How Old is Too Old to Rap?

Minus a few off-centered sorts that were probably created for the sake of off-centeredness, Hip Hop is one of the most recent additions to the community of musical genres. We all know it was primarily created and elevated by the youth. Hence, Hip Hop is generally regarded as a youthful expression. However, as the foundation ages within the medium; we seem to be encountering an issue. Today\’s upstarts are expecting the passing of the torch while the old heads are contemplating their next decade of dominance. So I guess the question today is, how old is too old? And is the up and coming wave of new artists waiting for a hand-out that simply isn\’t going to come their way?

I thought about this as I read the below question for about the 70-11th time on some site, somewhere.

\”When is his old ass going to sit down and let these young cats get some shine?\”

Since I am a 70\’s baby and counted as one of the Hip Hop community\’s relics, I immediately jumped to the defense of the old heads. Everyone knows you are not technically old in your mid 30\’s, but folks in the Hip Hop community don\’t age normally. There is some sort of dog year\’s manifesto that has been ratified so 33 is like the new 72 or something. However, the catalyst of said manifesto is the concept that there really hasn\’t been a large group of older folks contributing to the artistic development of the genre until now. It is uncharted territory and the wrinkle it is creating really needs to be ironed out.

My opinion is severe in its simplicity. If you can still do it, do it. I\’m not sure where these younger folks are getting the idea from that someone is going to just move to the side so they can get some time in the spotlight, but they need to return it for a refund. The last I heard from the coalition of life lessons, you had to earn your stripes; regardless of what industry you want to call home. If someone needs to sit down for you to stand up then you probably don\’t deserve to be noticed. And anyone who actually believes that they are entitled to that kind of red carpet treatment needs to pack their cord and move out of their mother\’s womb immediately.

Now, I can acquiesce enough to the 80\’s and even \’90\’s babies to say there are some folks who need to stop. Dispossessory orders need to be filed and the Hip Hop Sheriffs need to make them vacate the premises. However, all of the artists I feel that way about are not dinosaurs. Some folk\’s creative paths have shorter life spans than others and there are some rappers who exhausted their creative quality half-way through their first single on their first album and all of them aren\’t 30.

That considered; if an emcee still has things to say and creatively awesome ways to say them; why should he shut it down? The discretionary income that tends to find its way to music moguls doesn\’t normally flow from the accounts of the older folks. If the tweeners and their older siblings are buying some 30-year-olds album in mass, then obviously he\’s still linked to the musical mind sets of the younger purchasing community. Don\’t be mad at him for that. Your favorite 20-year-old emcee needs to work towards making that same connection. If he is as dope as you claim, it should be a possibility for him, correct?

The younger emcees have the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of those who have taken similar paths and I think they and their fans need to respect that. Conversely, if a youngster is that hot; white hot, burn down the studio with his lyrics hot; then he doesn\’t need \”Move Bitch!\” to be his anthem. He can get straight to \”Ante Up!\” and rob a dude for his fan base.

Give mic up! Give rights up! Give deal up! Give fight up! Get out my booth! Dude, time up! Ante Up! Give everything up!

And believe it or not, when that happens, even the oldest, most jaded fan will have to applaud and respect that shit. The geriatric cases have no issue with the next reign. We, especially, are longing for someone to take the genre into its next evolution because no one can do it forever. Unfortunately though, all that whining about these old men stealing some young homie\’s burn is respected by no one. So man up, stuff that bottom lip back into your face and rip that crown from emcee over-the-hill\’s hands because he is most definitely not going to give it to you.