Hip-hop’s intergenerational conflict had seemingly died down in recent years, thanks in large part to collaborations crossing the age divide, like “Replace Me” which saw Nas connect with younger rapper Don Toliver. However, it appears it was still right there, simmering beneath the surface, waiting for someone to light the spark to reignite it. The hosts of The Breakfast Club came close when they teased Coi Leray about listening to Pusha T, but she defused the situation by saying she’d rather collab with him (as she did with Nicki Minaj) than start a beef.
Unfortunately, it looks like one of Coi’s collaborators had some further thoughts about the new rapper/old rapper dynamic and finally touched off the conflagration that had been waiting in the wings. Pontiac, Michigan rapper DDG, who recently released his Gunna collaboration “Elon Musk,” shared his thoughts on Twitter, drawing a polarized response from followers who weighed in with a variety of opinions from agreement to disbelief to outright refusal. “Today’s rappers are 10x better than the rappers back in the day,” he wrote.
day* 😂
— DDG (@PontiacMadeDDG) April 28, 2022
When fans blasted him for it, he offered some controversial follow-up takes. When one fan brought up Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G., he shot back, “On some real sh*t.. when the last time u listened to either in the car.. BE TRUTHFUL.” He also provided some context for his opinion in a separate tweet, writing, “I respect the older generation of hiphop, but this generation creativity on another level fr. Hip Hop ain’t never been the number 1 genre until NOW.”
https://twitter.com/chrisgi02252711/status/1519494162114138114
The debate quickly became a rehash of the “mumble rap” debates from a few years ago — y’know, the one where people acted like they can’t just understand accents or that repetitive choruses are somehow a new phenomenon in rap. While some acknowledged that the music has evolved in unexpected and truly creative ways, some just couldn’t move past the sacred cows of their youth (or, let’s be honest, their parents’ youth).
Check out some more responses below.
Name a rapper right now. That’s better then old Jadakiss or old Nas or old Jay Z or even Emenim ? I’ll wait. Don’t say j cole or Kendrick tho lol
— 🇵🇷 🦁𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆👑🗽 (@ReyDeNuevaYork) April 28, 2022
Very true. People just dick ride cause they from the past and they just want to be “different”. Like stop, we all know u bumping juice Wrld right now
— Shinypeople101 (@10zynten) April 28, 2022
https://twitter.com/Jxhm3z/status/1519547249835057153
Earl sweatshirt, Joey badass, capital steez, r.a.p. Ferrera, Danny brown, Freddie Gibbs, bishop Nehru, the alchemist, zelooperz, jpegmafia, Mick Jenkins, isiah rashad, Kendrick Lamar, MAVI, injury reserve, Vince Staples the list goes on and on they definitely compare
— Pªscal (@HoomanPascal) April 28, 2022
https://twitter.com/therealaltopic/status/1519479358544613376
Challenge jadakiss to make a hit song … it’s more then lyrics lyrically old school can have it but the concept of making a song is better today by far
— QuanfrmPZ (@easymoneyquan) April 28, 2022
Please stop comparing older rappers to today’s rap cuz #1 those are 2 completely different time periods and #2 it’s only a handful of artists that actually talk abt something besides bitches they don’t get n bodies they don’t have. https://t.co/DRLkDysSlD
— ugk🪖 (@1kab__) April 28, 2022
https://twitter.com/mccclary/status/1519742099469606912
