Talib Kweli Thinks Older Artists Can Learn From 21 Savage, Lil Yachty and Ugly God

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In a time when rap acts like Lil Yachty, 21 Savage and more have caught flak from their hip-hop elders for not knowing their history of the genre, one of the game’s vets have come to their defense. Talib Kweli sat down with VladTV for a new interview and offered up a fresh perspective about how OG heads can view this new wave of rappers. As one of rap’s most outspoken figures, Talib broke it down to respecting their hustle. Kweli states his case around three-minute mark of the video above.

“Older artists, traditional artists, legacy artists have to learn from newer artists,” preached Talib in the video. “Learn from the 21 Savages & Lil Yachtys and the Ugly Gods I guess that I just heard about just now. People get confused by thinking you gotta like the music, you gotta relate to the music… Music is emotional so people respond to music emotionally, and if it’s not something they grew up on, or something that’s not speaking their language that they relate to, they’re automatically dismissive of it without understanding the movement. They dismiss the movement along with the music. And you can’t dismiss the movement, because you gotta respect an artist getting their shit out there. You gotta respect it.”

Lil Yachty in particular has been ostracized repeatedly this year for saying things like Notorious B.I.G. is overrated. Pete Rock and radio personality Ebro have taken shots at Yachty for his “mumble rap” style and yet, the self-proclaimed “King of the Teens” continues captivate rap’s younger audience with his two mixtapes and sold out shows.

With a 20-year vet like Talib recognizing the validity of Yachty and Savage, will more old school rappers jump on board?

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