Is Will Smith considered a great?

Cutler 26 INT's LOL!

"Will Smith dont have to cuss in his rap to sell records, well I do...So fuck him and fuck you too" -Eminem

But seriously Will is absolutely a legend

loch121

Will was always a novelty act

peagle05

will been in my personal top 5, no fucks given to any other opinion

MF_Doomerville

Will is a legend. Nobody can deny that BUT...he was not one of the best. Not even for his era.

RawAce

loch121 wrote: »

Will was always a novelty act

wtf
no sir

afro man is a novelty act

loch121

RawAce wrote: »

loch121 wrote: »

Will was always a novelty act

wtf
no sir

afro man is a novelty act

Every song was some gimmick shit. I think I can beat Mike Tyson, Nightmare on my street, Girls with the I love jeanie sample.It was like some fat Boys Wipe Out shit.Rakim wrote Summertime so he gets no credit for that great song

Sion

I think he is, he was the first rapper to win a grammy (I think). Also the first rapper to become one of the most famous actors in the world, highest paid actor in the game. He prolly shouldn't be on niggas' top 10 GOAT list but he is definitely a great and made his mark and paved the way in Hiphop.

milehightoker

yeah...























a great actor

DMTxCannabis

Definitely a legend.

wellingdowd

Of course he is. And this is coming from someone that was an extreme Will Smith hater.
I did not think he made music I could relate to. I grew up living more like "Good Times" than like "The Fresh Prince". So I was into NWA, ICE-T and Hip-Hop with a harder edge.

I thought he sucked as an actor and just started watching reruns of his show a few years ago, because when I was younger I thought he played himself. I hated when he dropped "Summertime" because Dougie Fresh already had a song called "Summertime" I knew they'd play Will's version forever. Plus he and Jazzy Jeff won the first rap Grammy. I was like "Damn, they just gave that to him cause he's a popcorn rapper." I mean dude kept winning at everything he did. Music,TV, movies.

So what changed? In part I grew up and my life got better. I became a different person. Also Will dropped Big Willie Style; where as other rappers started the flashy, I get money style. Will was actually getting money like 10-20 million a movie. I also started to think that Will remained Hip-Hop through-out, he never ran away from his Rap Past; he was not embarrassed by it like Marky Mark. I thought back to how he boycotted his Grammy win and stood together with most of Hip-Hop where as Kool Moe Dee who was much more widely accepted by rap as a whole went and performed on the Grammy's like he was happy to get the bone that they threw them.

Let's face it Will is not just a great; he is a pioneer. There where not a lot of doors that where just opened for him. As I recalled he and Jeff had the first double album in rap and it went platinum plus. He was one of the first rappers to star in a TV show as the main character. He was one of the first rappers that had movie roles written specifically for him. And was the first one nominated for an Oscar for acting.

So yeah Will has been and remains one of the greatest representatives of Rap/Hip Hop..... Class Dismissed.

wellingdowd

"were" not "where" maybe i need some one else to teach class. lol

water ur seeds

loch121 wrote: »

RawAce wrote: »

loch121 wrote: »

Will was always a novelty act

wtf
no sir

afro man is a novelty act

Every song was some gimmick shit. I think I can beat Mike Tyson, Nightmare on my street, Girls with the I love jeanie sample.It was like some fat Boys Wipe Out shit.Rakim wrote Summertime so he gets no credit for that great song

thats called creativity, its a concept song, masta ace (who is in my top 5 doa) has been doing that for years, he makes concept albums... emc's album, long hot summer and disposable arts all follow concepts... granted, nas and rakim helped with his rhymes after fresh prince days... dudes still a great imo

loch121

water ur seeds wrote: »

loch121 wrote: »

RawAce wrote: »

loch121 wrote: »

Will was always a novelty act

wtf
no sir

afro man is a novelty act

Every song was some gimmick shit. I think I can beat Mike Tyson, Nightmare on my street, Girls with the I love jeanie sample.It was like some fat Boys Wipe Out shit.Rakim wrote Summertime so he gets no credit for that great song

thats called creativity, its a concept song, masta ace (who is in my top 5 doa) has been doing that for years, he makes concept albums... emc's album, long hot summer and disposable arts all follow concepts... granted, nas and rakim helped with his rhymes after fresh prince days... dudes still a great imo

I'm all for concepts and at the time the shit was entertaining, but it was cheesy even then.

