AGE ain’t nuttin but a number….except in Hip Hop that is

Have you ever been the only person in the car that knew all the lyrics to “Cold Chillin?” Ever been called old because you really have an appreciation for A Tribe Called Quest? Have you ever been looked at crazy for buying tickets to see Rakim in concert? Ever wonder why that is? How is it that the older an emcee gets, the more scruntinized they are for still being in the hip hop game? Let’s take a look at some of the factors, shall we?

We take two of our contending genres and compare the factors in an attempt to answer our question, “Why is it that only hip hop fans care about age?” Those contenders being pop and rock and roll.

Example One: In Pop, Michael Jackson (God Rest His Glove) sold out a concert at the age of 50 something right before his untimely death and had the whole world anticipating the release of the latest album “This Is It.” Remember, we are talking about age here.

In Rock and Roll, Ozzy Ozborn, a 63 year old, half deaf man can pick up his career where he left off and still play sold out shows. In fact, he did it at 60.

With hip hop, if I even mention that EPMD or Public Enemy are performing, my peers are cracking jokes. The night of the show, I might be apart of a crowd of 1,000 people, and that’s if there aren’t any other events happening.

Why is that?

Just the other day someone posted a status on Facebook saying that Kanye West and Jay-Z are getting too “old” for them to listen to. However, these guys are definitely in their prime at ages 42 and 35.

The fact of the matter is that we are a culture of starvers. By that I mean we are in a day and age where we are hungry for instant gratification of the new artist, the next new thing, or the next “it.” Hip hop is only in its 30’s. Rock and Roll and pop are elders, while hip hop is more than a decade younger.

An analogy can be used here. There is an old man and his young adult son, the old man drinks fine wine from the years 1890-1920, because he is a connessiuer. He enjoys the taste of wine, he can even give very detailed descriptions of how the wine covers the palette of the tounge. His son, on the other hand, says he knows all about every kind of alcohol, yet drinks to get drunk. Not neccessarily to appreciate the art that comes from making the drink. The older genres have an audience that appreciate the art form, whether directly or indirectly, and it shows in the level of support. Where as we, the youngest genre, are slowly coming around.

Hip Hop is the baby genre out of all the genres of music, and it shows in our maturity as an audience. We have got a lot to learn, people. Let us appreciate the foundation and orgins of OUR culture. The last of a dying breed.