In LEVEL. More on Medium.
The last decade gave way to an interesting paradigm shift in hip-hop: Storied artists are transcending generational gaps, building careers that don’t necessarily flame out with age. You could blame it on the culture putting some miles on its odometer, with its most central figures in the driver’s seat and…
Back in 2006, The Game made clear hip-hop’s sentiment regarding the aging MC. “You 38 and you still rappin’? Ugh!” the then-26-year-old lyricist scoffed on “It’s Okay (One Blood),” in a barely veiled shot at a still-dominant Jay-Z (who turned 37 that year). Around the same time, Cam’ron piled on…
I don’t remember the first rapper I ever interviewed — a 20-plus-year career in journalism will do that — but I definitely remember the first rapper I thanked: Common, aka Lon-chikka-Lonnie Lynn. This was back in the Like Water For Chocolate era; as we sat there in a New York…
Summer 1977: The art of emceeing begins. Among the first triumvirate of greats — Grandmaster Caz, Grandmaster Melle Mel, and Kool Moe Dee — the average age is just under 16 years old.
Summer 1986: The first golden era spins up, and with it a new triumvirate of greats in…
Higher Learning. A publication from Medium for the interested man.
