I hate puff daddy.

Teehee. I love all kinds of music and have almost 10,000 songs in my collection

! Everything from Classical music and Opera through to Rap, Metal, Prog-Rock, Pop, Jazz, Blues... the list goes on and on!!

 

 

*puts on some Vanilla Fudge and SpookyTooth*

*sobs and plays Romandad some Clash*

hb

 

Londons calling...

 

Whats funny is that my 2 year old's favorite song is Rock the Casbah.

You could not be further from the truth. I have practiced entertainment law for over 15 years. I have represented many African-American actors and Rappers. I have negotiated many contracts for my clients.

 

There is no dirth of black actors. There are plenty of talented young black actors in L.A. and N.Y.C. There aren't plenty of projects available to them. The reason many of them are not known or exposed to the public is because they have not had the roles available to them.

 

Rappers are placed in movies because they have been exposed to the public, primarily rap fans, through their music. As a result of this exposure they have a loyal fan base which movie producers know will follow them to the box office. IT IS ALL ABOUT ECONOMICS.

 

Most of these rappers are African-American with the notable exception of Eminem, Paul Wall, Bubba Sparxx, and Pit Bull.

 

Seventy-five percent of all rap albums are purchased by white kids. Many of whom will also go to see these artists in movies. I never suggested that they are expected to carry a flick all by themselves. However a producer will spend $1,000,000 or less to place an Aliyah in Queen of the Damned as insurance.

I wasnt aware there are a lot of Entertainment attorneys in Texas...

 

You are correct though, traditionally there has been a lack of roles for African Americans, but that has clearly changed in the last 10 years. There are now three cable television channels and one network aimed primarily at black audiences.

 

And those roles are becomming more realistic (i.e. portraying black people as REAL people) and less based on stereotyping (i.e. The black guy gets the role of the thug, or drug dealer, or some other criminal). Unfortunately, though, the talking stereotype (hip hoper, gangster, thug, drug dealer, armed robber etc) is still a much used formula...

 

And once an african american has broken out of those roles, the last thing he wants sto do is go back... And the audience is less inclined to accept it. Lets face it, although Don Cheadle broke out playing a gang banger, he can NEVER do that again... Nor can Orlando Jones, or Omar Eppes or Nick Cannon... Nor should they.

 

Which is where the gangster rapper comes in. They already have the credibilty to play the roles, AND they have nothing to lose by doing so. Their PERSONNA is "THUG" so what does it hurt to accentuate that reputation on screen?

 

And for the rapper, there is that hope that they can cross over to mainstream work, like Ice Cube, Ice Tea and Latifa have.

 

I have advised my writer clients AGIANST using the same old stereotype rapper as drug lord formula, because I think its time we get away from that idea, and because its honestly gotten boring.

Jesus, all I said was "I hate puff whatever"

You always stir up shit mike...

Hey Mike... When you come to L.A. Ill take you to the Peterson Automotive museum...  

 

That way you can see where Biggie got whacked...  And if we have some time we can look at cars too...

 

Gah, no fair! That makes me wanna come to LA.

Rap 15 years ago,when it was still underground,was the urban soundtrack:of the inner city nights.Its was a way for the young black people to express themselves.Like NWA Jungle Brothers Def Jam BDP early Ice-T and esp Public Enemy:Their music was hardcore heavy and raw-but inteligent.15 years later i reckon PE second album ITANOMTHAB the greatest rap/hip-hop album ever made, and one of the great albums of any genre. It makes you laugh with today's rappers or should i say "rappers".B/c this "rap" of today is not real rap IMO.Is crap black pop just to sell :vom:

I agree mecano. I think I'll get rich faster if I take de-grammar classes, wear my pants hanging off my ass and say "uh, yeah!" a lot, and then learn to bump and grind dance for music videos. I'd be rich overnight, but I'll have to sacrifice my teeth for gold caps... I think my rapper name will be "El Capital" think I'll have any capital romandad? :mrgreen: My first cds will be "Northwest side!" and "From the streets of the apple dumpling gang" and "wankstah be a gangstah, yo diggity jiggity dawg!"...

News flash!!! There are entertainment lawyers in Texas. Houston is the fourth largest city in the country and we have quite a few actors, rappers, R&B singers, music producers and record labels. As of right now Houston is the hottest market for rap in the country with Slim Thug, Paul Wall and Mike Jones of SWISHA house at the front of the line.

 

If so much has changed in the great Hollywood why did Denzel have to be a drug dealing corrupt cop to get an Oscar? Surely many of his other roles were as deserving.

