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There was this sarticle I was reading about aging rappers:
"On the day before Valentine’s Day 2015, Drake told the world "If I die I’m a legend." As it was, he was probably right. With If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, Drake broke the record for the number of charting singles by one artist in the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Chart, simultaneously creating something critics and fans adored while allowing him to unceremoniously slip out of his Cash Money deal. Despite becoming more skilled with each passing album, Drake has suggested that once he turns 30 he isn’t going to rap anymore. In a 2012 interview, Drake admitted that he didn’t want to be making hip-hop at 35. He has been quite insistent that hip-hop revolves around being "young and fly," and that he looked forward to delivering "full singing records" instead of rap albums, because he knows that he can’t deliver his brand of rap past his twenties. He isn’t alone in that sentiment; recently Young Thug told GQ that "If you’re 30, 40 years old, you’re not getting listened to by minors. Like, Jay Z has some of the sickest lyrics ever, but I would never buy his CD, just because of my age and because of his age." To this generation of ascendant rappers, getting older means growing irrelevant."
"The hand-wringing hypothetical of whether an artist can make great hip-hop once they’ve blown past 40 is hardly notional in 2015. Drake’s fear is apt, he’s borne witness to the rise and fall of the great hip-hop titans of the '90s. In 2011’s "Dreams Money Can Buy", he asserts, "My favourite rappers either lost it or they ain’t alive." While the vitality of hip-hop isn’t necessarily tied to youth, there’s not much proof to the contrary—especially given even the genre’s most successful artists can’t seem to change the direction of their original, youthful narratives as they have matured. If hip-hop runs on a youthful ferocity then each rapper, theoretically, has a "use by" date. When this dries up they’re left figuratively impotent and chasing a moment that is long gone—it’s Michael Keaton running through Times Square in his underwear. For commercial rappers the options hardly seem like such: disappear at your peak and leave your legacy intact, accept that the best is behind you and cash in on nostalgia or become a parody of yourself."
I thought it was something interesting to think about. To me it seems like, as rappers age, they fall dramatically. It's very common for rock bands to have long lasting careers, even if they're not in the spotlight like they once were. For rappers though, it just seems like they peak, and just disappear or they just fall off badly. Examples for me include: Lil Wayne, Eminem, Jeezy (IMO), Snoop, and others. There are exceptions of course. The ones who comes to my mind are Jay Z, I guess Nas, and Ye is getting up there. I want to say Ye and Drake will have long lasting careers because they aren't pure rappers in a sense. Drake sings of course, and Ye has a different sound for each album and experiments with other genres. That leads me to believe that's why they have lasted as long as they have. However, it seems harder for just pure rappers. Why do you guys think that is?
http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/702-drake-and-the-problem-with-aging-rappers/
"On the day before Valentine’s Day 2015, Drake told the world "If I die I’m a legend." As it was, he was probably right. With If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, Drake broke the record for the number of charting singles by one artist in the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Chart, simultaneously creating something critics and fans adored while allowing him to unceremoniously slip out of his Cash Money deal. Despite becoming more skilled with each passing album, Drake has suggested that once he turns 30 he isn’t going to rap anymore. In a 2012 interview, Drake admitted that he didn’t want to be making hip-hop at 35. He has been quite insistent that hip-hop revolves around being "young and fly," and that he looked forward to delivering "full singing records" instead of rap albums, because he knows that he can’t deliver his brand of rap past his twenties. He isn’t alone in that sentiment; recently Young Thug told GQ that "If you’re 30, 40 years old, you’re not getting listened to by minors. Like, Jay Z has some of the sickest lyrics ever, but I would never buy his CD, just because of my age and because of his age." To this generation of ascendant rappers, getting older means growing irrelevant."
"The hand-wringing hypothetical of whether an artist can make great hip-hop once they’ve blown past 40 is hardly notional in 2015. Drake’s fear is apt, he’s borne witness to the rise and fall of the great hip-hop titans of the '90s. In 2011’s "Dreams Money Can Buy", he asserts, "My favourite rappers either lost it or they ain’t alive." While the vitality of hip-hop isn’t necessarily tied to youth, there’s not much proof to the contrary—especially given even the genre’s most successful artists can’t seem to change the direction of their original, youthful narratives as they have matured. If hip-hop runs on a youthful ferocity then each rapper, theoretically, has a "use by" date. When this dries up they’re left figuratively impotent and chasing a moment that is long gone—it’s Michael Keaton running through Times Square in his underwear. For commercial rappers the options hardly seem like such: disappear at your peak and leave your legacy intact, accept that the best is behind you and cash in on nostalgia or become a parody of yourself."
I thought it was something interesting to think about. To me it seems like, as rappers age, they fall dramatically. It's very common for rock bands to have long lasting careers, even if they're not in the spotlight like they once were. For rappers though, it just seems like they peak, and just disappear or they just fall off badly. Examples for me include: Lil Wayne, Eminem, Jeezy (IMO), Snoop, and others. There are exceptions of course. The ones who comes to my mind are Jay Z, I guess Nas, and Ye is getting up there. I want to say Ye and Drake will have long lasting careers because they aren't pure rappers in a sense. Drake sings of course, and Ye has a different sound for each album and experiments with other genres. That leads me to believe that's why they have lasted as long as they have. However, it seems harder for just pure rappers. Why do you guys think that is?
http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/702-drake-and-the-problem-with-aging-rappers/