On the Sofa: Big Willie Style

This was a review I did on my boys site http://www.bestinthemix.com/. Check it out. Hip Hop reviews and opinions. Pure hotness!!!

How many of ya'll remember "Big Willie Style", Will Smiths first solo album, dropping back in 97'? Personally I was nine and still falling in love with hip hop. Mom dukes was definitely not cool with the raw sounds that pumped out the speakers on Biggie Smalls "Life After Death" or Capone-N-Noreagas "War Report." She thought Missy Elliots "Supa Dupa Fly" was a little vulgar and Busta Rhymes "When Disaster Strikes" was way too much for her. So at the time Will Smith was positive, clean, influential and had some bangers already nodding heads on the radio. Now if you want to talk street and say "Oh, he aint hip hop, thats pop music," you can do so. You wanna go into "Oh, he's an actor. He dont know the real." You can do that as well. But if you're here to talk hip hop, if you're here to talk good music with lyrics that speak truth and hold value...now we in discussion.

Not every man from the hood sold dope. Not every man from the hood went to jail. Nor do we all have tattoos, been shot, been pimps or didn't finish school. That doesn't take away from the truth of the matter that you know where you came from no matter where you go. This album must be reviewed with all these aspects in mind. Plus the fact that he is from West Philly isnt somethin you can just look past.

Now, lets talk numbers. First of all, Will Smith received two Grammy's from the same category for tracks on the topic album! He is the only artist in HISTORY to do so. That fact alone stands as a landslide victory to some great artist. The album as a whole was certified 9X (thats nine times!) platinum by RIAA or Recording Industry Association of America. I mean really...9X!? I personally dont know or follow too many of the platinum ratings. But honestly, I've never heard 9. Heard double and triple, but hell, what is the term for 9 anyway? *LOL* Individual songs from this album broke records and went far beyond what many can't even stand up to. The single "Men In Black," though not released as a single in the U.S., stayed at number one in the U.K. for a month. That made it the 6th biggest single in 1997.

Hip Hop Rater

HH- Say what you please, and many will say it, but Will Smith MAY not be a rapper persay. But he stands with the best of them on this album.

PP- This albums tracks STILL come on the radio this very day. Enough said.

You know what, I can shower yall with facts all day about the man. The Grammys and awards, the charts and the movies but at the end of the day, this album is a true classic. Not enough attention in my eyes. The radio hits were glorified and played world wide. But I listening to the album again for the first time since like 01' there are too many tracks that those who never heard it would never even know about. Half of what they listen to is thrown out the window and doesn't compare next to said tracks. If we are talking creativity, go to track four, "Candy". Bein real and telling people how it is, track seven "Dont Say Nothing." He has something for the ladies besides "Miami" and thats gotta be track five, "Chasing Forever." Theres plenty more to compare and argue points with but you'll only know if you check it out. I'll leave that up to ya'll.

P.S. MIB3 comin' out this summer. Im just sayin'.

THANKS for joinin' me on the Sofa

Poetry and Hip Hop

Welcome to The Sofa. This post has a very interesting discussion to be....well, discussed. I have been approached by some bloggers and asked some questions about my content and chioce of direction within some of my posts. Not the album reviews. Not the personal presentations and dedications. No the focus and questionable entries happened to be the poetry. I have been criticized on the fact that I have created a hip hop blog site and decided to put poetry on some of the posts. I was asked about the connection of the two? Why I chose to place my on poetry up there instead of actual poets? And even was asked do I consider myself a poet, or a rapper. These types of questions I OBVIOUSLY could just laugh off. I could EASILY make a dis track as well. Or I could simply put a post out showing how upsetting the wuestions were and get all emotional. But then that would just take away from my site. That would completely defeat the purpose of the educating factor that this page, and great web pages that glorify hip hop, wants to promote.

Let me first start by saying poetry has a tremendous influence on hip hop. Whether or not the two have the same specific qualites, they are alike more than they are different...

