Ice-T has asked the current generation of hip-hop artists to “get a hold” of themselves, when talking about the slew of rappers dying.
- READ MORE: Ice-T: Soundtrack Of My Life – from James Brown to Eric B. & Rakim
The rap icon – whose real name is Tracy Marrow – has recently been making TV and festival appearances in celebration of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary. Last weekend (June 29-July 3), he was at Essence Fest and reflected on the growth of hip-hop music.
“When we started, hip-hop was supposed to be a fad, he said, per People. “It’s great. Hip-hop has grey hairs. The beauty of it is that it’s still here, still flourishing and people still love it. It’s gone through a lot of different growing pains and stuff, but for them to say it was a fad — now you have hip-hop billionaires! Hip-hop is a culture. A youth culture, started by kids.”
I had an Incredible time at the @essencefest performing and chillin with my peers @ScorpioFurious5 @E40 and many more! I got nothing but LOVE from and for New Orleans 👊🏽 pic.twitter.com/dx3SjRraga
— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) July 3, 2023
However, when asked if hip-hop has lost its way in recent years, Ice-T spoke about the promotion of drugs and violence, saying that his generation rapped “to get out of the streets.”
“I think people from my generation are really upset with what’s going on with the youngsters because every week somebody’s going to jail. People are dying of drugs, killing each other,” the 65-year-old said. “My generation, we lost Tupac, we lost Biggie and we got the memo. Everybody calmed down. We all figured this out: We [were] rapping to get out of the streets.”
He continued: “But the youngsters who are out here behaving like that, these kids are millionaires so I don’t know how many young people gotta get lost, I don’t know which one might trigger that message, but I think it’s time for this generation to get a hold of itself.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB23FDDcB7w
Marrow also said that hip-hop got “goofy” in the mid-2000s. Last February, he spoke to Variety about how hip-hop has changed and how it has made him feel “uncomfortable.”
In the same month, Ice-T was featured in the Grammy’s tribute to the genre alongside Busta Rhymes, GloRilla and Missy Elliott.