PUBLIC ENEMY: 'JAY Z, SNOOP AND DRAKE ARE NOT REAL HIP HOP'

Flavor Flav and Chuck D discuss the state of rap

Public Enemy have spoken out about the state of hip hop - saying that while there's great rap music, the likes of Jay Z, Snoop Dogg and Drake are not 'real hip hop'.

Talking to Gigwise backstage at Kendal Calling after they stepped off stage, hip hop iconsFlavor Flav and Chuck D spoke to us about whether hip hop has become too consumerist and lost its message.

"I think the element of hip hop left when rap music started being created on a slow tempo," said Flavor Flav. "It's just stayed there for years. Right now, a lot of rap music today is being created at very low tempos. 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."

He continued: "Rap music has lost that element right now, mainly over in America. There's not to many greathip hop records out there, but there are some great rap records. L'il Wayne is making some great rap records, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Ludacris, Jay Z, Kendrick Lamarr, 50 Cent, Snoop - everybody is making great rap records, but it's not hip hop.

Chuck D added: "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."

http://www.gigwise.com/news/83187/-%27Jay-Z-Snoop-Dogg-and-Drake-are-not-real-hip-hop%27

About time somebody said this

its morph into something else.

tldr version -> Your style is not my style so it's wrong. It's ok for it's style but don't compare it to my style. My style is better.

The Actual TL;DR version:

Its not Hip Hop, its rap music.

They're just mad because they are old an irrelevant now.

Jay-Z>>>>>>>>>>Public Enemy

@dccomicsrule2011: pshhh jay z has been known to copy a lot of biggie's lyrics

@russellmania77: Right.......One or two lines does not make a whole song. Hov is lyricly on of the best MC's to ever touch a mic.

Hip-hop, like all genres of music, should be about progression. I can be a 90s head too at times, but one has to understand that rap music has grown throughout the years, and the definition of 'hip-hop' always changes and diversifies.

Haters Jay-z is Hip Hop. So is Eminem, Nasir, and Kendrick Lamar. Deal with it Chuck.

I swear Chuck, Paul Mooney, and Spike is some unhappy muthafreakas. Always want ish to be they way. Which is miserable.

As of late I started considering Hip Hop to have evolve as the core genre that just has a lot of sub-genres. So as much as people disagree with me I still consider guys like Lil Wayne as Hip Hop artist at least in the same vein that I consider alternative rockers as Rock artist. They are artist of that genre at the base level first it's just they're in their own little sub genre in guys like Drake, Minaj and Lil Wayne's case I consider their tracks to be a Hip-Pop sub genre (granted it's not a term used I'm just saying that's how I view the kind of genre they're in).

To a degree Public Enemy are right... Rap is Stale right now and has been so for some time ( about 10 years ) ... a lot of the new kids love this new style of Rap but for the most part I hate it... Kanye West last album was Average... Jay-Z last album was Average... the only dude that's still really holding it down on a Commercial Level is Nas... even though dude is not really that Commercial anymore... also Lupe Fiasco as well... though Lupe really aint that Commercial either. Drake signs too damn much... he has talent but he would rather be a Hummingbird than just spit fire on the Mic... Weezy been garbage... Jay-Z was Great... now he is just an Old Man trying to recapture his Swag of when he really was Great... Eminem seems like he wants to go back to being the best... at least it felt like it from Recovery... though if his Production on the last Slaughterhouse album is anything like what he is gonna do on his new album... this could be a Disaster.

Do have to say i like this more than most of the crap thats on the radio today

Hip-hop is more lively than most of what rap produces nowadays, imo.

Compare the classic "Rapper's Delight" to modern rap and the difference is clear.

the epitome of public enemy.

I always thought that all the current artists were rap, rather than Hip Hop....

I though everyone thought the same lol?

This. Drake in Comeback Season and Room For Improvement was tons better than he is now. I like him being able to sing, though. He can come with songs that other rappers would never even attempt, and I respect that.

Lupe, J. Cole, Nas and Hopsin to me are at the top of things right now. Never really cared for Jay-Z, but I'd rather listen to his old stuff than new.

A lot of newer rap stuff does seem to have more in common with pop at times then with old school hip hop.

Then again it is just the stuff I'm hearing the radio so that could just be because mainstream music industry is in love with pop right now.

I'm sure there's some lesser known rapper who's got the hip hop feel down that Public Enemy wants to hear.

The way people have tried to say what is and isn't "real" hip hop over the years is honestly quite sad. Music evolves, and hip hop was brought up using elements of other genres, so naturally it sounds completely different now than it did in the 80s and 90s.

Ok.

its a lil more than 1 or 2 lines

@russellmania77: So 6 minutes worth of biting takes away all of the great lyrics he spit himself? How does that make sense? I call it paying homage not biting, besides other heralded "greats" has copied lyrics too.