 

Why did Haley Berry have to get butt-assed naked and copulate with Billy Bob Thornton to deserve hers. Gimme a break no self respecting white actress like Nicole Kidman, Hilary Swank, Jennifer Anniston, Jennifer Garner, Angelina Jolie,

Courtney Cox, Denise Richards, Monica Bellucci, Penelope Cruz, Julia Roberts, Nicollette Sheridan, Darryl Hanna or even Pamela Anderson would have been nominated for much less given an Oscar for a full frontal 5-minute nude copulation scene with any B-list black actor.

 

You have a lot of work to do with your writer clients. It is just because they and others similarly situated do not offer oppurtunities to actors of color that many urban young people find solice in the hip-hop community. They in fact create their own entertainment and won't go to the theatre to see a movie unless one of their own self acknowleged idols is on the screen.

 

If Hollwood goes to sleep and stays in denial the urban hip-hop community will create their own writers, producers and actors. They will by pass the movie industry main stream just as the major record labels were caught flat footed by the rap music onslaught. IT IS ALL ABOUT ECONOMICS.

"Monster Ballin" = great movie. :mrgreen: :twisted:

 

rrw2000: Save the Malcom X speech, it falls on deaf ears. We're talking about music in this thread, keep on topic please.

Now he goes by "Diddy" rather than Puff Daddy.

I still don't get that.

I agree mecano.  I think I'll get rich faster if I take de-grammar classes, wear my pants hanging off my ass and say "uh, yeah!" a lot, and then learn to bump and grind dance for music videos.  I'd be rich overnight, but I'll have to sacrifice my teeth for gold caps...  I think my rapper name will be "El Capital" think I'll have any capital romandad?  :mrgreen:  My first cds will be "Northwest side!" and "From the streets of the apple dumpling gang" and "wankstah be a gangstah, yo diggity jiggity dawg!"...  

 

 

Now thats hilarious!

 

 

I was amazed to learn Houston was the fourth largest city... Heard that during the hurricanes... I always thought DALLAS was the biggest city in Texas... #-o

 

I think we in Hollywood will survive just fine... Certainly it isn't Texas or Indie Hip Hop films we have to be on the look out for... Its Canada, Ireland and India... Thats where the competition for mainstream production is going.

 

But you make some good points.

 

However, if its economics, the system will NEVER change, because at 10% of the population and shrinking, African Americans will never become an economic power house. And ultimately, do middle class blacks want to spend money supporting the hip hop culture? Or is it like you say, WHITE kids who buy into that image? And what that says about society is much more interesting than what it says about the motion picture industry. After all, we're not in the sociology business... We just produce what sells.

 

 

And finally... Does anybody else think of Marshmallows when they hear sean comb's new nickname?

You also have to consider that rap is around for 20+ years.Thats a lot of time....I don t expect a musical genre that is decades old to still produce music as good as it did in its first years:I mean lets take british new rock.UK has some good bands today but can any one of them make such an all time classic work like London Calling or The Queen Is Dead?IMO no.Same with metal:Do i expect any of todays metal bands to create smth as amazing as Master Of Puppets or Ace Of Spades?No.All genres have a "golden age".So i don t expect from todays rappers to make smth as good as the first 3 Public Enemy albums.Plus they don t seem to even try,they only want to make "rap" that will sell fast so they can buy another SUV with bling bling wheels.Result of the above:crap music

Mako I don't expect for you to have the capacity to understand but there are others on this list. So if you don't like it don't read it.

Mako I don't expect for you to have the capacity to understand but there are others on this list. So if you don't like it  don't read it.

 

That wasnt neccesary...

Mako I don't expect for you to have the capacity to understand but there are others on this list. So if you don't like it  don't read it.

 

That wasnt neccesary...

 

I sense someones finger aproaching the ban button.... BTW puff whatever sucked in monsters ball, I was happy they killed his ass of early, it made the rest of the movie much more bareable.

:mrgreen:

He's not actually banned, contrary to popular belief I don't ban for personally insulting me alone. Do it to others though and I pull the trigger.

 

I CAN TAKE THE HEAT BABY!

I can't resist, mako, you hit the nail on the head....

Came across this classic thread while doing a search....

 

BUMPING for some Friday entertainment....big MODS Albofaz, RomanDad and Mako, coming through with the humor!

HOLY OLD THREAD!

 

Mecano is in it too. I miss his NWS posts.

puff daddy cracked me up in Get him to the greek.

puff daddy cracked me up in Get him to the greek.

 

 

I'm mind fcuking you right now!