It has often been said that Hip Hop is a young man’s game, but increasingly, emcees in their late 30s and even 40s have begun to become more commonplace.
In an interview with HipHopSince1987, Rap vets Ice Cube, 44, and Bun B, 40, spoke about why they continue to rhyme, and don’t adhere to age limits.
“I think it’s crazy,” said Cube of the idea that an emcee should retire at a young age. “I think any young man thinkin’ about, talkin’ about like they want to reture, and they not playing sports, then they crazy. What the fuck we gonna do? Go fishin’?”
“This is what we do, and it is no shelf life for an emcee if he’s committed to his fans,” he added.
Cube admitted that pressure does exist for established acts to “bow out gracefully.” “It can be frustrating, because it’s an ‘out with the old, in with the new’ mentality. But if you’re committed to your fans, and you’re happy with your spot, keep doing records, and you keep giving the people what they want to hear, and you’re happy with what you get out of it… We’ve all carved out a career out of this, it’s all gravy, so whatever we get out of the game, we should be happy with.”
Bun B chimed in, stating that as long as fans still wanted him around, he’d be there. “You gotta remember that Hip Hop is one of the youngest art forms out there. Still a very young genre of music. Our fans are still in a certain age group, and they haven’t given up on us yet, so I see no reason why we should be giving up on them.”
“We just gettin’ to the point where our fans are fifty, sixty years old, but we still see artists out there giving them that music, man,” said Bun. “They wanna come to the shows, they still wanna listen to the music that they appreciated in their younger years. They haven’t given up on life; they haven’t given up on enjoying themselves and partying, and we should still be there to facilitate that.”
Watch the interview below, which also includes both emcees poking fun at one another over the depature of basketball player Dwight Howard from Cube’s Los Angeles Lakers to Bun’s Houston Rockets:
Ice Cube just recently ended the ultimate Hip Hop veteran tour, the Kings of the Mic Tour with LL Cool J, Public Enemy, and De La Soul.
RELATED: Ice Cube f. The Roots – “Today Was A Good Day (Jimmy Fallon Live Performance)”
Cube needs to go back to daddy day care and leave rap alone
well we killed prince cause he tryed to be a mixed girl and mock millins of little kids
yea hes missing we killed micheal jaskcon too lol
stunk up on them jason style
killed pussy too lol
u try to be us and try to mock us we kill u
u mock us try to be us then send ppl to set us up lol nah we sending u up
yal even mock asains whites and sum spanish ppl. even little kids.well bang bang bang
killed the croc hunter too. hahaa dont kno he tryed to call ppl monsters lol
killed pac
biggie
pun
big l
that chick from clueless
hahaa, u go around mock ppl try to set ppl up u get it bitch
BANG BANG BANGG. HEARD KKK NIGAZ AFTER YAL TOO HAA
WELL U DID IT HAA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-7zFV6ypZg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avas-u4od6w
http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/RkHdv3ICT6Y/mqdefault.jpg
666
“It has often been said that Hip Hop is a young man’s game”… Ok why? Why the fuck do I wanna hear these weak, young ass 120lb niggas runnin around rappin about the same shit(guns,money,bitches,and whips) these veterans have been doin for years, when the veterans do it better n slicker lol?! You faggots can have 2chainz,future,scooter, Gucci, chief keef, and Ill take Cube,Bun,Juicy J,W.C., Daz…Real niggas that been doin this shit for years and doin it better than ever.
Cosign, except Juicy J is weak now. He was dope in Three 6. Shit lately has been wack, cookie-cutter hip-pop that’s all over the radio.
because its wack if you are rapping for 20 years about guns! Thats boring! Face it Today cube aint that good as 20 years ago.
they try to be other ppl.going after them
son of a mother
kkk 666
You suck.
It does bug me out when i go to concerts and see folks there young enough to be my kid. Or is it that im old enough to be their father?!
it’s the latter, you old ass nigga
Damn Ice Cube is that old…I thought he was about 40.
Cube still one of the illest
Your fucking deaf
You’re the deaf one here.
THESE OLD NIGGAZ ALL BROKE, JA RULE GOT LONG MONEY
Its Murda!!!!!!!!!!!
Ja Rule poops on these irrelevant niggas.
#PoopSwag
#RULETALK
No Cube retire. Which dumb motherfuckers from 45 years old talks about:
– being a pimp
– being a husler
– being a killer
– having platinum chain
This is for children!
Go do some stupid comedy movies Cube! Remember 1991 you did the song “burn hollywood burn” and you do movies? You fraud! Also you never were a gangsta so why you say it in songs?
lol stop with your haterade. basically you’re cryin cause 45-year old men are rapping about things you’ve never done in your life yet. even if they done half of those things they got clout to rap about those things cause they been livin the streets. all you can do is pull up some god damn 1991 song as if a rapper has to stick by his word for 20+ years.. FOH. he’s not a fraud, he’s just doing him by getting that $$$ you fuckin spack.
