Hip Hop and Aging...

[DUMBO]

However natural, aging is severely derided in hip hop. Getting old(er) is seen as a sign of weakness, and a simple way to diss someone seems to be to say they are old, and therefore washed up. c.f. the disses against Masta Ace, the way some mags do KRS, etc. And once Eminem dissed Everlast by saying that no one wants to see an old-ass rap singer. Nevermind that Em is only two years older than Everlast and both are well into their 30s. What do you think about aging and rapping? IMO, aging gives rappers that talk about serious matters or use creative language more skills (see GZA or Slick Rick), but for gansta rappers keeping with the same shit becomes very lame. Btw, KRS - a person many would think of as esp. old, is only a couple of years older than Eminem and that generation of rappers.

[pep]

yeah man its ridiculous that 30 year old dudes is bragging about how they think like 16 year olds. Nas said it best on 2nd childhood. Dudes is scared to grow up or unwilling to or whatever. I got 4 kids and I'm constantly around the youth and I feel real dumb listening to someone rap about killing somebody and fuck this and shit that...I would appreciate more adult subject matter (and thats politics, certain issues that affect the working class..not sex) from a lot of these dudes...of course there will always be the teeny boppers, but I'm speaking about the cats from my generation as opposed to constantly trying to appeal to younger demographics (hi Cam!) Nas is the only cat I feel that I can listen to around my children and don't feel like a complete idiot for some reason.....

[IronFingaz7]

If you still got it, you got it, fuck an age. There isn't anyone in the game touching G Rap no matter how old he is.

P.E.A.C.E.

[DUMBO]

^ seen.
it's weird how rock and other music validates age and experience, even granting classic status. only the true heads respect classic hip hop, otherwise ppl diss the innovators. i wish mainstream hip hop media would grow up. i fucking hate older ppl catering to immaturity. like fucking tigger. fcuk that.

[L~>1<~NKS]

When I saw KRS 1NE live wit Method Man alongside Whoodini - it was like I was watchin them in they prime.
KRS absolutey kill't that stage for 1 hour straight.

It's ill to see that.

But you can tell they aging I mean Rakim got white hair and so does Ghost.

But yo, I couldn't believe mah fuckin' ears when I invited mah brotha from a different motha to ROCK THE BELLZ and he said why would I pay $86.00 to go see a bunch of washed up rappaz.

[SaqurakiHanamichi]

as long as u dont lose it i dont give a fuk how old u are.

can u make music? if yes then continue until the day u die.

[junius]

Nas for sure but I'd add Ghostface too; probably the two most "adult" hip-hop dudes ever tho' Ghost seems to knows he has a core that wants drug stuff as well... KRS has evolved, Chuck D. too tho' not in ways we seem to like a lot... If things had worked out better for later Gang Starr & Guru woulda been a real contender also... GZA is sort of a wash so far; I agree w/a lot of people who think he's slowing too far down. One thing some people forget is hip-hop (any vocal art) is PHYSICAL & if bruthas don't stay in shape... The hyper-romanticization of weed doesn't help either. Not that I'm anti-pot but if you're not staying strong to balance that shit out... PHYSICALLY, in fact, a dude like Big Daddy Kane still has it but lyrically-- at least as far as we were allowed to hear-- he'd run dry by his mid-20s. Kool G. is another-- very very tired with the cartoon (or, well, tv movie) mafioso shit... he's had a pretty interesting, complicated life... can't SOME of that make it into his art?

compare how some of these dudes handle it compared to, say, Neil Young? (who did the music for the Jarmusch movie before "Ghost Dog," which all of here love). Granted, he came up in different era & was financially set from younger age but...

hip-hop dudes & fans/media have not developed audiences; a shame, really.

[Alcryt]

^ seen.
it's weird how rock and other music validates age and experience, even granting classic status. only the true heads respect classic hip hop, otherwise ppl diss the innovators. i wish mainstream hip hop media would grow up. i fucking hate older ppl catering to immaturity. like fucking tigger. fcuk that.

co-sign

[IronFingaz7]

Kool G. is another-- very very tired with the cartoon (or, well, tv movie) mafioso shit... he's had a pretty interesting, complicated life... can't SOME of that make it into his art?

I'm not understanding what your saying there, but I dont care what anyone says any track G Rap gets on he outshines the others that are on that track. And dude does relate to his life, all that shit he talks is real.

P.E.A.C.E.

[Durag]

^ seen.
it's weird how rock and other music validates age and experience, even granting classic status. only the true heads respect classic hip hop, otherwise ppl diss the innovators. i wish mainstream hip hop media would grow up. i fucking hate older ppl catering to immaturity. like fucking tigger. fcuk that.

Too rite

[Prolifical ENG]

they know where the sales come from in hip-hop.

personally I can't listen to 95% of these rappers that are younger than myself.

[ThaGoldenChild07]

Like most of the people on this thread, Nas is a perfect example. You need to look at him from songs like NY State of Mind/Illmatic to Let There Be Light/Carry On Tradition/Hip Hop Is Dead.

Slick Rick said it; "Nas is a grown up dude now, He went from running the streets and popping off shots to a married man and a good father." It was something like that.....

I don't think age matters either (although I can't think of any young rappers that spit knowledge right now), for some rappers it does help them maybe realize they need to spread knowledge to the kids but then there's other rappers like Jay-Z that I don't even know what they be trying to spread through there raps. You guys feel me?

Basically I think aging in hip hop could make a rapper wiser but only if they acknowledge it and decide OR CAN do it.

[junius]

Kool G. lives what? The life of Scarface or Sam Giancana? Compare the range of Kool from "Road To Riches" to those on "Click of Respect." It's a joke, he is not even following the news (that we can tell from lyrics) & talking about real crime stuff of today. "The Giancana Story" didn't come close to matching that title-- interesting things COULD be done (imagine rap as historical fiction... a stretch, I know, but not, in theory, impossible; Nas taking on Bogart was a hint towards what's possible.)

Since "4, 5, 6" what evidence is there that Kool G. even lives in this world, let alone Queens, or Arizona (when he was out there)? I say this with a lot of respect because the dude was very capable of more... what's that line about him sweeping floors at the Associated? (crappy NYC grocery chain) early on?

If you're in Jamaica, Ironfinger, cool, & Sean Bell RIP but I don't hear ANY Queens in Kool G-- Corona, Woodhaven, Rockaways, South Jamaica, Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, etc...

what gives?

[IronFingaz7]

G Rap lives in Atlantic City now and I'm talking the life he's been through. I dont know about what he does now, dude isnt in the air like that. No one knows what he's doing and if he was doing shit I dont think he would be talking about it on record, but dude was kingpin when he was young and shit, he was even a pimp, a lot of the shit he speaks is from his life in the past. And dude loves to tell stories as well, but regardless G is the illest.

P.E.A.C.E.