Top 10 Most Overrated Stars

[Ataraxia]

Source = http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6444564/

Top 10 most overrated stars
Who puts the ‘suck’ in ‘success’?
By Wendell Wittler
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 6:16 p.m. ET Nov. 29, 2004

It was a challenging idea. To compile a list of the actors, singers, comics and other show biz glitterati whose fame and fortunateness most outweighs any actual talent they may actually have. And I'm not talking about the latest one-hit-pop-lip-syncher or reality-show-evil-but-hunky-poser but those who have built long, enduring careers out of nearly non-existent abilities.

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I started out with some non-scientific Web polling, which revealed that every star in show biz is considered overrated by somebody.

So I toiled over a way to quantify the imbalance between success and talent, using the stars' estimated net worth and income (and in the process saw that Forbes.com had done its own poll of overrateds, topped by Oprah Winfrey and Tom Cruise), People and Us Weekly covers, Google search results (with special attention to searches with the celebrity's name and the word "sucks"), and good vs. bad reviews.

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After all that, the rankings came out to a statistical tie among 37 non-deserving celebrities, so I threw darts blindfolded at a wall covered with all their pictures and the winners/losers follow, in order of how close the darts came to their left eye (I was going to target the nose, but that would've automatically made Jamie Farr number one).

And now, not exactly the top 10, but not exactly the bottom 10 either:

10. Ben Affleck
Note: I have tried to keep a rule that anyone on this list has to have been famous for at least 10 years, but Affleck has stuffed 15 years of spectacular mediocrity into seven.

Fred Prouser / Reuters
Promising Start Abandoned: Co-wrote “Good Will Hunting” in which he played best friend to real-life friend and co-author Matt Damon (who did most of the dramatic heavy lifting). His lack of writing credits since is not a good sign.

Other not-so-good-signs: He’s a favorite of director Kevin Smith, who is at his best when working with low-budgets and low-standards (proven when Smith and Affleck attempted “Jersey Girl”). His only recent semi-success was playing a superhero.

Overshadowings: His romance and broken engagement with Jennifer Lopez was the talk of Hollywood, apparently solely because headline writers could abbreviate both of them as “Bennifer.” Their costarring turn in “Gigli” led to the film being ranked as one of the worst pictures so far this century.

Meanwhile, millions of Americans mistakenly believe the duck in the insurance commercials is screaming out his name.

9. Keanu Reeves
Giulio Marcocchi / Getty Images file
An Excellent Start: As the second member of the dazed duet in "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure," Keanu faced the challenge of building a career beyond slackertude most heinous. But whether he was doing Shakespeare, Siddhartha or Stoker's Dracula, always seemed seconds away from an outburst of "Dude!"

The Matrix Crashes: He seemed especially ill-suited to wear the long black coat in the cyber-stylistic "Matrix", and after the movie series itself jumped the track halfway through the second installment, he was symbolically stripped of that long black coat and left hanging out in a loud Hawaiian shirt. Dude, indeed.

8. Ozzy Osbourne
Frank Micelotta / Getty Images file
When Dinosaur Rock Ruled the Earth: After fiercely competing for the title "King of Shock Rock" by biting the heads off small animals years after Alice Cooper took up golf, Ozzy set an underachieving standard for heavy metal music that few have gone to the trouble of exceeding.

The Woman Behind the Man: But his wife Sharon is an evil genius at career management, so long after he should have been nothing more than poster boy for Things That Kill Brain Cells, she took advantage of MTV's insatiable thirst for bad programming and pioneered the "Celebrity Reality Show" (a section of show biz wilderness better left unexplored).

Bubbling Under: With mother Sharon's guidance, Kelly Osbourne could make this list within the next 10 years.

7. Snoop Dogg
Kevork Djansezian / AP file
Big Break: He stole his name from a beloved comic strip character and didn't get sued.

Gangsta Yawn: His style stood out from other rappers just for its lack of energy, assumed to be drug-related, making him a poster boy for "Chronics" the way Keanu Reeves is for "Stoners". In his first hit record, he even needed his chorus to remind him what his name was.

Bigger Break: An arrest as accomplice to murder earned him street cred just as "Gangsta Rap" was getting trendy.

Dogg Days: By the time he wrote a song for "Dr. Dolittle 2", his street cred had pretty much evaporated, replaced by a self-parody carved into stone by playing Huggy Bear in the "Starsky and Hutch" movie.

