The legendary DJ and producer Pete Rock is an East Coast legend. However, he is somewhat disillusioned with the current state of hip-hop and recently took to social media to echo some of the statements made by EPMD lyricist Erick Sermon about why hip-hop went wrong.
In an Instagram post, the 53-year-old Bronx native highlighted how, in his opinion, the art form has strayed off its original path. The prominent disc jockey (real name Peter Phillips) insists that the culture has been corrupted by greed and money. Therefore, he believes it has become stuck.
Moreover, he believes that it’s been entangled with greed and losing touch with its roots. Sharing an interview clip of Erick Sermon discussing the unrecognizable state of hip-hop, Pete Rock captioned the post, Upon posting a clip of a discussion he had with Sermon, Phillips captioned the video, “They should change the music to WTF [facepalm emoji] tryna create a narrative that ain’t working.”
Rock insisted that the culture has already peaked and that everything the genre produces today has no longevity, stating, “We created real history! IDK what da hell they creating today, but it damn sure ain’t history or hip-hop. That’s a fact.”
Phillips is one of many, including KRS-One and Chuck D, who have expressed concern about the current state of hip-hop and how labels have eviscerated the values and grind mentality of the old-school, stating, “We lost our integrity chasing the money. The bag, as they say, has become the problem and the focus point in the culture. Makes it corny when y’all make it about money smh [corn emoji].”
Moreover, his rant didn’t stop there. Phillips explained how golden age MCs and DJs can’t comment on contemporary hip-hop without being labelled as “haters,” professing, “Everyone extra sensitive about opinions smh. Soon as you have an opinion, you’re a hater automatically lol. Clown shit [clown emoji].”
Asking for change, Rock asked artists to push the boundaries and make good music, saying, “We all out here working to make better music. Why don’t you try and do the same thing.”