Big Willie Style: Actor vs Musician

There is a list of movies at my house that my youngest sister has not seen yet like Caddyshack, Animal House, and The Departed, just to name a few. Every few weeks we try to get together and knock a few off that list. Well this past weekend she came over and we watched I Am Legend. A great movie starring one of Hollywood's biggest stars, Will Smith. As we were watching Will survive in a post-apocalyptic New York it got me thinking, who is better Will Smith the actor or Will Smith the musician aka The Fresh Prince? Like Karl Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves, you could call Will Smith a unicorn, a guy who has excelled at more then one thing while in Hollywood. I have also never met anyone who doesn't like the guy. Put on Gettin' Jiggy With It and everyone loses their minds or put in Men in Black and everyone will sit down to watch. I will give a brief background on his music and movie career, with the hits and the flops and ultimately one side of Will shall reign supreme.

                                  Music Career

Will got his start in music in 1985 by accidentally running into DJ Jazzy Jeff at a house party while Jeff was waiting for his hype man so Will stepped in. There was instant chemistry between the two and The Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff duo was formed. Their first single, Girls Ain't Nothing but Trouble, was released in 1986 and set the tone for their music style. Prince and Jeff had a light hearted and fun story telling style of two kids in high school that people could relate to. In 1989 they received the first ever Grammy for Best Rap Performance for the single, Parents Just Don't Understand, which is still a classic today. The duo received their second Grammy in 1991 for the jam Summertime and it also landed them on the Billboard Hot 100 list topping out at #4. In '97 the duo decided to split, Will went on to do solo music and exploded onto the scene. He released the Men in Black theme and his album Big Willie Style. Big Willie Style got into the top 10 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and went platinum nine times with jams like Gettin' Jiggy With It, Miami, Just the Two of Us, Big Willie Style, and Men In Black. He also did the Wild, Wild, West theme song from the album Willennium and the Men In Black 2 theme, Black Suits Comin'. Willennium might not have been as popular as Big Willie Style but damn is that a great album name. He released his last album Lost and Found in 2005 which landed at #6 on the Billboard 200 and features the song Switch.

Music Hits
1. Parents Just Don't Understand: "You know parents are the same/No matter time nor place/ They don't understand that us kids/Are going to make some mistakes" Everyone at some point in their life has listened to this song and said, "damn Fresh Prince your right my parents don't understand high school or girls or etc." There aren't many songs you can look at and say that's some real talk right there.

2. Summertime: Probably the best song to cruise to when summer is just starting out, maybe the best song about any of the 4 seasons. Just a chill song that talks about the best season there is.

3. Gettin' Jiggy With It: Quite possibly my wife's favorite all time song and honestly I don't blame her at all. If this isn't played at a wedding reception did the reception even happen?

4. Miami: I have only been to Miami once and it was to catch a connecting flight, but the way Will talks about it in this song it sounds like an awesome place everyone should visit. "I only came for two days of playing/But every time I come I always wind up stayin'/This the type of town I could spend a few days in/ Miami the city that keeps the roof blazin'."

5. Wild, Wild, West and Men In Black: Both classic songs to go with some solid movies, everyone knows the words to MIB and if you don't I 100% do not believe you. He also has a dance off with an alien in the video that is pretty great.


Music Flops
1. Switch: It got good reviews and everything but when you have songs like the ones above this just does not compare at all.

2. Get Lit: He released this in 2017 and I hope you have never heard it. I had no idea this existed so I checked it out on YouTube and wish I could turn back time.

3. Wild, Wild, West: I know, I know I included this on both lists but wait till you see what he turned down to take the role in WWW.

4. Every other Will Smith song we have never heard of: He has released 9 albums (9 ALBUMS) which I did not realize so that is a lot of songs I had no idea existed. Now they could be alright but I am not giving them the benefit of the doubt.