6. Lorne Michaels
Stephen Boitano / Getty Images file
Institutionalized: Bestowed with the stewardship of "Saturday Night Live", one of television's most unique forums for creativity (or at least it was in 1976), he has kept the show on auto-pilot for more than two decades, until the only way to get noticed by the entertainment media was by outing a musical guest as a lip-syncher.

The Comic Discovery Channel: SNL's reputation for discovering comic talent is mostly myth. Its two greatest discoveries, part of the show's original cast, were John Belushi and Gilda Radner, both deceased. Which leaves us with Dan Aykroyd, currently playing second banana in a Tim Allen Christmas movie. For every Eddie Murphy (now best known as a cartoon donkey), there was a Joe Piscopo and a Charles Rocket. Incubating two or three comedy legends per decade is just not enough.

Trump Envy: NBC is now promoting an upcoming reality show in which comedians audition for a role on SNL, with Lorne Michaels the ultimate judge. We may be seeing the making of the next Rob Schneider.

5. Whoopi Goldberg
Promising Start Unkept: Blessed with a first starring role in the Alice Walker written, Steven Spielberg directed "The Color Purple", Whoopi went directly to the forgettable "Jumping Jack Flash", "Burglar" and "Fatal Beauty". In contrast, co-star Oprah Winfrey went directly to her talk show.

Free Range: While portraying a wide variety of roles from heroic black women to gender-and-color-blind oddballs, her acting style is always moments away from the next wisecrack. Co-hosting the charitable "Comic Relief" shows, she was always third banana behind Robin Williams and Billy Crystal. And her willingness to try anything and everything has made her more ubiquitous than the Technicolor logo, but strangely, less colorful. Somebody should tell her that there's a difference between being the epicenter of show business and being center square on "Hollywood Squares".

Current Bad News: Ticket sales for the revival of her one-woman show are not doing well, as audiences realize that her act is mostly Lily Tomlin with more swearing.

4. Tony Danza
Paul Hawthorne / Getty Images file
Taxi Squad on a Dream Team: In "Taxi", he was in the same room as Judd Hirsch, Danny DeVito, Andy Kaufman and Christopher Lloyd. His second sitcom, "Who's the Boss?" showed no residue left from the room full o' talent.

The "What the...?" Factor: Almost everything he's done since has been surprising, or just strange, from doing the voice of the baby in "Baby Talk," to hosting the Miss America Pageant, to sitting in the same room as George C. Scott, Jack Lemmon and Ossie Davis in a TV version of "12 Angry Men."

Current gig: In the temporary holding bin for B-list celebrities trying to avoid demotion to C-list: hosting a daytime talk show.

3. Madonna
Scott Gries / Getty Images
Materialistic Girl: She's credited as "the first female pop star with complete control over her image"; in other words, nobody exploited her, she did it herself. Madonna's practice of constantly redefining herself has kept her one step ahead of serious scrutiny. And "Vogue" was one of the worst attempted dance crazes of the 20th Century.

Legacy: She was the first performer NOT to be harmed by the discovery of an old sex movie, and a pioneer in concert lip-synching (no wonder she kissed Britney Spears; they both needed to do something with their mouths). A whole second generation of "pop tarts" following in her footsteps prove that it wasn't that hard to do in the first place.

Collateral Damage: Her marriage with Sean Penn set his acting career back several years.

2. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Steve Finn / Getty Images
Big Break: As the biggest and freakiest in a documentary on freakishly big body-builders.

The Big Build-Down: Facing the challenge of becoming an Action Star with a muscle-bound physique that hampered stunts other than lifting heavy things and squeezing heads until they burst, it took more than a decade for him to find a niche as the stoic ancient warrior from the age before shirts in "Conan the Barbarian". The robotically non-human "Terminator" was his dream role. As he began to let himself go and shrunk to near-normal size, it was his skill of choosing material more than any actual performing ability that built his career, but at times it seemed to take just one bomb ("Last Action Hero" specifically) to bring him crashing down.

The Soul of a Politician: It should be noted that the best actors-turned-politicians weren't very good actors. (I have a great deal of respect for Gopher from The Love Boat's record as a congressman) And even as he makes highly dramatic speeches, Arnold's voice maintains the dull monotone that was mistaken for deadpan humor in movies like "Twins" and "Kindergarten Cop".

