When the beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar was at its apex, Questlove generated some attention when he declared, “Hip Hop truly is dead.” Now that the dust has settled, Quest has taken a moment to go deeper into his thoughts about the whole situation.
In an interview with NPR published yesterday (June 25), Questlove explained:
“I was there at the Source Awards when the sh*t really hit the fan in 1995. And I was there in 1997. That was a ‘What now?’ moment for hip-hop — Tupac and Biggie, embroiled in a battle. I’ve never seen a battle in which it ends well.
We’re living in a polarizing time. We’re living in a time right now where World War III can easily break out at any moment. We’re living in a time when civil war can break out at any moment in the United States. We’re living in a time where the uncertainty of something jumping off is just in the air. You know what I’m saying? For me it’s like, I’ve seen this movie before — and I’m triggered. The aftereffect of Tupac and Biggie was just a 30-year travel into darkness.
And this is not to say that quality has gone down. Look, of course I don’t think hip-hop is dead. If an MC like Little Simz, which people rarely talk about. […] I don’t think people give enough attention to Griselda: Westside, Conway and Benny. Or even, like, Tobe [Nwigwe], Mick Jenkins, Errol Holden, even Denzel Curry. There’s so much quality, dope stuff out there that just goes unnoticed and unchampioned.”
Read the full conversation here.