During the past year, there’s been a lot of back and forth over new school vs old school. More recently, Lil’ Yachty upset lawn owners everywhere not once, not twice but thrice. Then Pete Rock and Young Dolph tangled for a hot second the way we do most things these days, over Twitter.
With that said, it’s fitting that 9th Wonder used the social media platform to inject his considerable two cents into the debate of old school vs. new school. Hopefully, the world was paying attention.
“People have to accept the fact, that the rubric or standard for each generation is different,” he wrote. “You gotta give kids time for their musical palette to expand. Shit man, I didn’t start eating Brussel sprouts until I was older.”
https://twitter.com/9thwonder/status/774138975145500672
https://twitter.com/9thwonder/status/774139521017315328
https://twitter.com/9thwonder/status/774143007759081472
https://twitter.com/9thwonder/status/774143532822958080
https://twitter.com/9thwonder/status/774145408876486656
All great points made by Professor Wonder. I’ll admit that I’m Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on the subject, often shifting from the 30-year-old who wants to slap fire out of kids for not knowing their history to the 30-year-old who understands every generation has their thing and the game adapts. There’s something to be said for being content with the artists you believe are the best ever. To wit:
https://twitter.com/9thwonder/status/774146706996760576
https://twitter.com/9thwonder/status/774147109083680768
There’s that theory about us deciding new music isn’t for us once we reach a certain age and maybe there’s some truth to it. Maybe anyone 33 and above feel like Yachty and Vert don’t speak to them is because they no longer understand the language. Rather than using a Rosetta Stone to translate one era to the next, we take to our corners and throw shots at one another. Of course, 9th puts heads of a certain age in a predicament when he turns puts the shoe on the other foot…or turns the table, whichever works best for you:
https://twitter.com/9thwonder/status/775444431780638720
https://twitter.com/9thwonder/status/775445159530139649
https://twitter.com/9thwonder/status/775445971023060992
Any of you 40-year-olds who want to take him up on his offer, be my guest. He wasn’t done taking his generation to task.
https://twitter.com/9thwonder/status/775470584612388864
https://twitter.com/9thwonder/status/775472091508379648
https://twitter.com/9thwonder/status/775472704178753536
https://twitter.com/9thwonder/status/775473181041844225
https://twitter.com/9thwonder/status/775473844106694656
Obviously the man’s got a point. This old school vs. new school debate isn’t new and will go as long as hp-hop does. It’s our version of The Never Ending Story, only without the dragon and the depressing death of a horse. But there needs to be nuance to it and suffice to say, that’s not something we’re quick to understand as humans.
Is new school or old school better? The answer depends on a lot of factors. While we may argue back and forth all day about who’s wack and who’s not, all of this sh*t is subjective and to quote Obi Wan Kenobi, depends on a certain point of view.
9th had A LOT more to say and you’re doing yourself an injustice if you don’t take a look at his thread, no matter how old you are.