1. William Shatner
Kevork Djansezian / AP file
As Seen on TV: Many actors have extended their careers as mediocre TV drama leads by making fun of themselves (like David Hasselhoff, Patrick Macnee, and especially Leslie Nielsen), but Shatner never really had to try.

Most Shameless Performances: "Twilight Zone's" "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" was perfect for an over-actor like Shatner (and his performance made the fact that nobody believed his character's ravings more understandable). In "Star Trek," many people thought his over-the-top-and-then-some style was just a counterpoint to Leonard Nimoy's intentionally unemotional alien. The fools.

Career Arc: He hitched his wagon to "Star Trek" and coasted his way into icon status, but still had time for the unfortunately titled "T.J.Hooker," and the now-unfortunately titled "Rescue 911," where his narration tried to build suspense when everybody knew every story would have a happy ending. Shatner was way too perfectly cast as "The Chairman" in the American version of "Iron Chef", as well as his current role as a pompous windbag in a David E. Kelley legal dramedy. And the critical acceptance of his new album, compared to the universal derision of his singing attempts in the '60s, definitively confirms that pop music has gone to hell.

These are not the best of the best nor the worst of the worst, but those for whom a combination of hard work, street smarts and dumb luck have made actual talent almost totally unnecessary.

Many more, from Jennifer Lopez to Larry the Cable Guy, stand in the wings, ambivalently hoping to survive the business of show long enough to join this exclusive club.

We wish them well, but, mostly, we wish they were better.

[John-John Joe]

Man, that article was tremendously entertaining. My pick for #1? It HAS to be Keanu Reeves man, has to be......

[Filip]

Nelly should be somewhere on that list.

[Jowe]

1. 2pac

oooh diss.

2. Angelina Jolie..

3. Eminem.

He just isn't any good.


4. Limp Bizkit

[Ataraxia]

1. 2pac

oooh diss.

2. Angelina Jolie..

3. Eminem.

He just isn't any good.


4. Limp Bizkit

Most Overrated NLSC Member

1. Jowe

[Jowe]

1. 2pac

oooh diss.

2. Angelina Jolie..

3. Eminem.

He just isn't any good.


4. Limp Bizkit

Most Overrated NLSC Member

1. Jowe

Are you hitting on me?


oh well, i'll add that to my most grumpy nlsc user award

[John-John Joe]

1. 2pac

oooh diss.

Know what? I have to actually agree with this statement. But of course I can't help but question whether or not the opinion is really informed, a non-rap fan could say this about virtually any MC.....

In my eyes Pac is more image than anything else, when it boils right down to it from a lyrical standpoint he can't tie Rakim's shoes! Same goes for Big Daddy Kane, Kool G. Rap and of course Biggie Smalls.

I love Pac, I mean I really love that brother, he was immensly talented but as far as his rhymes go I feel they left a lot to be desired in some ways.

[Jowe]

1. 2pac

oooh diss.

Know what? I have to actually agree with this statement. But of course I can't help but question whether or not the opinion is really informed, a non-rap fan could say this about virtually any MC.....

In my eyes Pac is more image than anything else, when it boils right down to it from a lyrical standpoint he can't tie Rakim's shoes! Same goes for Big Daddy Kane, Kool G. Rap and of course Biggie Smalls.

I love Pac, I mean I really love that brother, he was immensly talented but as far as his rhymes go I feel they left a lot to be desired in some ways.

Yeh he was a good rapper.. but he shouldn't be worshipped like a God.

Its the classic, he's a legend because he's dead.

[Yessie]

1. 2pac

oooh diss.

Know what? I have to actually agree with this statement. But of course I can't help but question whether or not the opinion is really informed, a non-rap fan could say this about virtually any MC.....

In my eyes Pac is more image than anything else, when it boils right down to it from a lyrical standpoint he can't tie Rakim's shoes! Same goes for Big Daddy Kane, Kool G. Rap and of course Biggie Smalls.

I love Pac, I mean I really love that brother, he was immensly talented but as far as his rhymes go I feel they left a lot to be desired in some ways.

Yeh he was a good rapper.. but he shouldn't be worshipped like a God.

