LL wants to be like Will Smith now. He is following Will's formula for fame to the letter... starting from his TV show "in the house" (wanna be fresh prince of belair) which even featured a fresh prince of belair co-star. NOW, he is going to release an album with no profanity, and is now using his real name for movies which amazingly enough his last name is smith! Anyways, it would be cool if he was cleaning up his act for the good of society and how kids view rappers, but my hunch is that he is doing it for the $$$... Will Smith's formula no doubt has worked very well for him...



any opinions??

i don't agree at all...LL has always been one of my favorite rappers and his new song is pretty hot...don't have 2 swear 2 make a good rap record...i honestly don't c the will smith comparison...lots of musicians use their given name while acting and LL has used it in his music also...there was a full length album he released called mr. smith i believe...and unlike will s. LL has charisma and street cred(2 a degree)...will smith was never anything but a commercial pop product and was always holier than thou about not swearing...it works both ways...good records don't necessarily have 2 use swears but not swearing doesn't automatically make quality music...imho

2 jmg1 from "miss BITCH" of the org...lol

LL Cool J gets Much Props from back in the day IMHO.He use to Battle when Battling Mattered on Record.that is a Lost Art IMHO.He was cool up until hsi "Mama Said" Album&after that Fell off.He has had some good songs but alot of Misses overall IMHO.I still dig His MTV Unplugged Show I think it's one of MTV's Best Ever IMHO.as far as His Acting Goes:I think He is Pretty Good but He has had some Crapy films to work with.He was alright on TV.He could be a better actor than Will Smith if He ever found that Right Role to Play.Will has Persona,Charm&Charisma on the Screen but for me nothing has moved me since "Six Degrees of Speration" Fully.Will is like the Black Tom Cruise the money Man but not adding any depth to His Skills whatsoever.but there is a place for all to shine.LL Cool J though is still gonna be able to hang with His Music&He knows it.A Almost 20 Year Career in Rap&Not Being a Side Show like Run DMC is treated like nowadays speaks volumes for LL COOl J.10 Albums&still rolling in Rap&you aren't a Producer in Rap?that speaks volumes for LL IMHO.

Don't most people do things (not just for money), but to get ahead in life, for self-fulfillment, although money sometimes comes secondary for most people? Especially when it's their career track and something that they're good in...I mean the man has to keep moving on, and besides he got the skills and talent to do so.

As for him being like Will Smith, that's how most people live and learn, maybe he's seeing how it has worked for Will Smith, and he said, hey, it could work for me also. And anyways, they're both from the 'old school', more L.L than Will, and are leaders in the rap/hip-hop game, and are breaking grounds on the television, and the big screen.

Although one can draw some similarities as how they're going about things, it's all part of the game, L.L is doing his thang, and so is Will, and I'm glad for that because I enjoy watching both of them on screen, and like listening to their music.

L.L, love his music first, then his acting. In my book, he's one of my favorite lyricists (besides Biggie and Nas who are on top also) and rapper, especially when it comes to love, (L.L can make you drool (haha). Will, I think his jokes and acting are first, because he can always make me laugh, and his music comes second, because I really liked his first songs better than than his recent work, but I still think he's crazy funny! (I watch the reruns of 'Fresh Prince', more than I watch L.L's 'In the house', just because of that.

But all in all, much props to Will Smith, and L.L.--they've both come a long way.


[This message was edited Sun Sep 8 22:45:30 PDT 2002 by Starmist7]

I totally agree that he (LL) is brilliant and absolutely a much solid rapper than Will, but I don't think L would be taking the route he is taking now if it would not be for will's amazing success. He really is following Will's moves way to closely and it looks tacky on his part, specially uncreative... He needs to at least TRY to make it seem that it is coming from the heart...

I wish nothing but the best for LLCoolJ!
It is sad that LL thinks he has to give in to today's twisted commercialism to get ahead!
I'd have to agree that Wil Smith's performance in "Six Degrees of Separation" was one of the best and most heartfelt, but his other roles and music have always been about trying to be someone else or his own brand of fun!
Hopefully, LL won't get caught up in that crap, besides, LLCoolJ is 1000 times more luscious than WS!!!

LL Cool J was Always cool. Back in the day when Rap was new he was Funky Fresh and he was down to Earth and praised Allah. He had plenty of success on t.v,movies and in music. I don't think he is Doing things For money or to become Commercial. He's just doing the best work he is capable of and doing it well. Ladies always Love Cool James.

LL was making movies WAY before Will Smith was, first of all. And secondly, they both started on Def Jam records around the same time. LL with "I Need a Beat" and Will with "Girls of the World aint nothing but trouble" back in 85/86.

Simply put..LL made some of the hardest and flyest hip-hop in the 80s and early 90's. "Rock The Bells" still hits hard and is a hip-hop classic. "I'm Bad"("forget oreos... eat COOL J COOKIES") still slams hard. I liked his 1989 album WALKING WITH A PANTHER, but a lot of people didn't.

And "Mama Said Knocked You Out", the title song is a LL COOL J tour de force. By the way, that was one of the best albums of 1990.

I also liked "Pink Cookies In A Bag (Being Crushed By A Building)" from 1993.

Great lyricist with clever uses of analogies. Plus the brotha is still going hard and strong in 2002. Got to give him props.

ON Will Smith...I always felt that DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince's first album Rock The House was Will Smith as a rapper, at his finest. His rhymes went hand-n-hand.
with Jazzy Jeff's grand cuts and sctaches as a DJ. That album slams hard with some basic but nice beats.

BTW, you got to give LL props for doing an MTV unplugged segment with an actual band. I thought that was very daring of him, with the results being pretty good.