Poetry-  is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning (wikipedia)

Hip Hop-is a form of musical expression and artistic subculture that originated in African-American and Hispanic-American communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx (wikipedia)

Even by definition you can get a few similarities. For starters there is the fact that they are both forms of art. (yes kids, music is a form of art) They also posess the quality of both being a way of expressing feelings or thoughts. Im hoping those with questions are begining to see the true connection and importance even of the prescence of poetry in hip hop. And for those who arent quite there yet. I have a few examples of the truth in the NEED of poetic skill in the hip hop category. And please understand, this is not to take away from any other genre of music.

Everything from metaphors similies and personifications are used and expressed in hip hop. Most of all puns or play on words are used. Its just the smae in poetry. The poems tend to lean more toward fantasy and reality seperation of even connection. Hip hop tells true stories and referances events that are connected to the artist. But still the same format and end result. You know the truth and can almost place yourself in each word and occurance with each sentence.

As to the question of why I have chosen to put my own poetry up...? I like to think Im pretty good at it. There is really no a reason. THANKS for joining me on the Sofa.

                                                       Start to finish                                                      

Started off rackin leaves but ended up sellin trees. Started off runnin the ball but ended up runnin keys.
Started off prom queen ended up dope fiend. Started off talented had a kid at fourteen.
The cycle starts small ends up goin to hell. Cuz he starts wit stealin candy, then cars, then to jail.
Then bail, same trail, end up back in jail. Then a gang, then drama, end up hangin in a cell. 
She starts off just dancin then paid for the panties. Back stage, back alley, end up loosin sanity.
Starts snortin lines ends up shootin up. Starts with a quick hump then pregnant dead in a dump truck.

Starts tough starts rough and ends up the same.
He touched, he humped and niether one knows your name.
Where to start the blame how do we start to correct.
Been tryin to figure this out ended up with nothin yet.
Start raisin our boys so they end up in college.
Start raisin these girls send em to college with no mileage.
Start off with knowledge end up creatin a genius.
Teach a boy to think with his brain not with his penis.

Start with readin fairytales end up creatin a author!
Teach a girl to be a woman gotta support our daughters!
Gotta start creatin fathers gotta raise real mothers!
End up with stronger families takin care of one another!

On the Sofa: American Gangsta Sound Track

So I'm going to take a shot at an album that isn't exactly an album but is definitely an iconic masterpiece , created by an iconic hip hop artist. We all know, Jay-Z is the self proclaimed, and some stats may agree, best rapper. His street wise demeanor projects in his music louder than the beat themselves at times. His lyrics speak of the things he has been through and what he knows. His subjects are raw with hard hitting lyrics and a b-boy style flow. Yet with this album, he set himself FAR apart from any other! Again....


There have been MANY great movie sound tracks that captured the passion, pain and pleasure of the movies they represent. Oh so y'all gonna make me name some!? OK, well what about the Set It Off soundtrack? 8 Mile, which by the way Jay-Z was on. Brown Sugar....Hey y'all get the point. There are plenty more out there too. But there are two things that set the American Gangsta soundtrack apart from those. The first is the fact that it is ALL Jay-Z on the tracks with the acception of a couple features from various artist. Jay-Z felt that this movie was a great opportunity to create a new concept album that depicts his experience as a street hustler. Though the album never officially became the movies soundtrack, it sold over 1 million copies in the U.S. and featured lines from the movie. The way he came with beats that seemed to explore the 80's style of rhythm. The way he made references to the same time frame the movie did. The way he was able to paint the picture of the "swagger" displayed back in that day and time. That is what made this a classic.


My personal opinion on it, if you choose to hear it, this was and still is the best (though unofficial) movie soundtrack that has hit the scene. I mean lets be real, You don't get many of them that paint the FULL picture in detail of the movie. You get a few tracks that bring you back to a scene or two. You have some that remind you of the whole movie but that's the only song you heard from the whole soundtrack. But this one, this was more of an album. Yet and still its a great listen the whole way through. The features were great as well, to include Beanie Sigel, Lil Wayne, Nas and the singer Bilal. But it just seemed to me that the man Jay-Z could have went on forever with tracks like these. He spoke of what he's seen, knows and felt/feels. To me that is a HUGE rule of thumb in music. Speak what you know feel and the truth and you can't go wrong.

