said in those 2 songs, that'd be like Will doing a song like "Lost and Found" and then start talkin' about killin' somebody on the song after, wouldn't that look stupid? :shrug: Keep in mind what Kool Herc said in the "Can't Stop, Won't Stop" book, and ask yourself is Eminem really keepin' it right or is he a hypocrite? “Hip-hop has always been about having fun, but it's also about taking responsibility. And now we have a platform to speak our minds. Millions of people are watching us. Let's hear something powerful. Tell people what they need to hear. How will we hear the community? What do we stand for? What would happen if we got the hip-hop nation to vote, or to form organizations to change things? That would be powerful. Hip-hop is family, so everybody has to pitch in. East, west, north, or south-we came from one coast and that coast was Africa. This culture was born in the ghetto. We were born to die. We're surviving now, but we're not yet rising up. If we've got a problem, we've got to correct it. We can't be hypocrites. That''s what I hope the hip-hop can do, to take us all to the next level by always reminding us: It ain't about keeping real, it's about keeping it right.” I'm scared of what hip-hop will become with all these kids listening to 50 and Em, positive and talented young brothers like me won't get a record deal if there are any of us left after a while. Now sometimes I have beef with the repeated subject matter that Jay-Z has but he never raps about killing his family members or makes fun of other celebrities, only when he's battlin' other rappers, and he got a great flow plus respects all the pioneers like Will Smith and LL and doesn't turn to diss them so I could respect him more than I could 50 or Em 'cause not only do they have lil' talent, they're also really annoying.

I added more and put it into song form: “Compromise”(Part II) Written By Big Ted Chorus: I'm crying out for a compromise My heart starts to die When I hear about this violence all the time That's why throughout my life I'm gonna try to fight for my rights We have to work out a compromise So we won't all fall victims to the demise Verse One: I give you a call, I wanna work I've got the balls to call you a jerk If you ignore the message of my respectful word, the least you could do is reply with an answer, And you wonder why I ain't gonna kiss Uncle Sam and start smokin' herb You wanna get me high so I could start to studder and a ****ed up mentality so I won't remember What do you mean I didn't qualify, here's a copy of my diploma sir How could I not be what you'd like to hire? Maybe it's 'cause the ones on your staff don't have the heritage from what I was born Yeah I get it, I lay out my hand for you and that's how you treat me? My plan was for us to be cool but now you wanna beat me? How dare you go out there and disrespect me You have no care for the ingredients I put into this recipe I put a lot of sweat and tears, this is more than just a thought This isn't about how much I got either from what I bought This is about us comin' together before our relationship gets lost I guess you'll only care about the emotion I poured when you come off soft You'd still wanna knock me out even if I decide to give you the keys of my house We could share it, but then you start comparisons, about how I won't ever win Just 'cause of the color of my skin, you wanna take advantage of my predicament You would rather leave me dying, I want us to be a unity surviving Why can't you even start realising that we need to start trying To come together and spend some time and sign this contract dotted line I ain't trying to be doing crimes I wanna make a living through this rhyme And touch some spirits that're feelin' declined So no matter what you tell me I'm keepin' my pride Even if you never wanna be on my side [Repeat Chorus] Verse Two: There's “More To A Song” like my man DMX said It occurs that our thoughts matter but we're ignored until the radio plays our records There's a lot of chatter but the pain will get endured when you lose the weight to measure What it takes for us to grow up and maintain better Than the place we're used to being Whoever wants to stay caged in will feel deceived The ignorance want motivate any positive feelings Sitting with the numbness will penetrate your bleeding Stop worrying about competition while your friends need to be eating Pass the ball when you're facing double teaming There's more to life than selling drugs, making the basketball team, and mc'ing There's a bigger world than the street corner you're seeing Shatter the walls of hate with a loving feeling That's the only soultuion that'll concentrate on what you're needing When it's time to roll, you gotta look inside the soul That blindness will take its toll, you'll find the wrong fate before you reach your goals Say your grace before you eat that buttered roll, people try to censor me from getting outta control If you don't like what I say use your remote control 'Cause there are some out there that appreciate the intelligent flow There's more of a spirit to unite intelligent people when I anaylze my goals It's time to hear a great rap that has nothing to do with clothes or hoes On what planet will it get airplay though? I wanna know? Intelligence exists, I ain't gonna dumb it down for the kids If you keep them down how are they gonna learn anything? We gotta teach to reach for more than just sporting plenty of bling It takes food for thought to make somebody a king Until the day that happens we'll be struggling to live Get an education to lead and stop smuggling Don't end up in a penetentury from hustling Don't compromise to the point where society dumps us to the pits Pick up a book, the lesson will teach you to be bigger than a crook That doesn't know the way to look, moving blindly is like writing a watered down hook [Repeat Chorus]