                                                         Movie Career

Will broke onto the movie scene in 1995 with a little movie called Bad Boys starring Will and Martin Lawrence and made $141 million world wide, not bad for your first lead. He followed that up with Independence Day in '96 and that was the highest grossing movie at the time of it's release and this really put him on the map for acting. In '97 he released Men In Black which made $588 million. Bad Boys to Independence Day to MIB in the span of three years might be the best three years of any actors career to start. In '99 he made a decision I am surprised did not ruin his career, he turned down the role of Neo in the Matrix and did Wild, Wild, West instead. (That is why the song WWW is on the hits and flops) I don't know if I can picture a Will Smith Neo but damn, turning that down could have been devastating. He bounced back pretty well however, portraying Muhammad Ali in 2001 and earned an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination. In 2003 he reprised his role with Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys II which earned $270 million. Will took a 3 year break between Bad Boys and Pursuit of Happiness which is one of my favorite Will movies. It has an incredible story and his acting was extremely personal and heartfelt. 2007 saw him in what could be his best acting performance, I Am Legend. For most of the movie he is the only human on screen and he does a phenomenal job. He did Hancock in '08 and then MIB3 in '12, both which earned over $600 million but were not great movies. In 2013 he did After Earth with his son Jaden, granted I have never seen the film but it is probably the biggest flop of his acting career. It has a 4.9 rating on IMDB and barely earned $100 million. For a movie produced by M. Night Shyamalan and starring Will Smith that is considered a failure. He starred opposite of Margot Robbie in 2015 in Focus. I don't know a single person who has seen this movie. If anyone out there has seen it please let me know if its worth seeing. I remember seeing commercials for it and then it disappeared. In 2016 he was in Concussion, a huge movie that brought him back into the spotlight for his acting. Suicide Squad came out in 2016 and while the movie was complete garbage, our man Will put on a good display as Deadshot. His last movie was Bright in 2017 which is the most expensive Netflix movie to date but was considered a flop and got raked over the coals.

Movie Hits
1. Bad Boys: What a movie to break onto the scene with, one of his biggest and best movies. I can't believe this came out in '95 and you can still find it on cable TV. Extremely re-watchable and definitely a classic.

2. Independence Day: Along the same lines as Bad Boys, it's just a classic movie. If it is one TV and you find it, you will sit down and end up watching the whole movie. Bad Boys and Independence Day really set him up for his whole future.

3. Men In Black: Not only is this a great movie, it also set up his solo music career. I remember when this first came out and being scared of it, then growing up and finding it absolutely hilarious. If you haven't seen it recently I highly recommend dusting it off and re-watching it.

4. I Am Legend: Quite possibly the best acting of his career, he is the only human in most of the movie and really shows his acting skills. From his interactions with his dog to communicating with mannequins, I think this is my favorite Will Smith performance.

5. Concussion: Another movie that he really proved his acting skills. He portrays Dr. Bennet Omalu a Nigerian-American who led the charge against the brain disease CTE. Smith is fantastic in this film and was lauded for being "sensitive and understated" in his portrayal.

Movie Flops
1. Hancock: This is one of those films that earned a lot of money but no one has ever seen more than once. When you ask your friends about it they will say "it was fine but I would wait for it to come out on DVD or Netflix to see it."

2. After Earth: One of the worst movies of his career and I already went into detail on it above but yikes this was bad.

3. Suicide Squad: Will was fine in the movie so I'm not sure it should land here but Jesus, this was a flaming bag of shit. Someone tell me what Jared Leto was doing and now he has his own Joker movie coming out?

4. Bright: This has a 26% rating on Rotten Tomatoes......

                                                          Overall Decision

This is an incredibly difficult decision for me to choose the Actor Will or Musician Will; I love them both. Musician Will had some of the best songs when I was a kid and songs I still listen to today but Actor Will has some insanely good movies. His career is pretty phenomenal when you really look at it and not many people have been as accomplished in both acting and music. His acting career has probably been more profitable and well known but damn that music career is no joke. The way I am going to answer the question is this: If I was deserted on an island what would I want more, music from Will or movies from Will? For me personally, I am choosing the Fresh Prince over actor Will. There are a lot of Will songs I don't know but I could honestly have an iPod with about 10 Will songs and be alright. Give me Gettin' Jiggy, Summertime, Nightmare on My Street, Parents Just Don't Understand, Miami, MIB, Wild, Wild, West, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. I could definitely survive with that and be extremely happy.

