>...at least that's what he claims in his rhymes, so how could
>money even be a motivator. He should still be getting residule
>checks from Smokin Aces and American Gangster.

this is true, though i dont think those residuals are going to be paying his mortgage. for b-list actors, i bet most of the money he made from those movies were the lump sum payment.

>The point of the post is when is it okay to label him a
>sell-out, which I guess I would define as having money as your
>only motivator. That commercial touched a nerve with me as
>Common was one of a few artists I checked for on the regular,
>but I don't have the same feeling for any project he's
>associated with anymore.

common was and still is an artist i check for. I agree that his last album was a hot mess. i just think it's bullshit to call someone a sellout for making a coke ad. honestly, im happy coke is diverting some of their marketing budget to an artist i like.

also, don't forget that the roots remade one of their songs into a sprite (which is a coke product) commercial? or are currently the house abnd on a major network owned by ge, one of the biggest and most eggregious corporate polluters in the world? i dont see the difference.

>As for defending Will.I.Am, GTFOOHWTBS. I bought Bridging The
>Gap, only because Primo did some production and De La, and Mos
>were on the album, other than that, the BEPs are garbage and I
>never bought another album, they had no choice but to go pop
>or have no career. Adding to the definition of sell-out,
>compromising your art for financial success. The Sergio joints
>were dope though, but that's because those albums have
>all-star casts, don't give Will the credit on those, he's on
>like 3 or 4 songs.

i dont think either of those albums are classics, but i love them both. and i dont think they were doing that much worse than de la, the roots, etc. financially.

and didnt will do most of the production on the sergio joints? how can you enjoy them and discount him? even if he didn't handle production on every track (and i assumed he did, but havent checked), those albums exist because of him. thats like loving chicken and hating eggs, or loving big but hating puff.