Its the classic, he's a legend because he's dead.

very good point, hes a legend because hes dead way before his time its not like he was over the hill and FAT like ELVIS. the dude was shot in a intersection in Vegas, and he represented something alot of us could relate to at the time. it wasnt an image he was putting up on the screen that exactly how he was. maybe you should take a closer listen to his CD's the man was a poet & he told stories from his view just so happen it came out with alot of anger and consider Gangsta Rap at the time.

[John-John Joe]

1. 2pac

oooh diss.

Know what? I have to actually agree with this statement. But of course I can't help but question whether or not the opinion is really informed, a non-rap fan could say this about virtually any MC.....

In my eyes Pac is more image than anything else, when it boils right down to it from a lyrical standpoint he can't tie Rakim's shoes! Same goes for Big Daddy Kane, Kool G. Rap and of course Biggie Smalls.

I love Pac, I mean I really love that brother, he was immensly talented but as far as his rhymes go I feel they left a lot to be desired in some ways.

Yeh he was a good rapper.. but he shouldn't be worshipped like a God.

Its the classic, he's a legend because he's dead.

very good point, hes a legend because hes dead way before his time its not like he was over the hill and FAT like ELVIS. the dude was shot in a intersection in Vegas, and he represented something alot of us could relate to at the time. it wasnt an image he was putting up on the screen that exactly how he was. maybe you should take a closer listen to his CD's the man was a poet & he told stories from his view just so happen it came out with alot of anger and consider Gangsta Rap at the time.

Oh trust me, I've been listening to Pac since 1990 when he first appeared with Digital Underground and I have every album of his. His very first appearance on wax was "Same Ol' Song" before the tatooes and the thuggin'. I also used to pump Tupacalypse Now religiously in high school, favorite joint was "Soldier's Story", so I'm not dissing him by any means.

The overrated part is when people start calling him the best rapper ever. I'm like WHAT?!? Leaving today's MC's out of the equation, here is a list of MC's that were all better than Tupac.

- Rakim
- Kool G Rap
- Big Daddy Kane
- Slick Rick

I'm talking from a straight lyrical standpoint. As if we were back in high school, rhyming acapella in the lunchroom. Or maybe someone is just pounding on the table for a beat, where there is no punch-ins, echoes, tracks, or hooks to lean on. He was a tremendous artist obviously, but he's overrated from a verbal standpoint.

Much like people who call Eminem the best of today. And I'm like WHAT?!? C'mooonnn maaannn....

Did Nas and Jay-Z die and no one told me about it?

[cklitsie]

- Kool G Rap

Word.

[John-John Joe]

- Kool G Rap

Word.

Oh yeah? Seriously man, You're a Kool G Rap fan? How old are you?

[Ataraxia]

Did Nas and Jay-Z die and no one told me about it?

Theirs plenty of ppl who can rap better than Jay-Z, hes just got looks and hangs out with Queenie Tweenies of the music industry so hes popular. Hes one of the worst rappers ive heard....ive like 15 songs and they all suck after 2 listens....cmon man hes rapping with linkin park, how sad can he get?????

I have to say the Tupac fans r hilarious....I mean some of them barely know his songs yet they praise him as the greatest artist ever by having Tupac portrait tattoos and writing Tupac Lives on their fingers....thats so stupid and lame.

I like his stuff but he isnt some sort of genious, Einstein could prolly write better lyrics if he turned into an MC back then.

But all in all two ppl u gotta pay alot of respect to is Run DMC, the Fathers or Rap/Hip-Hop and MC Hammer the Father of Hip-Hop...if it werent for them however we may not see rappers like Chingy and Nelly around. But still they did revolutise the rap industry....

By the way looks like theirs no love for P Diddy, I guess he must be the worst MC of all-time.

[cklitsie]

Oh yeah? Seriously man, You're a Kool G Rap fan? How old are you?

Just turned 16.
btw. I live in the Netherlands and over here, people call you a wigger for liking hiphop music ( ), almost no one here knows real hiphop, only Eminem, 50 Cent, etc.
Maybe you could school me on hiphop and tell me some similar artists to CNN and Kool G?

[Tuomas]

I am a 2pac fan, I have all his albums so I know his work. To me his rhyming skills aren't superb, but it is his image and the emotion he put to his songs that matter. To see what I mean, listen to Jay-Z and/or P.Diddly and then switch to 2Pac... there is a whole different feeling when listening to Pac.

[Eugene]

The greatest rapper of all time? From a lyrical standpoint?