There were way doper Mcs on Def jam and in the game period.Was more of a fan of jazzy than WIll, but I'm proud that he's from hip hop.I could never call him a great though.

Too many other dudes who really spit are from that era, like Masta Ace

water ur seeds

loch121 wrote: »

water ur seeds wrote: »

loch121 wrote: »

RawAce wrote: »

loch121 wrote: »

Will was always a novelty act

wtf
no sir

afro man is a novelty act

Every song was some gimmick shit. I think I can beat Mike Tyson, Nightmare on my street, Girls with the I love jeanie sample.It was like some fat Boys Wipe Out shit.Rakim wrote Summertime so he gets no credit for that great song

thats called creativity, its a concept song, masta ace (who is in my top 5 doa) has been doing that for years, he makes concept albums... emc's album, long hot summer and disposable arts all follow concepts... granted, nas and rakim helped with his rhymes after fresh prince days... dudes still a great imo

I'm all for concepts and at the time the shit was entertaining, but it was cheesy even then.

There were way doper Mcs on Def jam and in the game period.Was more of a fan of jazzy than WIll, but I'm proud that he's from hip hop.I could never call him a great though.

Too many other dudes who really spit are from that era, like Masta Ace

great thing about hip hop is its all about debating and opinions and thats yours... for me will brings back so many good memories of when i was a yout and bumping his music, thats one reason i rate him so highly... its nice to sometimes put on some mad gangsta shit, then some conscious shit, and sometimes some light fun shit... but his achievements have been monumental thats undeniable, his flow used to be crazy to... though his music is total trash now though...


'And while we sit around debatin' who the wack MC's
They have to work when arthritic pain attack the knees'

BlackAX410

for those who called him a novelty act nd gimmick there's been songs posted where he ripped it he stayed in his lane nd element nd had fun don't single out some singles nd make it seem like dats ALL his career was about

a_list

will wasnt the best rapper but churned out some great songs.....great actor, first rapper to win a grammy, boycotted the grammy's that same year, brought a little hip hop into homes world wide with the tv show.....so yes legend

Law Trafalgar

Great actor yea. Great rapper? lolololol

skeep

The questions is, do you think he is great? I think he is still great. His last album had some amazing jams on them. Unfortunately he is not marketed or loved by the masses that way at the moment but that doesn't mean he isn't great. He has definite classics and can still rap circles and out perform most emcees today. He's a GREAT showman.

Allergens

Nas wrote geting Jiggy wit it, the nigga needed someone else to write his filler material,no G.O.A.T

Trillaaaaaa

He paid his dues....Well respected in my book

starvin

Cutler 26 INT's LOL! wrote: »

"Will Smith dont have to cuss in his rap to sell records, well I do...So fuck him and fuck you too" -Eminem

But seriously Will is absolutely a legend

Why is eminem so corny man ?

beatboy1

just because some might not have liked the style of some of his music doesnt discount the fact that he was one of the best lyricist..and have one of the best flows ever..everyone cant rap about moving wieght

HailBlackMary

I always thought Will Smith was corny. It has nothing to do with him not being street orientated, imo gangsta rap has been the most detrimental influences in rap music and in the black community. I never use the sales and grammy wins for a goat discussion, and I'm surprised it is brought up since alot of people here don't consider Eminem or Lil Wayne as a great inspite of their sales and trophy wins. Will Smith won alot and sold alot due to him being a non-threatening always smiling Black man. He had cross over appeal and made white folks comfortable. A Bill Cosby vs a Richard Pryor/Paul Mooney. I don't hate Will Smith's music but he isn't a great rapper and his flow is lame imo. Plus alot of his better songs were ghost written. He is a great actor definately.