Black Thought Criticizes Will Smith, Other Philly Emcees

Black Thought of The Roots spoke recently about fellow Philadelphia rappers not reaching out to one another.

In an interview with HipHopGame.com, Thought pointed to Will Smith as an example of an emcee who could have done more to help other rappers from his city.

"I wish artists like Will Smith and some of the other artists who were popular representing Philly in the '80s and '90s had [reached out] because what it does is it's good for morale," he said. "It's just a good look for the city and I mean, it just opens doors for the next generation of artists coming from your hometown...It breaks down a lot of barriers or apprehension that people might have about reaching out to a different sort of artist."

Black Thought expressed some tempered optimism about current Philly rappers possibly assisting their rhyming brethren. "Maybe the Beanie Sigel's and Peedi Crakk's will reach out to the Santogold's and the DJ Diplo's but that just feels like it would be unwelcome. So we send out a positive signal with a positive vibe by breaking genre barriers."

Currently, The Roots are keeping busy as the house band for Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, as well as recording their ninth studio album, How I Got Over.

May 7th, 2009 | Author: Slava Kuperstein
hiphopdx.com