Chuck D takes aim at rappers talking about “the same street tale”
Public Enemy frontman and New York icon Chuck D has recently taken to Twitter/X to express his frustration about older rappers talking about the streets and writing the sort of lyrics they did when they were coming up in the scene.
Chuck D (real name Carl Ridenhour) has always been an opinionated figure and regularly shares wise words for his fellow MCs. Although he often attempts to mentor younger rappers, he has now called upon his fellow veterans to grow up.
On June 3rd, Ridenhour took to the net to share his thoughts on older artists who have failed to mature in their music and grow with their fans. According to the 1980s legend, the aggressive rap style of the youth shouldn’t be attempted by people over 40.
Expressing his frustration, Ridenhour wrote, “If you over 40 and spitting meaningless dark energy in RAP you have to really think about what matters in the HipHop foundation that birthed your chance at it.”
He continued, “I didn’t say cease and desist. I said T H I N K ……. An over 40 mind should have a better ability to KNOW self and surroundings better. The ‘green’ days is greying…”
The following day, the ‘Fight The Power’ rapper uploaded another post on Instagram to promote his upcoming book, RAPilates: Body and Mind Conditioning in the Digital Age, which will hit shelves on July 1st, the legend’s caption read, “I’m a rap head . I’m in my 64th year… hip-hop is over 50 years.”
It continued, “Different ages have different appeals and elder folk money ain’t stupid. My listening ear doesn’t wanna hear the same street tale because that’s for a new kid just finding themselves & the world.”
Speaking about how there is a wide range of relevant topics to choose from, Chuck D concluded, “Over 40. It’s not crazy to hear an MC warn us on bad food, rent mortgages, gas prices, kids (yeah the 20-year-old MCs have them too), pharmaceuticals, prostate and instead of battling MCs, how about fuckin up cancer and diabetes!?!?!”