Fresh Prince Vs. Slick Rick - Greatest storyteller of all time ?
Hawkeye
896 Posts
On my vacation I stumbled over some classic Will Smith material. I remembered how much I liked certain songs as a kid, even when I didnt get what was said back then.
But now I can enjoy his lyrics and storys and especially his delivery which shows his ability to act at a young age. I also listened to the stuff which I didnt like back than because they sounded to much like Teddy Rileys first steps into New Jack Swing. I hated those plastic synths back than.
Now after listening to his 80s catalog I asked myself why is always Slick Rick the only one mentioned when people talk about great storytelling in the 80s ??
To be honest, in my opionion Will Smith is a better storyteller than Slick Rick.
What do you think who is better ?
Peace
But now I can enjoy his lyrics and storys and especially his delivery which shows his ability to act at a young age. I also listened to the stuff which I didnt like back than because they sounded to much like Teddy Rileys first steps into New Jack Swing. I hated those plastic synths back than.
Now after listening to his 80s catalog I asked myself why is always Slick Rick the only one mentioned when people talk about great storytelling in the 80s ??
To be honest, in my opionion Will Smith is a better storyteller than Slick Rick.
What do you think who is better ?
Peace
Comments
Ladi Dadi is like a folk song. But after Ricky D first album im not seein him.
Will Smith is a good storyteller but he delves into the corny shit way too much.
Girls Aint Nuthin But Trouble is a good story.
Kool G. Rap . Road To The Riches
Ice Cube (writing for Eazy and NWA)
Melle Mel
Masta Ace from Take A Look Around
Fearless Four's Problems Of The World Today is good team effort
Guru comes to mind but 89 No More doesnt have any great stories iirc
Scarface/Geto Boys 89 but Face gained big momentum in the 90s and took it to the inner voice even. Scarface Song.
And dont sleep on LLs I Need Love for expanding the game.
lets stay in the 80s please.
prince kills this track:
Rick had a real distinctive flow and voice, and--more to the point--a really unique, cockeyed sensibility: he managed to be dapper, nerdy, hip, square, limey, yankee, modern, old-fashioned, mousy, menacing, erudite, ignorant, courtly, and fucking filthy, all at the same time. He really did come off like a dude who was sorta operating between worlds, and all of his stories filtered through his particular perspective and out onto the records. I'd agree that Will often maybe had more flexibility and versatility, but I think a lot of that is because he had less inherent character, less fiber, and thus had a cleaner slate to work with than Rick did. Rick was more eccentric and had more ideas, and tended to build his shit from the inside out; Will was possibly more skilled, but his relative absence of core meant that he was able/willing to meticulously build his shit from the outside in--constructing plots, adopting personae, calculating movements, and so on.
Put differently, I'd say Rick is the superior artist where Will is the superior craftsman. And skill has always been a lot more democratic than talent, which is why Will's shit sounds so relatable today while Rick's shit still sounds so bugged and personal.
So, I mean, yeah: Slick Rick, all day.
Who rocks the party more is the second question? The kids always loved Fresh.
You Saw My Blinker was always my favorite Fresh story/party track.
But my actual favorite...
And this, really, is always gonna be Will's problem--he will be associated with kinda silly, borderline-kiddie stuff. And that's not exactly an unfounded association, but it does make it too easy to gloss over his skill and talent. I'm not gonna say that he tops Slick Rick in the storytelling category, but he should be ranked much higher than he typically is.
Goddamn, why your face all sweaty?
Maybe not the best but on top of the storytelling game....
*Can't link up youtube clips but you know the songs....
"Just One Of Those Days"
Remember 10 years ago when Immigration and Naturalization Services arrested Ricky Walters and tried to deport him to U.K., Will Smith wrote a letter to the INS to vouch for his character.
peace, stein. . .