MarkB Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Link to BBC article. Rap star Sean "Diddy" Combs has been honoured with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. The musician's star was unveiled to the tune of Lupe Fiasco hit Superstar, while fans attended the ceremony after he posted an online video invitation. "Today is proof that if you believe, all your dreams can come true," the hip-hop mogul told the crowd. "I've gone from Harlem to Hollywood". The 38-year-old dedicated the star to his father, who was shot dead in 1972. Inspiration Combs also paid tribute to his late grandmother, while his mother Janice attended the ceremony, sharing a podium with her son. "If it wasn't for my mother, I wouldn't be here," he said. "I hope it makes you proud, mom." Other family members and friends from Combs' Harlem neighbourhood in New York also saw him honoured, which he said would act as an inspiration to others. "It inspires, you know, millions of young people all over the world that are in a place that I grew up in right now, and they want to make it to that point. The Grammy Award winner, who is looking for property in Los Angeles to pursue his acting career, later celebrated his honour with a lavish party at a Beverley Hills mansion. The star was introduced on the Walk of Fame by Oscar-winning actor and musician Jamie Foxx, who said: "He throws the best party you've ever seen in your life!" :rant: Give me a break. He'll be enlisted under the recording category, yet, he doesn't record anything. At best, he's nothing more than a producer, and he barely does that these days, he just grabs a set of no-name "artists" who can't get a record deal normally because they suck, gives them a "cool" name, signs them to his label, hires a team of gimps to set up a pop-happy sound and image for them and makes megabucks. Seriously, what has he done? His biggest contribution to the music industry is as the head and founder of Bad Boy, the label that featured Notorious B.I.G. as well as other acts in the mid-90s, such as Ma$e (pop rapper turned-preacher-turned gangsta rapper, his *** is definitely going to hell) and Foxy Brown. Calling him a rapper is bad enough, considering he spent most of his time choreographing videos for his big acts, then dancing horrendously in the videos and never did any rapping until after Biggie died, which, may I point out, was his 1 big hit. He had a few albums after that and make numerous "comebacks", but ultimately, they were all useless. He has as much credibility in the real hip-hop game as a rapper as I have. You know, I'm almost happy for him, simply because it's nice to see a hip hop act get some shine for a change on the big show instead of just being looked at as "those hip hop guys", but Jesus, put someone worth mentioning on. If Puff Daddy/Puffy/Puff/P. Diddy/Diddy/whatever his latest nickname is (and yes, he has previously gone under and ask to be referred to as all of those names) can get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, I have a 1 question. Where is the star for Kool Herc, the undisputed founder of hip hop music? Forget the founder of an over-rated record label which, like it or not, will always be known as the one which had the second-best rapper of all time on it's label, I want one that represents hip hop on the whole, not just one token black "artist" to represent the whole of the hip-hop/R'n'B/urban culture. Finally, the fact that he came out to "Superstar" by Lupe Fiasco - a thought-provoking artist who discusses real issues and is generally seen as a concious rapper - almost makes me sick, although it's almost fitting for Diddy to use entrance music that is the exact opposite of what he displays as his public image - party and have fun at all costs. End rant. Discuss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxbjr Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Well Mark B, it's been known for awhile that you buy those stars on the walk of fame. Pretty much anyone can get one now a days. Hell, if the money's right, you, me or even my cat can get a star. It's no surprise that an egotist like P-whatever when out and got one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kccitystar Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 It's the end of the world as we know it when hip hop pioneers don't even have a star Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankee4Life Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Every name that Mark mentioned in his rant I've never heard of. :shrug: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaysFTW Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Diddy doesn't deserve a star. He hasn't done ****. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catzrthecoolest Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 well, i guess it all boils down to fame... i had never heard of "Kool Herc" before you mentioned him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP_Frost Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 If you're not really into hip hop, then it's understandable that you might not have heard of Kool Herc. This also shows how these "rappers" nowadays "keep it real", but fail to give recognition to the pioneers -- the people that gave them a living, gave them an oppurtunity to get out of the lifestyle alot of these guys were living. That said, I was huge hip hop fan for a number of years (mostly underground though), and I still check out some of the new releases every now and then, but the difference between the mainstream hip hop circa '94-'96 and now, is that hip hop back then was still a genre of its own. It wasn't considered pop or R&B. Today, the pop charts are dominated by hip hop (if you can still call it that), or as some people call it, urban music (god, I loathe that term). It has become watered down, thrown on one big pile and hopefully 12 to 16 year olds will keep buying it. Luckily I still have my own collection and am able to enjoy A Tribe Called Quest, Organized Konfusion or GangStarr. btw ... as much as I hate Puff Daddy and the trend he created after Biggie died, he does deserve respect for the earlier Bad Boy albums