mind you this was 2006 and looked at as desperate at the time, but tbh he wasn't wrong. when we look at how society has evolved, most people aren't really hitting their stride in their careers or even lifestyles until their 30s. most people in their 20s can't afford to live without roommates or their parents, and likely don't have kids. (especially men) meanwhile a fair amount of the older generation have childhood memories when their parents were in their 20s and 30s.

Maybe I'm just becoming an oldhead, but even when we look at rap today, the most popping guys in their 20s are YB and Tecca ( two extreme anomalies who blew up as teens). Maybe Rod Wave.
But almost everyone else making great Hip-Hop music that really moves the needle is in their 30s or older.

old head cope

Two things can be true at the same time 🤣

Yeah I thought about this recently

"But almost everyone else making great Hip-Hop music that really moves the needle is in their 30s or older."

that's because the genre has regressed and lacks genuine innovators not because 30 has somehow become the new 20 lol... the only true innovator rn is carti and he peaked in his twenties... as much as I appreciate seeing ageism in hip-hop die, it's still a young man's game and we're in desperate need of a new creatively daring young generation to carry the genre forward

a bunch of veterans who shaped most of their creative identity 10-20 years ago won't save the genre from plateauing

saying the genre regressed then naming Carti as an innovator which one is it? nigga is part of the regression bruh became a 2003 punk rockstar then had a Wayne phase to sell his album

he got the aesthetic and mysterious gimmicks on lock but musically he's hardly an innovator

bro is jumping from producer to producer to make him hot beats while he vocally mimics Future and gets inspired by SGP tapes from the 2010s

its like Blackland radio mixed with Monster and DS2 and a lil raspy vocal to tie it all with a bow

okay we really denying carti and wlr influence itt? yeah I'm out, not even gonna entertain that lmao

I will say kingdom come is underrated tho

Nah 16 year old white kids scream crooning over glitchy ambient synths with blown out 2011 Lex Luger trap drums is the future bro

All the best rappers in 2025 are like 35+

Malice got some of the best verses of the year and he’s 68

I thought he was at least 70? Wow

actually true

Wrong he's 73

Ass influence

Coincidentally everyone on ktt is around 30

This doesnt really make sense. Age isnt a requirement for creativity and innovation. Also the genre has not regressed, but there is a worry about the future of the genre, as you do want a talented young generation to come through so that the genre continues to live into the future.

LOLOLOLOL

the genre has definitely regressed, the amount of truly interesting stuff each year has been spiraling down for over a decade

my point wasn't that age is a requirement for creativity and innovation but that it's usually where innovation happens, realistically... it's when artists are both fearless and deeply hungry to create something new, it's the younger generation that will shape their own sound as a deliberate and daring break from what came before, not some oldheads who already did that in their heyday who might keep fine tuning their craft but won't reinvent the wheel anymore... please let's not pretend that the handful of veterans who still put out great projects are actually moving the needle, it's oldhead s*** for an oldhead audience

a genre in which the only remaining standard bearers are the aging, gray giants of the past is a genre that is quite literally dying

As time goes on more and more mental barriers drop

come end of decade this will be u