Public Enemy’s Chuck D and Flavor Flav have stated that Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, and Kendrick Lamar don’t make hip-hop music , insisting that they create rap instead.
Flavor Flav started the debate by telling Gigwise , “I think the element of hip-hop left when rap music started being created on a slow tempo. It’s just stayed there for years. Right now, a lot of rap music today is being created at very low tempos.
He then added, “There’s no more of that ‘Wave your hands in the air like you just don’t care’ – you know, something that makes you wanna get out there and breakdance.
Flavor Flav went into more detail, noting, “Rap music has lost that element right now, mainly over in America. There’s not too many great hip-hop records out there, but there are some great rap records. Lil Wayne is making some great rap records, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Ludacris, Jay Z, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent, Snoop [Dogg] – everybody is making great rap records, but it’s not hip-hop.”
His bandmate, Chuck D, also chimed in, saying, “If you love hip-hop, ask yourself why. We’ve done it around the world for 26 years in 90 countries and we have our reasons – but we think it should be along the lines of Bob Marley, Bob Dylan and Bobby Womack. It should be able to cover all aspects. When it’s just about ‘I got money and you don’t have money’, that’s just taking advantage of the naivety of people.”
The pair were talking at Kendal Calling, a music festival in Northern England, where they played to a hoard of festival goers. Public Enemy, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April, released their latest single, “Get Up Stand Up,” last month, but they only made it available via BitTorrent.
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