Evolution of Hip-Hop

After watching the Grammys a few weeks ago I started thinking about this topic and it is finally ready to go. It is going to be a two part piece, the first one will look at the evolution of hip-hop and the second will go over how hip-hop has never gotten the recognition it deserves. The evolution piece will be broken down by decades looking at the main influencers of the time and the main happenings of each year. It's an abbreviated look at hip-hop history, hip-hop is one of the most influential music genres, influencing fashion, graffiti, politics, and dancing styles. Hip-hop started from humble beginnings with DJs using turntables on street corners and underground clubs and it has become one of the biggest music genres in the world. Let's take a look and enjoy the hip-hop genre.

1970's:

     -Main Acts: Grandmaster Flash, DJ Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Caz, Sugerhill Gang

     -Styles: Started out with guys DJing and spinning records on street corners, gradually moved to including emcees in the late '70s.

-'73: DJ Kool Herc DJs his sisters birthday party at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx with turntables and scratching records

-'75: Herc gets hired as the DJ for Hevalo Club and gets Coke La Rock and Clark Kent emcee to form Kool Herc and the Herculoids

-'77: Herc gets stabbed at one of his parties and this makes him reconsider performing live. It is also one of the first documented acts of violence around hip-hop.

-'78: Music industry coins the term "Rap" and shifts towards the emcee rather then the DJ.

-'79: Grandmaster Flash forms his crew and they become "Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five." Kurtis Blow becomes first rapper to sign to a major record label. "Rapper's Delight" from the Sugerhill Gang hits 36 on the Billboard chart and is hailed as the first rap song. 

1980's:

     -Main Acts: '70's DJs are still around but fading to acts like Run DMC, Ice-T, Public Enemy, LL Cool J, N.W.A, Dr. Dre

     -Styles: More focused on the emcee rather then the DJ, styles like gangsta rap and political rap enter the scene

-'80: Kurtis Blow appears on TV and his record "The Breaks" goes over 1 million copies sold.

-'81: Flash releases "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" which was the first record to capture live DJ scratching. Beastie Boys are formed.

-'82: Bambaata release "Planet Rock" which goes on to become one of the biggest DJ songs ever. Flash and the Furious Five release "The Message" where they rap about the dangers of living in the Bronx. 

-'83: Ice-T ushers in gangsta rap with songs like "Body Rock" and "Killers." The Furious Five releases "White Lines(Don't Do It)" which becomes an anti-cocaine message. Run DMC releases "It's Like That" and "Sucker MCs" and they usher in a new minimalist style of rap and start dissing other MCs.

-'84: Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin form one of the biggest labels ever, Def Jam Records and they introduce LL Cool J to the hip-hop world. Artists discover touring as a way to earn revenue with the Fresh Fest earning $3.5 million in 27 dates. 

-'86: Beastie Boys release "Licensed to Ill" on Def Jam and become some of the first white hip-hop artists. The Geto Boys are formed and start putting Southern hip-hop on the map. 

-'87: Public Enemy release "Yo! Bum Rush the Show" introducing hip-hop with a politically charged background. 

-'88: "Yo! MTV Raps" is first shown and helps get hip-hop mainstream media attention. N.W.A. release "Straight Outta Compton" and usher in the age of gangsta rap

-'89: A Tribe Called Quest is formed in a Manhattan high school.

1990's:

     -Main Acts: 2Pac, N.W.A, Notorious B.I.G, A Tribe Called Quest, Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, Queen Latifah, Fugees, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Missy Elliot, Eminem, Outkast

     -Styles: DJs and groups are basically non-existent and the one man emcee takes over from the 90's through today. In my eyes the '90's are the golden age of hip-hop, so many great artists and songs.

-'90: 2Pac joins Digital Underground as a dancer and a roadie

-'91: N.W.A releases their second album which reaches #2 on the pop charts. Biggie appears in Source magazine and Andrew Benjamin and Antwan Patton meet in high school to form Outkast.

-'92: Dre releases "The Chronic" and it would reach multi-platinum status in '93

-'93: Wu-Tang Clan releases their first album and takes the genre by storm as a super group. Sean Combs forms  Bad Boy Entertainment and signs Biggie. 

-'94: Nas releases "Illmatic" which goes gold and is still one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time. Outkast releases their first album and continues the southern hip-hop introduction. 2Pac gets shot 5 times outside of a New York recording studio which helps ignite the East Coast vs. West Coast feud. 