such as Ready To Die, which to this day remains a certified classic. I'm done with my rant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkB Posted May 5, 2008 Author Share Posted May 5, 2008 Well Mark B, it's been known for awhile that you buy those stars on the walk of fame. Pretty much anyone can get one now a days. Hell, if the money's right, you, me or even my cat can get a star. It's no surprise that an egotist like P-whatever when out and got one. I have to admit, I didn't know that. That would definitely explain it, and that is very, very sad. It's the end of the world as we know it when hip hop pioneers don't even have a star End of the world as we know it may be a tad extreme, but when Puffy is getting a star over Kool Herc, you know something's twisted. Every name that Mark mentioned in his rant I've never heard of. :shrug: Now why doesn't that surprise me? Diddy doesn't deserve a star. He hasn't done ****. I agree, to a certain extent. If you're not really into hip hop, then it's understandable that you might not have heard of Kool Herc. This also shows how these "rappers" nowadays "keep it real", but fail to give recognition to the pioneers -- the people that gave them a living, gave them an oppurtunity to get out of the lifestyle alot of these guys were living. That said, I was huge hip hop fan for a number of years (mostly underground though), and I still check out some of the new releases every now and then, but the difference between the mainstream hip hop circa '94-'96 and now, is that hip hop back then was still a genre of its own. It wasn't considered pop or R&B. Today, the pop charts are dominated by hip hop (if you can still call it that), or as some people call it, urban music (god, I loathe that term). It has become watered down, thrown on one big pile and hopefully 12 to 16 year olds will keep buying it. Luckily I still have my own collection and am able to enjoy A Tribe Called Quest, Organized Konfusion or GangStarr. btw ... as much as I hate Puff Daddy and the trend he created after Biggie died, he does deserve respect for the earlier Bad Boy albums such as Ready To Die, which to this day remains a certified classic. I'm done with my rant. Power post. These days, with party rap becoming so popular, there's no-one that really comes out and says "Thank you" to the creators. When they were releasing music, guys like KRS-One and GangStarr made sure to mention guys like Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and the old DJs like Grandmaster Flash in their shows and records. I honestly can't remember the last time I heard anyone even mention Kool Herc in a record or an interview. Half of the new rappers today probably don't even know who he is. I definitely agree on the second paragraph as well. What I do these days is almost seperate what's popular with what's real, and sadly, I find myself breaking the two divisions into "rap" and "hip hop", rap being a track which isn't particularly concious and is more of a party track with a good beat but garbage lyrics, and hip hop being the true, real music with great, thought-provoking lyrics as well as a good beat. It's sad that these days, rap and hip hop are becoming separate when they used to join together to be a part of the whole hip hop culture. I still listen to a decent amounbt of "rap", mainly just for the beat, but there's always a little voice nagging in my heading thinking "God, if a really good rapper came out and put some lyrics to this track, it would be epic, rather than just another club hit". Can you imagine KRS-One dropping lyrics on some of the beats that are out today? Jesus, the world would implode from the amount that would rule. Puffy does deserve respect for producing Ready To Die and the earlier Bad Boy releases, definitely. My main issue is on the whole scale of things, what has he done, compared to the "Founding Fathers", or even if he has a star, where is the star for Tupac and Biggie as well? Good points, JP. :wtg: End rant 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catzrthecoolest Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 well, this isn't exactly the "hip hop hall of fame", is it? you don't see the inventor of TV on the walk of fame... because he's not very famous. (I couldn't tell you who it is ) so I guess that's why it's called the walk of fame... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkB Posted May 5, 2008 Author Share Posted May 5, 2008 Indeed. However, I hope I'm not the only one who believes that contributions to the industry in general are a hell of a lot more important than some short-term fame without any artistry. It doesn't take much to become famous. It takes a lot more to be remembered as an icon who started a movement...or even to be remembered at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigPaPa Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 It is called the Walk Of Fame And he is famous and has reached a sort of iconic status. Though i agree he hasnt done nearly as much as some others for Hip Hop. I also hate the style he has promoted in Hip Hop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catzrthecoolest Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Certainly, contributions are more important than fame. I guess the flaw in society is that people value fame more than contributions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkB Posted May 5, 2008 Author Share Posted May 5, 2008 OK, on the fame angle then, both Tupac and Biggie were more famous than Puffy. Where are their stars? A large majority of today's youth would say Soulja Boy is more famous and relevant than Puffy. (It pains me to say this.) I'm not saying I particularly want them to have stars, but if we're using his fame as the reasoning for it, then the above is a valid question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catzrthecoolest Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 well, i agree that they should have stars. i'm sure this "large majority of today's youth" would think otherwise if they were old enough to remember them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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