As hip-hop turns 50, Chuck D praises its power as “a worldwide cultural experience and religion”

Subject

Hip-Hop; Chuck D; Hip-Hop Anniversary

Description

You only play that old stuff!” a kid named DJ I had mentored yelled from the passenger side of my car some years back. At the time he was a high schooler and infatuated with the song “Thugz Mansion,” by west coast rappers Mozzy and YG that he had just introduced to me. 

I took a pause and then laughed, thinking about all of the times that I had got into arguments with older dudes who listened to the dated music of my era and never took the opportunity to understand my generation and the sounds we chose. Everything we liked was dumb and watered down in their opinion, even though they never tried to listen. I never wanted to be that grumpy dude who’s so lost in the past that I couldn’t even dream of the future. 

“Look here, young fella,” I said, pulling into an empty parking spot. “I used to have the same arguments and conversations back when I was your age, but I learned to respect the music that came before me, which ultimately helped me to better understand why I was listening to what I was listening to. Everything influences everything.” 

Creator

By D. WATKINS

Editor at Large

Source

https://www.salon.com/2023/01/31/chuck-d-fight-the-power-how-hip-hop-changed-the-world/

Publisher

salon.com

File