Jump to content
JJFP reunite for 50 years of Hip Hop December 10 ×
Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince Forum

Does Will Smith have a ghostwriter?


Recommended Posts

  • Members

I was just wondering. I mean, I heard somewhere that Kel Spencer was ghostwriting for him, then I heard that Royce the 5'9 was. Anybody know? I'm sure Will could write but the question is, with his schedule, does he have the time? I wouldn't be too upset if he had a ghostwriter. I remember hearing Nas wrote "Jiggy".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No, Nas didn't write Gettin Jiggy Wit It. I believe this debate was addressed a couple of months ago on this forum... Here was the quote that ended it...

Carson: What lyrics did you write for Will Smith? [ Laughter ] That "Summertime" song?

Nas: No, no, dude is real talented. He really had it together. I just was vibin' with him. We worked on "Get Jiggy Wit' It," and something on the "Men in Black" soundtrack. You know, but he'll put it together. I was just there vibin with him.

No one writes whole songs for Will. He'll pull ideas from other people, others will make suggestions on lyrics and the like...

A lot of this ghost writter talk has sprung up because a lot of the stuff that Will has put out, especially with Lost and Found, is fire... So people have to find some way to discredit him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think I remember reading that If there's a group of people hanging around whilst writing a track, if somebody chips in with a thought or something, they'll usually get credited.

Why would Will use a ghostwriter, he can obviously write his own stuff, it would be totally against what he stands for...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's just haters talkin' s*** tryin' to discredit Will's talent and think that he doesn't write any of his lyrics, they say that about basically every rapper, I even remember read on a forum that Ill Will wrote all the lyrics on "Illmatic" and another time I remember reading some hater saying that LL wrote all of Run-Dmc's lyrics and they even say that LL had ghostwriters on "The G.O.A.T." album and Rakim wrote all of Queen Latifah's lyrics, basically every great rapper gets this hate, haters'll say anything when they don't like somebody. Will's been rappin' longer than most of us been livin', why would other people write all of his lyrics? That's just stupid! Will most likely just paid homage to Royce 5'9 on the hook of "Lost and Found", which were lyrics on one of Royce 5'9's songs. If you got your friends hangin' out at the studio with you, they'll get credit, that's all. Will talks in many interviews about writing his lyrics, the rhymes are personal for somebody else to write them, he most likely writes his lyrics first and then shows his friends them and asks for feedback like we do here in this forum when we post our songs but he's generous enough to give them credit unlike some rappers that're selfish, he's good friends with Kel Spencer and Nas, it's like if I got a record deal and I gave some credit to those here who looked at my lyrics and gave me feedback, lol.

Edited by bigted
Link to comment
Share on other sites

yeah royce is one of my favourite rappers, i really have no clue about ghost writers best bet is to check album cred's it'll tell you

Well, album creds won't tell you anything. They don't say why someone is given credit. It can be any and everything from the a change in beat, to contributions with lyrics...

Ted set it right. Will doesn't have ghostwriters. A ghostwriter is someone who writes your lyrics for you, you change a few things, and then you call it yours...

Incidentally, (I love that word)... Skillz wrote a track where called out a number of people that he ghostwrote for. Google that if you want an interesting read.

Aslo... do you guys remember the show Ghost Writer on PBS. That was my show...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Aslo... do you guys remember the show Ghost Writer on PBS. That was my show...

Oh snap!!!!!! :lol: I thought I was enough of a geek that I remembered all the shows I used to watch back in the day, but I had completely forgotten about that one! :hail:

Oh, and uhhhh... Will doesn't really have a "ghostwriter", per say, so let's put that to rest (once again). :dope:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's the thing with haters though, they could really stretch a story, you tell them that somebody gave Will imput on a song for his album and they'll turn around to say that person wrote the whole album for Will! :lolsign: Don't believe what everybody tells you! Will could've possibly helped write songs for some of his friends too but maybe didn't want to be credited since he has like 300 million already and didn't want to take away from them, he might just be doing his homies a favor by giving them credit.

btw, here's your answer, Will says in this interview that he has a book full of rhymes before he records his albums, his name is always credited on all the songs too, rappers like P. Diddy and Bow Wow use ghostwriters since their names ain't credited for writing the songs:

http://www.nzgirl.co.nz/articles/1354

"-You've now released three albums in five years, which puts you ahead of some full time musical acts. How do you pull that pace off with your busy film career?

-Well, I write all the time, which makes it a lot easier. I never really come out of the lab. I'm always writing down ideas and concepts. I have a book full of em when I start an album. So generally, I only have to come up with three or four new things to make an album."

Edited by bigted
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The quote that MaxFly posted really puts an end to it all, Will writes his own stuff. If you didn't notice, his name is always first in the credits on the albums. Sure, he has some help here and there from time to time, but so doesn't everyone else, so there isn't a question whether or not Will has a ghostwriter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...