The Age Barrier is Broken in Hip-hop!

When hip hop began in 1978 it was seen as a passing fad. Genres such as Rock and R&B were the mainstays in music culture. Hip-hop was also a young persons game like most music is. The difference was that hip-hop had an unwritten rule that if you were over the age of 30 you were deemed out of touch and no longer relevant in the eyes of the culture. Once a hip hop artist got old enough they were expected to become a D.J. or work in other facets of the culture such as media or a corporate job for a record label.

The problem with this unwritten rule was the shear novelty and newness of the genre. Hip hop is officially 35 years old to date so most of the core fans where very young at the beginning but now as the genre ages a lot of the original fans are approaching or over 50. This change in demographic has allowed artists over 35 to flourish in a genre that they would have been shunned in 15 years ago. Artists like Jay-Z (43) and Nas who recently turned 40 continue to appear in the top 40 and continuously have sold out shows and other events.

The Rapper 2 Chainz did not have his first hit until the age of 36 and the rapper Rick Ross is at the height of his career at age of 37. Rap is no longer a young mans game it’s anybody’s game. I believe there are some social explanations for this such as the increase in life expectancy. The longer people live the longer they want to stay connected to their youth as well as pop culture. In my opinion the main reason is simply self-identification. When your 40 you just don’t stop liking hip-hop but the listener may want content that’s more reflective of a mature state of mind. The younger generation tends to rap about things that most of us experienced a decade ago and probably doesn’t interest us the way it used to.

In order for hip-hop to reach its full potential it must mature with its fans just like Rock n Roll does. Hip-hop artists over 35 will no longer pack it up and just do nostalgia shows or reunion concerts. These days’ rappers over 30 are the only ones with sustainable careers and in my opinion it’s because of the wisdom you gain after making so many mistakes in your twenties. New faces like Drake and Kendrick Lamar are enjoying massive success but most of their mentors are still making good music and they draw inspiration from one another.

My grandfather didn’t listen to hip-hop but those day’s are over some day soon one of our favorite artist’s will be a grand father and that will be a great day for hip-hop.