Is Hip-Hop a Young Man’s Game?
It's time for more bars about colonoscopies
As I mentioned last week, I’m in the process of writing a book. It will be out this fall. I’m having some of my favorite writers fill in for me so I can bide myself time to finish writing. This week’s newsletter comes from Darius Mullin, a hip-hop head who writes the newsletter Midnight Donuts. Mullin’s pitch for this article was simple but intriguing: is hip-hop a young man’s game?
Is Hip-Hop a Young Man’s Game?
By Darius Mullin
When hip-hop legend Andre 3000, one half of the duo Outkast, released a new-age flute album in 2023, it came as a surprise to many. In one interview, Andre noted that there’s less to rap about as a middle-aged man: “I’m 48 years old. And not to say that age is a thing that dictates what you rap about, but in a way it does. And things that happen in my life, like, what are you talking about? ‘I got to go get a colonoscopy.’ What are you rapping about? ‘My eyesight is going bad.’”
His comments were even more pointed elsewhere: “The origin of the word ‘hip-hop’ … first you have to be hip. And then [as] older you get, you get further away from the hipness … I just feel like I wouldn’t have much to offer to the game … unless you want to hear about, you know, parenting and … going to get prostate exams.”
But is hip-hop actually a young man’s game? How do we know? Many respected voices have held that it is. Traditionally, we think of someone young when we imagine a rap artist in their prime.
But hip-hop itself is only 50-years-old. The genre is “growing up.” And its audience is growing up with it. Legacy artists are held in high esteem in both the music and culture of hip-hop. Many stars who first came onto the scene in the 1990s and 2000s are still actively releasing music. In the scene that I most frequently report on, namely Christian hip-hop, the past few years have included the return of several “OGs” to the realm of actively making and releasing new music. Maybe the hip-hop star is aging with hip-hop itself.
If we look at the average age of a hip-hop artists topping the Billboard 200, we see a steady increase from the 1980s to today. In fact, in 1992 — the year that Kriss Kross, a duo of 13-year-olds, topped the Billboard 200 — the average age hit a low of 18. By 2024, it had doubled to 36.
Still, if you dig through this data, you see many repeat appearances. Superstars like Jay-Z and Eminem have topped the Billboard 200 many times. How does this trend change if we only look at rappers with their first chart-topping album? Though the growth isn’t as sharp, there is still an upward trend.
Of course, Billboard 200 is only one way to measure success. Still, I believe this provides some interesting insight:
The age of the average rap star has been steadily climbing since the 1980s, along with the average age of new rap stars.
Successful hip-hop stars have never been older than right now.
So, is hip-hop a young man’s game? The rap star is growing up. But 30-something is still pretty young! I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.
Ultimately, one of the incredible things about hip-hop is that it’s for everybody. No matter an emcee’s background, convictions, or age, they have a unique perspective to bring to the sprawling landscape of the genre.
So, Andre 3000, give us that colonoscopy verse. We need it.
An New One
“OG” by Joell Ortiz & L’Orange
2023 - Hip-Hop
Opening with the line “I wake up feeling different, back stiffened,” this Joell Ortiz song is a good reflection on the way one’s perspective changes with age. Producer L’Orange’s take on the instrumental brings out the best in the song.
An Old One
“Hypnotize” by The Notorious B.I.G.
1997 - Hip-Hop
The Notorious B.I.G.’s posthumous Billboard #1 album Life After Death was excluded from the calculations here, but it’s a timeless classic that’s worth highlighting. The emcee’s signature laid-back flow on “Hypnotize” is unmatched over one of the most iconic hip-hop instrumentals of all time.
Today’s article came from Darius Mullin. If you want to hear more from him, subscribe to his newsletter Midnight Donuts.
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