-"Just think, just think, what if Malcolm X returned or Dr. King returned, tell me what have we learned? As we takin our turn, tell me what have we earned or is the ice and the cars our only concern Mo' money, mo' money, you be yellin it out And on TV can't you see you be sellin us out So in 2010, look to 2002 Who you think they gonna respect, me or you?"-KRS-ONE "Take It To God"

Hey smootb you just don't understand that Eminem is a horrible example for hip-hop, he might be able to write long verses but his songs are meaningless except for a couple, he overdoes it a lot of times and sounds boring to listen to, Will is the perfect example for hip-hop, Em has no character, some of Will's verses might be short just like Pac's and Run-Dmc's but I'd say they have more heart, their songs have strong and positive concepts to them, and that's what's the problem with hip-hop now, rappers are more concerned with jumbling words together than they are about the message they're potraying and working on their flow, I'm sorry but there's something wrong with you if you approve of rappers that're making songs about killing your mother, killing your wife, making fun of every celebrity that's more successful and talented than him(I don't think every hip-hop fan likes pop music but that doesn't mean it's not talent, it's just not our taste, we shouldn't diss other music artists just 'cause we don't personally like them nah mean, I don't care if you listen to me and listen to Britney Spears as long as you listen to me, hip-hop reaches all people, Britney Spears doesn't reflect my style and my style don't reflect Britney Spears, I do my thing and she does hers, no need to diss, it's all love), and calling people fags isn't hip-hop, it's a joke, hip-hop is not a gimmick, hip-hop is not record sales, hip-hop is music that reflects the soul and Eminem has no soul when you take away the gimmicks and record sales, he might've been a great battle rapper back in the days, big f****n' deal, 50 Cent was too but what is he doing now? Will Smith won a lot of battles in the streets too back in the days but has stayed consistant throughout his entire career, you can't live off of the past so much if you suck now, 'Eminem Show' was garbage and so was 'Encore', 'Marshall Mathers LP' was his last good one but even half of that was a gimmick, I like some of his underground stuff like 'Infinite' but that doesn't even have s*** on what Will's done, Em's still one of the worst ever to me. These chart rappers sold out a long time ago and that's real, f*** those gimmick MTV rappers like Eminem, Nelly, and 50 Cent, true mcs like Will, LL, and KRS could rip all of them, no matter how much or lil' Will sells he stays true to himself and his art and doesn't do no gimmick to sell records, he's just a great entertainer bottomline. Em dissin' Will is one of many reasons I don't like him, you want some real hip-hop, buy some De La Soul and Nas, that's music with heart, not music that makes me feel like crap! :therain:

RIP 2Pac, it's amazing that it's been 9 years already, the state of hip-hop has gone down for the worst, it's a shame though that most of the people who started to get into Pac didn't start getting into him until he died, it was unfortunate that I only got to hear the Death Row stuff of Pac at that time since I was starting to get into hip-hop in '96 but over the years I checked out a lot of his older stuff and it's his best work that displays who he really is, I guess sometimes it's hard to appreciate how talented an artist is until they're gone but Pac is loved by those who've heard his songs and his music'll live longer than us just like Will's and every other rapper that puts a message in their music, because what he talked about is timeless and a lot of this crap out now'll eventually die away, Pac was one of a kind.

I think that stil wasn`t a diss..Thats just fun!If it would be he also disse his Fans in that Line and i don`t think that was his meaning :lolsign: ←

Well what do you expect from somebody that raps about killing his wife and his mother? He's a sick bastard or at least he potrays himself as that and he needs to see a physciatrist, I mean Will had problems with his ex-wife and probably had disagreements with his parents too but he doesn't threaten to kill the mother of his child or the ones that had him, no matter how bad people might treat you, you have to show some sort of respect for them and not sell them out like that, I wrote songs about girlfriends pissing me off and I might've said some things out of frustration, but I don't think I'd release them out of respect that I used to have love for them and I don't want to put our dirty laundry on the airwaves, I don't want people listening to me to get inspired to kill the person that they're having problems with, you gotta work out your problems for the better, grow up Em, this is life! :therain:

Well no album gets perfect reviews from everybody, people even diss "Paid In Full", "Reasonable Doubt", "He's The DJ...", and "It Takes A Nation Of Millions..." type albums(at least the ones who don't have a brain to understand good music) giving a 4 out 5 is a good review, that's what I'd give it too, they didn't even bother to review "Lost and Found" so I think Will should bumrush the Vibe office! :pony: There's an article in there though where r&b songwriters that Jazzy Jeff discovered mention that Eminem told Will that he inspired him to do storytellin'. btw, I agree with Trevor Nelson if he was out 15 years ago when MC Hammer, JJFP, Tribe Called Quest, and LL were all dominating the airwaves he'd be average in fact less 'cause he was somewhat influenced from them as well.