I recently started a new feature where I comment on other published Top 10 Lists where I feel a grave error might have been made. Here is a link to my first article in this matter. These errors could either be an obvious omission from the list or an inclusion on a list that simply does not belong. As I have been coming across other published lists, I am regularly finding those that I take issue with.

This week I came across Yahoo's list titled "The 25 Worst Rappers of All Time" and here is the list, but if you go to the article you can see some explanation behind each selection.
25) Chicago Bears (referring to the 1985 "Superbowl Shuffle")
24) Bubba Sparxxx
23) Mike Jones (who?)
22) Bobby Jimmy and The Critters (again who?)
21) 2 Live Crew
20) Nelly
19) Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks (give me a break... referring to "City of Crime" from their 1987 film Dragnet)
18) Chingy
17) Elvira (yes, The Mistress of the Dark)
16) Insane Clown Posse
15) Rappin' Duke
14) Master P
13) Tony Yayo (from G-Unit)
12) Northern State (a female trio from Long Island)
11) Shaquille O'Neal
10) Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch (Marky Mark is now better known as actor Mark Wahlberg)
9) K-Fed (yes, Britney's ex-husband Kevin Federline)
8) Will Smith (woah, here is where I take issue and will discuss further below)
7) Mr. T (I did not even realize that he was a rapper)
6) Fred Durst (from Limp Bizkit)
5) Puff Daddy (Sean Combs)
4) Dee Dee King (he was the bass player from the rock group The Ramones)
3) Brian Austin Green (was an actor on the TV show Beverly Hills 90210)
2) MC Hammer (I take a little issue with this selection as well)
1) Vanilla Ice

Now, I have to question this list from the start since it tries to compare real professional musicians who rap to anybody who may have had a rap song (whether that song was supposed to be taken seriously or not). This list was authored by someone named Rob O'Connor who was probably trying to be humorous until he got to #8 and then he was just trying to be controversial. Will Smith (aka The Fresh Prince) should absolutely not be included on the list of worst rappers.

Here is O'Connor's reasoning: "The people who vote in the Grammy Awards might very well be drunk when they do so. Or maybe they don't listen to the records they vote for. Now rap music wasn't really enjoyed by the ‘establishment' back in the 1980s, so they were primarily guessing at what the ‘kids' were listening to. And ‘Parents Just Don't Understand' was obviously a pretty ‘wacky rebellious' little number with all that clever rhyming! And Will Smith was certainly still ‘safe' enough to not inspire too much controversy. Which is exactly why he's a lousy rapper. And why Smith got out of there and into acting before everyone caught on."

Are you kidding me??? Is he really basing his entire career on one goofy song and actually downgrading him because he is safe? That's neither fair nor credible in my opinion. First, I feel Will Smith should be commended for performing rap music that does not constantly curse, demean women and/or brag about violence. He has proven that it is possible to have entertaining hit songs without those negative influences included.

Whether it was earlier as part of DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince or later as just Will Smith, he has produced some excellent songs. It is all of these songs that should be used for criteria and not just his silly Grammy-winning song "Parents Just Don't Understand." From that same 1988 album titled He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper there were two outstanding rap songs in my opinion. Those are called "Brand New Funk" (link to video) and "Time To Chill." Then from the 1991 album titled Homebase they released the hit song "Summertime" which is one of my favorite rap songs of all time (link to video).

Then in 1997, he released his first solo album titled Big Willie Style which went 9x platinum. This album included the hit song "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" (link to video) which is not only a legitimate Billboard #1, but created a new term within pop culture. He also had successes with songs from the soundtracks of his movies like "Men In Black" and "Wild Wild West." His most recent album is from 2005 titled Lost & Found and it produced the hot dance song "Switch" (link to video). All told, he has sold well over 20 million albums during his career. Again I must emphasize that this was done without excessive cursing or messages of extreme violence.

His songs may be on the lighthearted side and profanity-free, but that should not be considered a negative. If anything, I would be more likely to consider Will Smith one of the 25 BEST rappers of all time. Even if you feel he is not one of the best, it is shameful to see him included on a list claiming him to be one of the worst. Whether you are a fan of rap music or not, I feel this is pretty clear. The fact that Yahoo felt it necessary to discredit their list by including him on it leads me to think that they did it just to get attention and/or be a little controversial. I feel it only causes their readers a disservice.

It's amazing what is allowed to be published out there and often from some normally credible sponsors. I am sure somebody else could find fault with many of my Top 10 Lists, but I assure you that I never intentionally include or exclude something from my lists just to be controversial. Here is a link to a summary of all of the previously published Kickin' it Old School Top 10 Lists. Please go give them a try.

That will do it for this issue of Kickin' it. Thanks for reading and I appreciate you spreading the word. Be sure to click on the Archive buttons (January, February, March or April) in the upper left hand column to be sure that you have not missed a single issue of Kickin' it Old School. Peace and much love.

Check this out: Here is a link to a video by a European group called Justice for their song titled "DVNO." The cool part about this video is that it uses a bunch of 80s logos and fonts to spell out the song's lyrics. Because of this, it really has a fun 80s feel to it (and you know me, I loved it). I am not all that crazy about the song itself, but it is also cool to see some effort put into the music video art form which seems to be often neglected nowadays even by MTV itself.

Quote of the day: "Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another." -Walter Elliott

Download this: "Summertime" by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - As I mentioned above, this is one of my favorite rap songs of all time and it always makes me feel good when I hear it