Golden age rappers Ice-T and KRS-One have recently weighed in about the state of contemporary rap music, and their opinions were not favourable. This year hip-hop is celebrating its 50th anniversary. During their rent appearances at Essence Fest in New Orleans, the two decided to analyse the journey of hip-hop from 1973 to the present.
Although the state of the culture may not be perfect, the two pioneers were surprised that what was a small underground scene has become one of the world’s most influential genres of music.
KRS-One (real name Lawrence Parker) highlighted the impact of hip-hop culture and its importance, stating, “50 years ago, some of us knew this was going to happen, most of us did not know to the magnitude it would happen.”
He continued, “But 50 years later proves that first of all, you can do anything with your mind and secondly, culture is probably the most magnificent strategy for human development known on the planet.”
Ice-T shared similar sentiments to Parker and explained how when it began, the culture was dismissed, declaring, When we started, hip-hop was supposed to be a fad! It’s gone through a lot of different growing pains and stuff, but for them to say it was a fad — now you have hip-hop billionaires! Hip-hop is a culture. A youth culture, started by kids.”
However, despite its growth, the two admitted some of the growth has been in the wrong direction. Ice-T showed his frustration concerning how drug-focused and criminal the culture has become, stating, “I think people from my generation are really upset with what’s going on with the youngsters because every week somebody’s going to jail. People are dying of drugs, killing each other.”
The California rapper concluded by highlighting that the East Coast vs West Coast war should have alerted MCs to the issues that can arise from too much aggression, asserting, “My generation, we lost Tupac, we lost Biggie, and we got the memo. Everybody calmed down. We all figured this out: We [were] rapping to get out of the streets.” Irrespective of their frustrations, the two are still excited to celebrate hip-hop’s birthday in August.
