The Breakdown: Why Hip Hop Hates Will Smith: The Darth Vader Theory

    Even after all he’s done for the culture …

    16 thoughts on “The Breakdown: Why Hip Hop Hates Will Smith: The Darth Vader Theory

    1. “Now this is a story all about how/
      My life got flipped turned upside down/
      And I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there/
      I’ll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel-Air”

    2. Sorry Murs, but Will comes off as a clown, more of a pop singer than a rapper. He had some major hits like getting jiggy with it and summer time (we love), but its hard to take him serious, and that’s why Hip Hop goes silent on him.

      1. Pop singer? If those are the only songs you can speak on you certainly haven’t listened to any album. Not saying he’s the best by any means but Will can spit. He maintains along with some of the true Philly spitters. He definitely has his own lane though.

      1. This is coming from a man who primarily listens to Wu Tang, AZ, and Bad… Will Smith, while not as technical as a Nas or Killah Priest, can actually do multi syllable rhymes. He came out with an lp in 2005 called Lost and Found, and it actually impressed me lyrically. The album “low-key” went gold, but its biggest feat was Will Smith upgrading his rhyme structure to 21st century standards. He had more than a few tracks on there that were lyrically sharper than his usual ABC rhyme structure.

    3. I prefer him as an actor. As a rapper he was always considered to be like a Mariah Carey type of artist – kinda hiphop, but you know, who can dress up in urban clothes to make fans, but nothing more common with Ice-T or Nas.

    4. Loved the clip at the end with Ben Affleck, thought that was well placed lol, genius editing :)keep it up! says:

      I really enjoyed the vid my dude, well edited and all the extra clips were golden. The Dark Vader theory seems to be true though for Will Smith. I honestly think it had more to do with his voice being the issue to be honest, he can definitely rap, and his laid-back style of rap is fine, it’s just his voice seemed too clean, and not necessarily his words. He always carried out the same flow throughout his albums, which then became dull after awhile. If we were doing top 5 in the late 90’s, i’m sure he would be considered more so in the top tier, however, hip hop has gotten into a new wave with the gangster rap / west coast flow starting in the 2000’s, and a whole new genre erupted. Kinda like how mumble rap is becoming a thing now, I am personally not a fan of it, but just imagine what it would look like in 15 to 20 years ? will anyone recognize or have Naz Jay Z , Eminem dr dre, drake in their top 5? Probably not, because the genre changes every decade or so.

      I would love to discuss this on a podcast or something with a bunch of people, that would be dope.

    5. Go back to their second album and listen to it…Will smith is a top 5 storyteller bar none..i would put him in my my 5 top when it comes to being true to yourself and accomplishments in and outside of hip hop but people are stuck on image..dude has shown to be loyal to his people and stayad in his lane when most of his contemporaries sold the fuck out or dick rode the flavor of the month to remain relevant..dude is a class act in my book and an all time favourite but people like to see good guys fail imo

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