-'95: Queen Latifah wins the "Best Rap Solo Performance" for her song Unity. 2Pac joins Death Row Records with Suge Knight. Eazy-E of N.W.A dies from AIDS bringing the fight against the disease to main headlines.

-'96: The Fugees album hits #1 and wins 2 Grammy's continuing the push of hip-hop into mainstream media. Jay-Z debuts, Lil' Wayne joins Hot Boyz, and 50 Cent meets Jam Master Jay from Run DMC. 2Pac is murdered in Vegas pushing the East vs. West into a frenzy and continuing violence in the hip-hop genre. 

-'97: Biggie is murdered in L.A. only months after 2Pac is murdered, bringing a peace and an end to the violence in the genre. Missy Elliot debuts with "Supa Dupa Fly" and leading to becoming the most successful female rapper of all time. Eminem loses in the biggest underground showcase known as Scribble Jam. Sean Combs becomes Puff Daddy and releases his debut album "No Way Out."

-'98: Dr. Dre signs Eminem to his label Aftermath, Lauryn Hill debuts and wins 5 Grammy's, including Album of the Year and Best New Artist, Jay-Z breaks through with "Hard Knock Life."

-'99: Eminem is introduced to the world with the "Slim Shady" LP selling 4 million copies while Lil' Wayne releases his first solo album "Tha Block is Hot" at the age of 17. Both would become major players in hip-hops future. 

2000's:

     -Main Acts: A lot of the 90's guys carry over, Dre, Em, Jay, Nas, Nelly, 50 Cent, Kanye West, T.I., Slaughterhouse, Drake

-'00: Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney holds the first Hip-Hop Powershop summit to address the dangers of hip-hop on America's youth. Eminem releases "Marshall Mathers" scoring 2 Grammy's. 50 Cent is shot 9 times at close range being hit in the hand, arm, hip, legs, chest, and left cheek resulting in his voice becoming more raspy but increasing his popularity. 

-'01: Puff Daddy becomes P. Diddy, Jay Z vs. Nas feud begins, and Young Jeezy releases his first album continuing the southern hip-hop success. 

-'02: Jam Master Jay is shot and killed in a Queens studio and it is another unsolved murder in hip-hop history along with 2Pac and Biggie. 

-'03: 50 Cent releases "Get Rich or Die Tryin" and it hits #1 on the Billboard 200.

-'04: Dr. Dre is involved in a huge brawl at the 2004 Vibe Awards which leads to a man getting stabbed and Dre getting punched in the face. P. Diddy begins the "Citizen Change" campaign with the tagline "Vote or Die" trying to use his hip-hop platform to make political changes. Lil' Wayne releases "Tha Carter" which becomes one of the biggest albums in history. Kanye explodes onto the scene with "The College Dropout" and earning 10 Grammy nominations.

-'05: P. Diddy drops the P and just sticks with Diddy.

-'06: Jay-Z releases "Kingdom Come" Drake releases his first mixtape, and Nas releases "Hip-Hop is Dead" prompting the media to discuss where the genre is headed. Diddy changes back to P. Diddy after being sued for becoming Diddy.

-'08: Obama reaches out to hip-hop artists to help his campaign and artists respond positively with Obama tribute raps. Jay-Z headlines Glastonbury, which is the largest art festival in the world showing that hip-hop is more popular then ever. P. Diddy switches up to Sean John after his new clothing line. 

-'09: T.I. gets sentenced to a 12 month prison term for illegal weapons charges, Drake gets signed to Young Money, and Slaughterhouse begins the lyricism movement. DJ AM is found dead in his apartment from a drug overdose.

2010's:

     Main Acts: Drake, Kanye, Nicki Minaj, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper, Kid Cudi, Migos, Wiz Khalifa

-'10: Lil' Wayne is sentenced to a year in prison on a criminal weapons charge and Drake releases his first album"Thank Me Later" beginning his dominance on the genre.

-'11: J. Cole drops his first album after becoming the first signing of Jay-Z's Roc Nation label and becomes a huge star. Jay-Z and Kanye collab and drop "Watch the Throne" with critcal acclaim. Sean John becomes Swag for a week.

