Ice Cube just opened at #1 with "Are We There Yet" Will Smith, LL Cool J, Queen Latifah all have certifiable solid movie careers ( with 2 Oscar nominations to boot)...so why do people always hate on rap and hip-hop artists as the bastard children of America? Obviously, they are doing much better than pop artists (J-Lo, Madonna, John Mellencamp, Mandy Moore)..just wondering

meltwithu said:

I don't think I'd be bragging about Are We There Yet if I were Ice Cube. At one time, he had a decent career in acting (I'm not talking box office receipts). How is this challenging to him at all? Looks mighty embarrassing, and it's being raked across the coals by anyone who reviewed it. Who cares that it was #1 this weekend? You left out a bunch of bombs in your listing of all the hits made by them.

**LL Cool J also made Rollerball (one of the biggest flops in history), Mindhunters and Out of Sync.
**Queen Latifah can be proud of Taxi. I have no idea what it cost to make, but it only took in about $35 million, and was called one of the worst of the year. Cookout managed to stay in theatres a whopping 6 weeks when it was finally released after months of delays. Pinocchio? Bomb. Living Out Loud was a great movie but did only so so in theatres.
**Will Smith - well the only real box office disappointment (the critical disappointment list would go on forever) is The Legend of Bagger Vance, but I think you'll be able to add Hitch to that pretty soon.

I don't think rap artists are going any better or worse at the box office than pop stars are. Mandy Moore's building up a pretty decent film career, and Jennifer Lopez, Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff aren't going away any time soon...good or bad.

Madonna and J-Lo especially are pop-stars; every move they make is scrutinized by the mass media. I don't think a headline about Ice Cube's movie bombing would be as successful as one concerning Madonna/J-Lo/Britney Spears.

RipHer2Shreds said:

not saying that everything they touch is a smash hit, but at least they have been in some hits. the question really kind of revolves around why peeps dis rap and hip hop artists like they can't make good music or good movies

meltwithu said:

A lot of people - including me - would argue that music stars should stick to music, and actors should stick with acting. There are exceptions of course (Mariah is proving to be quite the thespian), but more often than not the results are tragic.

I don´t really mind seeing rappers in movies, for instance Snoop Dogg i´n Starsky & Hutch or IceCube in Barbershop, but it´s actually quite sad that so many half talented rappers build acting careers while there are lots of real actors among African-Americans who don´t get the recognition they deserve.
Where are the new Larry Fishburnes and Denzel Washingtons of today ??
A lot of good roles are being occupied by rappers who are actually crap actors..

1. Titanic
2. Star Wars
3. Shrek 2
4. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
5. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
6. Spider-Man
7. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
8. Spider-Man 2
9. The Passion of the Christ
10. Jurassic Park


I didn't realize that there were any rappers/hip hop artists in these movies.....

Or are Lucas and Spielberg hip hop artists too?
[Edited 1/24/05 9:24am]