William Shakespeare

When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then scorn to change my state with kings.

Seamus Heaney

All I know is a door into the dark.
Outside, old axles and iron hoops rusting;
Inside, the hammered anvil's short pitched ring,
The unpredictable fantail of sparks
Or hiss when a new shoe toughens in water.
The anvil must be somewhere in the centre,
Horned as a unicorn, at one end square,
Set there immoveable: an altar
Where he expends himself in shape and music.
Sometimes, leather-aproned, hairs in his nose,
He leans out on the jamb, recalls a clatter
Of hoofs where traffic is flashing in rows;
Then grunts and goes in, with a slam and flick
To beat real iron out, to work the bellows.

Robert Frost

She is as in a field a silken tent
At midday when a sunny summer breeze
Has dried the dew and all its ropes relent,
So that in guys it gently sways at ease,
And its supporting central cedar pole,
That is its pinnacle to heavenward
And signifies the sureness of the soul,
Seems to owe nought to any single cord,
But strictly held by none, is loosely bound
By countless silken ties of love and thought
To everything on earth the compass round,
And only by one's going slightly taut
In the capriciousness of summer air
Is of the slightest bondage made aware.

John Milton.

The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.
What matter where, if I be still the same,
And what I should be, all but less than he
Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least
We shall be free; th' Almighty hath not built
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:
Here we may reign secure; and, in my choice,
To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.
But wherefore let we then our faithful friends,
Th' associates and co-partners of our loss,
Lie thus astonished on th' oblivious pool,
And call them not to share with us their part
In this unhappy mansion, or once more
With rallied arms to try what may be yet
Regained in Heaven, or what more lost in Hell?"

Masters of the language. Bar none.

As opposed to Jay-Z? "Big pimpin', spending G's" Are you kidding me?


I'm just playing. I don't know anything about rap. This was my attempt at humor.

Eugene

[J@3]

Lol nice one Eugene... actually, if you'd also meant that as a serious post it would've still been very valid.

[John-John Joe]

Oh yeah? Seriously man, You're a Kool G Rap fan? How old are you?

Just turned 16.
btw. I live in the Netherlands and over here, people call you a wigger for liking hiphop music ( ), almost no one here knows real hiphop, only Eminem, 50 Cent, etc.
Maybe you could school me on hiphop and tell me some similar artists to CNN and Kool G?

Sorry I took so long to respond, I had to take care of some "bid'ness"

Here's a few I think might be right up your alley:

- Tragedy Khadafi (If you love CNN, get this NOW!)

- Papoose

- D-Block

[John-John Joe]

The greatest rapper of all time? From a lyrical standpoint?

William Shakespeare

When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then scorn to change my state with kings.

Seamus Heaney

All I know is a door into the dark.
Outside, old axles and iron hoops rusting;
Inside, the hammered anvil's short pitched ring,
The unpredictable fantail of sparks
Or hiss when a new shoe toughens in water.
The anvil must be somewhere in the centre,
Horned as a unicorn, at one end square,
Set there immoveable: an altar
Where he expends himself in shape and music.
Sometimes, leather-aproned, hairs in his nose,
He leans out on the jamb, recalls a clatter
Of hoofs where traffic is flashing in rows;
Then grunts and goes in, with a slam and flick
To beat real iron out, to work the bellows.

Robert Frost

She is as in a field a silken tent
At midday when a sunny summer breeze
Has dried the dew and all its ropes relent,
So that in guys it gently sways at ease,
And its supporting central cedar pole,
That is its pinnacle to heavenward
And signifies the sureness of the soul,
Seems to owe nought to any single cord,
But strictly held by none, is loosely bound
By countless silken ties of love and thought
To everything on earth the compass round,
And only by one's going slightly taut
In the capriciousness of summer air
Is of the slightest bondage made aware.

John Milton.

The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.
What matter where, if I be still the same,
And what I should be, all but less than he
Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least
We shall be free; th' Almighty hath not built
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:
Here we may reign secure; and, in my choice,
To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.
But wherefore let we then our faithful friends,
Th' associates and co-partners of our loss,
Lie thus astonished on th' oblivious pool,
And call them not to share with us their part
In this unhappy mansion, or once more
With rallied arms to try what may be yet
Regained in Heaven, or what more lost in Hell?"

Masters of the language. Bar none.