-'12: Hip-hop executive Chris Lighty is found dead in his home from a self inflicted gun shot wound, Lighty co-founded the record label Violator and was responsible for artists such as LL Cool J, Nas, 50 Cent and many others. Lil' Wayne passes Elvis Presley to become the artist to appear the most times on the Billboard 100. Chance the Rapper releases his first mixtape "10 Day."As he becomes more popular he refuses to sign with a record label and releases his music for free as mixtapes. 

-'14: P. Diddy changes his name back to Puff Daddy-'17: Puffy Daddy changes his name to "Love, aka Brother Love"

There is a quick look at the history of hip-hop and how it has evolved from it's start with guys spinning records on the corner. Also, if your keeping track Sean Combs changed his name eight times over his time in the hip-hop industry. This is part one of the two part hip-hop topic and the second part will look at how hip-hop has been overlooked and has not received the recognition it deserves. 

Reminiscing on the 90s! Music

This week on Going Off Topic we are going back to the greatest decade, the 90s. I reached out to a few friends and family members who grew up during that time to cover a few categories: Music, Movies, TV Shows, Athletes, Toys, Stores, Video Games/Board Games and Crushes from the 90s. I gave them the reins to discuss each topic whether that meant things they remember from each category, things they had or loved, things they didn’t have but wish they did. I enlisted a few returning people but most are making their blogging debut. Each day we will be covering a new category with each person’s opinion on that topic. We will start with music from the 90s, let’s enjoy reminiscing over the 90s!

Kyle:

Music in the 90s was truly a treat, I find myself going on YouTube and looking up 90s playlists. It was a different time and I think we had a lot more talent in the 90s then we do now. It was also spread out over almost every genre, alternative/punk became massive with Nirvana, Green Day, Soundgarden, Oasis, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Foo Fighters; Pop had Britney Spears, Hanson, Spice Girls, Ricky Martin, Christina Aguilera (who was my first crush…love you still Christina), Backstreet Boys, and Will Smith; Hip-Hop had Snoop Dogg, Biggie, Tupac, Dr. Dre, Naughty by Nature, LL Cool J, Ice Cube, A Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy, and Wu-Tang Clan; Country had Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Shania Twain, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Toby Keith. It was an incredible time for music and most of it I didn’t truly enjoy until recently. In the 90s I was mainly listening to whatever my Mom and Dad had on and Radio Disney with my younger sister. Here is a hot take: I am not sure there was a better time for music in history. 

Ellen:

I pretty much strictly listen to 90s music. My dad listened to a ton of 90s alternative in my formative years and my sister (who is 6 years older than me) was super into 90s alternative and pop music.  So basically, 90s alternative is my JAM! Weezer, Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, Jane’s Addiction, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Cranberries, No Doubt… I mean I have to stop myself. 90s alternative shaped me as a human being… yes it shaped my existence. It was also a pretty big deal in the music world. Legit shit. 90s pop music! Oh my god talk about legit! BSB (Backstreet Boys… duh), Spice Girls (used one of their songs for my bouquet toss… very important), NSYNC, Hanson, TLC, Destiny’s Child, New Kids on The Block, S Club 7, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears (“It’s Britney, Bitch”), J-Lo, Ricky Martin (I had to, I love him)…. Once again, I have to stop myself. So many stars were created in the 90s pop scene. You’ve got Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, Britney Spears… shit man, that’s a lot. In summary, the 90s music

scene was dope as fuck.

Becca:

Oh the 90’s when music actually made sense! I was always into more of the Pop music, Spice Girls, N*sync, BSB, Britney, Christina! Try to find a 90’s girl that didn’t have a concert in her room once a week singing into their hairbrush! My mom would get me the newest Now That’s What I Call Music every year for my birthday and Christmas and then I would listen to music in my room for the rest of the day. If you look through my phone today 90% of what you find will be 90’s music, the other 10% is Disney songs. 

Shannon:

For Christmas one year, I remember getting a boom box (and feeling like the coolest person ever, thanks Uncle Ben) and then my cousin got me the newest *NSYNC CD. I would play that CD all day every day, only taking a break from JT and the other guys enough to listen to some Aaron Carter, Backstreet Boys or Britney Spears.