I Declare This, Will Smith Appreciation Day!!!

Sometimes, like the alcoholic who has been intoxicated for a decade straight that suddenly decides to sober up when he finds himself laying beside a woman who looks like Biz Markie, my IPOD has brought a sort of "moment of clarity" concerning some musical artists as of late. Like Saigon, who I feel is dope lyrically, but I just fucking hope that he doesn't follow the same career path of another artist who had a great deal of hype around them as well, one who always has his shirt off and made a vomit inducing song called "Candy Shop". Or Jay-Z, who's commercial songs will still never be in my IPOD, but listening to many of his songs I realized that I was overly critical of an obviously sound lyricist.

But something miraculous happened when a friend gave me a shitload of Will Smith CD'S, leaving it on my doorway like an abandoned baby with a cryptic "Yoda"-like note saying, "When this Will Smith material you listen, legendary you will find him!" Besides me having geeky friends who's main preoccupation is possibly masturbating to "The Empire Strikes Back", I took the CD's inside and it sat there for about 3 weeks. I mean, I've never been a Will Smith hater so I didn't see his need to "convert" me, so instead of simply listening to what he had given me I felt that my time could be used more economically, downloading triple penetration porn and drunk calling married ex-girlfriends.

I must say though, as I stumbled out of bed one Sunday morning dealing with a massive hangover, going through my pockets wondering why is it that when I black out I always find phone numbers without Gender specific names(Terry, Shannon, Jamie. Fuck, Ray better be short for Raylene), I decided to pop in a few of those Will Smith CD's in my disk-changer. Even though my head was banging like gang members in Little Rock, or the posterior area of Buffie the Body, I found myself nodding my head to stuff I overlooked because of me preferring Big Daddy Kane at the time. I found myself reciting the words to songs I ignored when they were released, me thinking that Will Smith was soft and being a NWA fan at the time. Based on the sheer dopeness of "Brand New Funk" and a few other factors that I will go into momentarily, I realized something that will rock the proverbial worlds of Crunk enthusiasts and backpackers alike. OK, here goes, Will Smith is Real Hip Hop.

I also realized that I owe Will Smith an apology, not because I have been overly critical, but I have unfairly ignored him on some "Jan Brady, middle child" shit. It seems that while embracing the accomplishments of the older sibling(Old School Hip Hop) and spending a great deal of time trying to discipline the unruly younger child(Current radio Hip Hop), it seems that I showed my piss poor parenting skills by overlooking the middle child and their accomplishments.(Will Smith, and artists of his ilk)

Just think about it, when artists like Young Jeezy and 50 Cent try to con the masses that their criminal rap sheet equals lyrical credibility, that mere notion makes Will Smith begins to look like Africa Bambaataa and shit. For those who applauded the shit-stain in history that is the Three-Six mafia and their winning of the Oscar award(An award that they use to get into clubs by the way), and the way Jon Stewart(a guy that I like) laugh AT them setting my people back 150 years, I affectionately think back on how DJ Jazzy Jeff and Will Smith boycotted the Grammy awards because they refused to televise the Hip Hop portion. For all those who see an artist like Ice Cube's transformation from one of Hip Hop's elite with biting social commentary to a guy with with sub-par lyrics and a flick entitled "Are we there yet?" as "maturing", Will Smith has stayed consistent over the body of his career.

Listen, even though I think that him passing up the lead role in "The Matrix" over being in "The Wild Wiled West" is a mortal fucking sin, and I'm not the biggest fan of his most recent musical stylings, at the end of the day he is a guy who loves real Hip Hop and has stayed true to himself.(That's a lot more than I can say for your garden variety dickhead now playing on a local radio station near you)