As opposed to Jay-Z? "Big pimpin', spending G's" Are you kidding me?


I'm just playing. I don't know anything about rap. This was my attempt at humor.

Eugene

Hi Eugene, as a matter of fact I myself am a Shakespearean actor as well as a Hip Hop fan. Sure you were kidding but I fully understand any qualms you may have about a culture that is seemingly devoid of any true poetic merit. That couldn't be more untrue.....

Jay-Z for instance as you cited does in fact have songs that are very commercial and appeal to the lowest common denominator. But don't think for a minute that he is only defined by the commercial records you hear on the radio, MTV, etc. He has songs that has touched me on a level similar to:

Now entertain a conjecture of time
When creeping murmur and the poring dark
Fills the wide vessel of the universe
From camp to camp through the foul womb of night
The hum of either army stilly sounds
That the fixed sentinels all most receive
The secret whispers of each others watch.....

Shakespeare and Jay-Z aren't as different as it may appear on the surface. Suggested material? Pick up his first album "Reasonable Doubt" and listen to "Can I Live", give it a chance and you won't regret it!

(Or just download the song on Kazaa, etc.) Peace.

[cklitsie]

Sorry I took so long to respond, I had to take care of some "bid'ness"

Here's a few I think might be right up your alley:

- Tragedy Khadafi (If you love CNN, get this NOW!)

- Papoose

- D-Block

Thanks Dr. Dre.

[trubucksfan]

yeah alot of young dudes dont know who Kool G Rap is. The first time i heard him was on the and 1 mixtape volume 4. somethin about his lyrical flow made me want to listen to him more. dudes a genius.

[J@3]

Hi Eugene, as a matter of fact I myself am a Shakespearean actor

Really? That's pretty interesting... what made you wanna get into that side of acting?

sorry for semi-hijacking the thread

[Eugene]

Doc,

Of course I don't think that Jay-Z is limited to purely "gangsta-rap" that appeals (ironically enough) to white suburban teenage kids. Whenever you're one of the elite, there is legitimacy in your craft, whatever that may be.

The point I wanted to make is that so much of hip-hop has become mainstream and with it has become somewhat stale. It seems to me that most of the rap songs I hear about screwing women and shooting other thugs and "life in the ghettos." Of course, those are compelling topics, but the way they're done has become cliched and hackneyed.

Is there merit to hip-hop and rap? Certainly. And that's because there's a level of commitment and discipline to produce good lyrics (as well as a healthy dose of talent). Rap, just like poetry, uses the words for their sounds and rhythms as well as meaning to communicate the way melodic songs can't.

Any fool can rhyme. But it's the great ones that uses the language and every aspect of it to his or her advantage. So, the next time you hear: "Oh, the beat is hot," or "the rhymes are crazy!", I mean, really, majority of hip-hop now is mostly image and production, just like any other pop music. Like Jessica Simpson, for example (there, I said it).

Regardless, if Shakespeare was an MC, I think he'd kick Jay-Z ass.

All the best,

Eugene

[EGarrett]

Gangstarr = Worst. Flow. Ever.

[John-John Joe]

Hi Eugene, as a matter of fact I myself am a Shakespearean actor

Really? That's pretty interesting... what made you wanna get into that side of acting?

sorry for semi-hijacking the thread

Well, when I was young I was in a commercial with Olympic Gold Medalist Mary Lou Retton (y'all probably have NO idea who she is, she won the gold in '84) and it was a semi passion. I moved down south and I guess the acting bug left me and I got into rap.

To make a long story short, in the present times I was working at a hospital and despised it. It was time for a change and I felt like it needed to be a drastic one. So, I ended up auditioning for a conservatory just for the hell of it and I actually got in to my surprise. I had NO idea that they did Shakespeare or anything like that and being from the hood the speech work involved was daunting to say the least.

I don't think anyone wants to hear Othello call people "son" and "dog!" Also, you had to get rid of any "Regionalism" is your speech. Standard American Speech that is easily understood by anyone who hears it. I thought I had it bad but the foreign kids would break down and cry in speech class like everyday!

Sooo anyway, yeah, I graduated just recently and I've been on a few auditions. In May I'll be auditioning for a black Shakespeare company and supposedly none other than James Earl Jones is involved with it. In the meantime, I'm just trying to get whatever I can to get experience/exposure. EXCEPT for gay roles and "cooning." It's tough out there......