@ ETK
tell em why you mad son
youre just a plain moron
@ hip hop is no country for old men
THIS BIGGEST COCKSUCKER AWARD GOES TO………………..ETK
Cube’s Raps are a hybrid of gangsta-political shit…
^^ And no one ever asked you that
Gucci Mane = realest rapper ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
– T.I. snitch to the feds
– Young Jeezy was never bmf
– 50 Cent snitch and was never in jail but a youthcamp
– Game was never a banger but lived the life of his brother in his lyrics
– Nas Escobar never sold drugs
– Ice Cube never was a gangbanger
– Dr Dre never was a gangbanger
– 2pac was a ballerina and never sold drugs after he become famous he was doing some stupid stuff like beating and shooting at people because he though he could get away with it. Without Suge Knight 2pac was just a skinny motherfucker. Oh and i like his music so fuck you.
– Mobb deep are the biggiest pussies in rap they are short as midgets and keep talking this g shit but never did g shit.
Wow hating is at a all time high on this website.how do you know how much Money they have who still likes there music if there gangster ,if they broke none if it should matter to you cause you have a life right?wrong it’s cause you don’t have a life and its worthless to you so you hate from your little tablet or computer like a bitch.one love to ice cube bun b and dram for there contribution to the game,you will always do a lot more then these lames
Motherfucka u make no sense. Since u talking about hating, the fuck are you doing. You ‘hating’ on ppl on this site fuckin lame. GROW THE FUCK UP. PPL ALWAYS GOING TO HAVE POSITIVE/NEGATIVE OPINIONS ON THINGS. U WANNA BE THE BIGGEST COCKSUCKER THEN I DARE GO DEFEND WAYNE, OBAMA, LEBRON JAMES, OSAMA BIN LADEN, BILL GATES, THE PLANTATION OWNERS SINCE THEY ALL GOT/OR HAD MORE MONEY THAN YOU EVER HAD IN YOUR FUCKIN LIFE. faggot ass groupie
“I think any young man thinkin’ about, talkin’ about like they want to “reture”
Come on HHDX, you guys are “professional journalist” for Christ sake.
I get it, they don’t want the shelf life, but you gotta know when enough is enough and when you’ve made your legacy for you to lie in it. It’s all good making music for the fans, but when you start making bullshit it just tarnishes your career. I bet the fans of both of these guys wish they’d quit because they aint interested in their latest music, their fans want their old classic music…. not that clutching on because they’re washed up music.
Seen Ice cube,Busta rhymes,and Xhibit Live last year….Them 3 cats still got the best live shows.Crowd was goin ape shit.
Why do these rappers gotta expiration date when rock bands like Metallica and Black Sabbath are playing in front of millions of fans and releasing huge selling albums? Rap fans got the game fucked up
because Black Sabbath dont talk about how many picasso they bought or that they pimp hoes
Yeah, because talking about Satan is much better.
Keep it real shaday
I call BULLSHIT!
Ice Cube hasn’t given fans what they want since the mid 90’s. He makes music that he hopes gets played on corporate controlled black radio. FUCK U ICE CUBE
HA HA, The nigga you love to hate.
hate? nigga grow up. u mad cause Mortis don’t like your lord and savior O’Shea
Fuck each and everyone of you niggas, Ice Cube’s been garbage ever since the 90’s and he’ll always be
Ya’ll act like after a certain age you have give shit up. Premier said it best hip hop is like fucking, you still gonna like it when you’re old if that’s what you did for entertainment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SCtyEOJy0A
Magna Carter Is Trash—-
Where did they get the mic from,toys R US? Damn.
“Where did they get the mic from,toys R US?”………………………(coughs)
Just read that and cringed. Shit joke
For beats/instrumentals, visit winningteambeats.com
Looks as if Bun B and Cube wanted to slap the shit outta Drama…no talent screaming ass nigga!
Ice Cube was my first favorite rapper back in the day and is still on my top 5. O.G. of the game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdHqCsDJgNk
YES THERE IS!!!
FOR EXAMPLE, YOU BOTH SHOULD HAVE RETIRED BY THE EARLY 2000’S!!!
YOU GOT NOTHING NEW TO CONTRIBUTE!!!
