Hip-hop used to be incredibly unkind to its veteran rappers. Rather than prop them up like in other genres, people called them “washed” and a whole lot of other insults. It was always about what was hot and interesting in the moment, rarely giving grace to artists with lengthy careers. The cycle kept repeating, with new generations waving off the greats who came before. If we weren’t careful, even the lauded big three of Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and J. Cole might’ve been discarded for fresh new faces.
Nowadays, hip-hop is much kinder and more open to older MCs, especially in the streaming era. As long as you maintain a core audience, you could rap forever. But back in the 2010s, it wasn’t this easy. But A$AP Rocky’s mentor and one of the smartest minds in hip-hop, A$AP Yams, was ahead of his time in calling for better treatment of our all-time greats.
In a Tumblr post resurfaced on X, Yams noted how rock icons could still sell a world tour. They could release nothing but bad music or treat their fans terribly. They’d still fill seats. Consequently, he called for a renewed change in how we treated our all-timers.
A$AP Yams Once Shared His Take on Hip-hop That has Aged like Fine Wine
“There is going to have to come a time where the hip-hop community wakes up and gets over the out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new mentality that was fed to us. Our genre is the only one that faces these kind of problems,” Yams explained. “Axl Rose treats his fans like pieces of garbage and can come back 10 years later and do a world tour. There’s no reason why Rakim shouldn’t be doing Vegas right now. They try to make our genre as disposable as possible.”
“I’m all with supporting the youth,” A$AP Yams continued. “But at the same time, we can’t forget our roots and where we come from. It will only inspire to make better music.”
Additionally, he argued that only a select few rappers can sustain themselves in hip-hop. However, that only exists because of the regional system that took years to establish. “The only person that really will stand the test of time in the 40-year-old rapper category is [E-40] and Too $hort,” he argued. “The Bay’s support system is crazy. Only if every other region supported their underground/indie acts just as much as they do the mainstream ones.”
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