Embracing being almost the same age as hip hop
Method Man and Redman didn't fit at Summer Jam. Jermaine Dupri said we need to tell the truth. They're right and that's wonderful. Us old folks still have our lane in the culture.
Hip Hop is middle aged. That’s great.
I love this version of hip-hop culture.
Growing up with the culture, I remember the older generation telling youth the music would have no future value.
We’d never sit back and listen to the oldies. They could play the Chi-Lites and Marvin Gaye forever. No way hip hop was producing timeless music. Nor would rappers be able to drop an album decades later that would resonate.
They were wrong. Hip hop has grown up with me.
Just because I can’t name two Sexxy Red songs doesn’t mean the culture has passed me by.
Instead, it’s given me options that fit my life.
A few moments lately have crystalized that rap music is not just the music of the youth.
I’d been listening to the new Dogg Pound album, “W.A.W.G. (We All We Got),” for a few days. It’s a great listen. Summertime vibes. It takes me back to being a kid at King Park in Long Beach, watching the OGs listening to The Stylistics with their malt liquor bottles in brown paper bags as the smell of cannabis permeated the air.I love the old-school feel that put me back in the 1980s while having the life experiences to enjoy the vibe as a man in his mid 40s.
Method Man announced he would no longer perform at Summer Jam in New York because the generation gap was too big. I looked at the roster and felt bad for Meth and Redman. Why were these two rap icons on the same card as Sexxy Red and Doja Cat? Having seen Method Man perform with Wu-Tang Clan in Oakland in 2022, I know there’s still a viable crowd for him. It’s just not that crowd and that’s fine.
Jermaine Dupri was on X with Brian “B.Dot” Miller breaking down the generation gap in music. He said old folks “need to stop lying” to themselves and pretending they’re into the younger music.
I’m not lying to myself.
I’m almost as old as hip hop. My woman is from the “Back Dat Azz Up” era not part of the “Pound Town” demographic.
I had my time. I love my time. We wore big T-shirts. Or jeans were baggy. In a lot of cases, my peers still do. Some have graduated from cannabis to premium cigars (some do both). We’ve moved past “Incredible Hulks” and “Thug Passion” for small batch scotch.
We still love hip hop. The spirit of hip hop is why many of us are successful, myself included. We just have to keep Bengay nearby.
We’re older. No need to lie about it. We don’t understand the energy of the youth. No different than our parents not understanding why we were drawn to the words of NWA, 2Pac, Big Daddy Kane, Nas or Snoop Dogg.
Hip hop hasn’t abandoned my generation. It’s evolved. We’re not at the front of the line, leading the culture. We’ve established our lane and are living in it. The energy of a Wu-Tang show isn’t gone. It’s just at the place many wouldn’t have thought it would be 25 years ago.
The music of my generation might not pack out stadiums. I might have to find it at festivals. But the music – even the new music is still good.
Nas might be on the best album run of his career. The new Dogg Pound album might be their best since their debut.
Those old heads were wrong. Our music did have long-term value.
Hip hop aged like fine wine. Which is what a lot of people my age are drinking instead of Hypnotiq.
Yes, everyone grows up. I’m glad we did. Nothing worse than a bunch of people in their 40s pretending to be young. And we don’t have to lie to ourselves and do that — our hip hop is as viable as ever.