Jay-Z just sold 600,000 in a week…. move on kid.
add on whinebook @thachronicizback
1. Who gives a shit what Jay sold. Sales dont matter. Quantity doesn’t equal quality
2. Nothing to contribute? Yes because the flavor of the month has something new to contribute [Drake, Wayne, Ross, Keef, Gucci, Waka, Nicki, Meek, Big Sean………]
LOL at bitch niggas bringing up numbers to defend their bitch made idols. If numbers meant so much then Rihanna would be the best artist in the world. Nigga grow the fuck up, Ice Cube is trash now.
Numbers don’t lie check the score board.. Tom Ford. This saying is bigger than you think but if you sit your fucking ass down and think of your life and where you really wish to be if you’re a human being with sense you will run with numbers and not word of mouth bitch! @ anon, etk and haters
Cube got owned by jews. He was fire, now he better go fishing. SO to Bun B tho.
Ain’t no different than Aerosmith, Beattles, Rolling Stones, U2 etc… the fans grow with the band, and they pick up younger fans along the way.
follow at newtracksdaily
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EGp3ZOKj3U
Jeah.. uhh.. it’s what I do for a livin nigga
Eat for a livin nigga (watcher)
That’s how I live for a livin nigga.. (watcher)
Okay, let’s do this (the watcher)
[Verse One: Jay-Z]
Things just ain’t the same for gangsters
But I’m a little too famous to shoot these pranksters
All of these rap singers claimin they bangers
Doin all sorts of twisted shit with they fingers
Disrespectin the game, no home trainin or manners
I was doin this shit when you was shittin Pampers
I was movin them grams ‘fore you, knew what a hand that hand was
Duckin the vans, radars, the scanners
‘Fore you knew what hard white to tame was
I was hittin the turnpike, aight with the bammers
I was nice with my hands, cuss aight with them hammers
I was prickin my finger ‘fore you knew what a Fam was
I had it laid out ‘fore you knew what a plan was
Three hundred mill’ later, now you understand us
Y’all ain’t see us comin through Vegas
You ever seen so much cham’ bust in one night
Grand fucked up one fight
I was on the Peter Pan bus
You was Peter Pan up in your room, y’all fuckin with whom?
Allowed me to be taught
You cowards is just now learnin the shit that we talk
You niggaz ain’t know about a Robb Report
Bout a high speed Porsche, i.e.
You niggaz ain’t know how to floss ’til I came through the door
like “Eric B. for Pres,” respect me in this BITCH!
You can’t disrespect us cause you got a little check cut
You was suckin for so long, fuckin your little neck up
Now you too big for your britches, you got a few little bitches
You think you Hugh Hefner, you just ridiculous
I blew breath for you midgets, I gave life to the game
It’s only right I got the right to be king
Niggaz that got life really like what I sing
Cause they know is he really like, niggaz feel my pain
Know the shit I DON’T write be the illest shit that’s ever been recited
in the game word to the hyphen in my NAME!
J, A, Y, DASH, Hoffa
The past present nigga the future, proper
The holy trinity of hip-hop is us
We give, Dre his props BUT that’s where it stops
It’s the Roc
Every body wanna be Hov but have is still Alive!
The thing is, BOTH YOU NIGGAS ARE WACK
Don’t ever come to my place talking that Fuck Houston shit, plus you just hating them cause they rich and you struggling
Any musician is expired when people no longer want their product.
There’s 2 perfect examples of this kind of artist: Ice Cube and Bun B
Cube’s last album worth buying: War & Peace Vol. 2 (And that was like 13 years ago)
BUM B’s last album worth buying: Ridin Dirty (From 17 years ago, plus he had help from Pimp C)
Admit it, you niggas been garbage ever since, all y’all do now is trash and y’all really should retire and drop dead on a sewer
.
[Jay-Z]
Hold up; naw muh’fuckers – y’all muh’fuckers
better run to the post office and get a job muh’fuckers
A starve muh’fuckers, cause Jay’s been the only one
eatin thus far sub-par muh’fuckers
Naw even though y’all hate I love y’all muh’fuckers
“Friend or Foe,” y’all all my muh’fuckers
If you haven’t heard, I’m Michael Magic and Bird
all rolled in one – cause none got more flows than Young
Plus got more flows to come
And if I ain’t better than Big, I’m the closest one
So move over – hoes, choose Hova
My food for though so hot it give you dudes ulcers
Rovers, roasters, poseurs
gettin it in with me, livin like they supposed tah
Watches, chain, front row at the game
Sold out arena, all screamin my name, c’mon
THE GOAT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDYSLX_2vr0
Cube after predator you fell off.
Hang up the mic.
Death certificate Classic.
Co-$ign,It’s almo$t like his Pro Blk Gangsta Mentality went out the window,then came the Movies.
And not to put him in a box,but I like the AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted,Death Certificated,Lethal Injection – Cube,Not the yea,yea Cube
Every artist has an expiration date. Especially in hip hop where new albums are getting harder to come by.