HIP HOP RATER

HH- OF COARSE! I mean it's Jay-Z for starters. But the album...enough said!

OH- You already know as he said himself, he is "held as one of the greatest writers of the 21st centry" and makes "thought provoking $h!+" Its very evident.

This album...or soundtrack...or whatever it may be considered, is a true masterpiece and thats why it is On the Sofa to day. To wrap it all up, salute to the man Jay-Z. Thats how you tell a story!

On the Sofa: Get Rich or Die Tryin'

GET RICH OR DIE TRYN'

Well it has been a while since I've put a post on the sofa. I've been wrapped up musically in my personal project and focused on other things as well. But I did however come to a point and time where there was nothing new I felt I wanted to purchase or even listen to in iTunes. This state of mind lead me to thinking of "oldies but goodies" and I found myself coming across one that EVERYONE loved, but most have forgotten. Yes, im talking about an album that as of 2011 sold eight million copies making it the fourth best-selling rap album in the US!

A man by the name of Curtis "50 cent" James Jackson III <-- (i just found about the III myself.) came on the scene officially with his album Get Rich or Die Tryin which jumped out and topped the charts from the start. Released February 4th, 2003, this album came with a mix of gangsta rap, up tempo beats, stories of his life and the situations and lessons that came of it. To me it seemed 50 cent focused on the way he came up, and how he feels and thinks of the world. Alot of his influence on this album came from his rough up bringing on the streets of the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens in New York City. In my eyes, this album was a perfect example of a rapper actually making good music from talking about what they KNOW, not what they dream up or watched on movies and tv. With that said, this album mad a tremendous debute. Within a few days of it's release, this album sold almost one million copies! To be more precise, in about 4 days, the album sold 872,000 copies. By December of the year of its release, Get Rich or Die Tryin' had reach an astonishing six million copies sold in the United States. Yes! Certified sextuple platinum. The album went up against OutKast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below for a Grammy Award for Best rap Album but lost. Still without the Grammy it stands as one of the greatest.


With a single song, In Da Club, being noted as the MOST listened to song in radio history, there were a plethera of hits on this album that became instant classics. Another single P.I.M.P, hit the charts just as well being number 3 on the Billboard top 100. Even though that is a "big deal", that actually made it the FIRST single from the album that DID NOT top out at number 1. Give the man credit! Around that time and on thru 2005 maybe even as far as 2006, you didnt hit a club or turn on the radio without hearing his name or song. Not only In Da Club and P.I.M.P, but there was Wanksta and 21 Questions as well. Wanksta, being the debute single, which ya'll know yall were smack in front of the TV when 106 and park dropped that joint. I personally was thinking "Yo, this dude goin hard at SOMEBODY!"


Thats when that Benz truck he was ridin started poppin up EVERYWHERE. Funny side story about that. I live acrossed the street in GA from a lady who was dating an Atlanta DJ Greg Street at that time. I had never seen that truck actually. Next thing you know I saw a silver one across the street and Greg Street jumping out. Then its in 50 cents video. Im thinkin " Dang! This a rich a^# DJ. He got the 50 joint!" Haha!...Anyway.

HIP HOP RATER

HOP- This album came with that gangster swag that most would be scared to carry. He mentions his life threatening shootout AND names those involved. Alot of songs talk of how people want him dead and then DARES them to act on it. DAT DUDE CRAY!


PP- This album brought a couple hits you heard on the radio from the day they dropped until about 2 or 3 years ago. I mentioned such earlier and they cant be denied.


This album was, and as far as the facts go, still is one of the best. Alot of tough guy talk goin on. But at least is proven fact on most of the stuff the man is rapping about. He was in the drug game, he spoke on it. He's been to jail, he mentioned that. He had "Many Men" (one of my favorite) who had problems with him. I just give him the respect as an artist for being real and presenting good music and keepin rap alive along with the rest of the real lyricist.

Information provided by:
The Free Encyclopedia

Yahoo Images