Over the course of his storied career, Guns N’ Roses’ lead guitarist Slash has been a proponent for not only rock music culture but music culture as a whole.
So when USA TODAY asked the 53-year-old rock icon what his thoughts were on the Hip Hop/R&B becoming the dominant music genre, he took note of the culture’s popularity — and the consequences of its ubiquity.
Rock isn’t mainstream anymore, and in some ways, I like that,” he tells Patrick Ryan midway through an interview that also covers his band’s state of affairs and his solo career. “It harks back to when rock ‘n’ roll was more of an underground concept, when people were speaking about things that they weren’t necessarily comfortable saying in the mainstream arena. As far as hip-hop is concerned, it’s become so generic at this point. It’s definitely taken on a very top-40 thing.”
As of press time, nine out of the top 10 Billboard 100 hits involve a rapper, including the No. 1 slot, Maroon 5’s “Girls Like You (Remix)” featuring Cardi B.
Over the course of his career, Slash hasn’t necessarily been associated with any rappers but he did perform live renditions of “Beat It” alongside Michael Jackson and collaborated with the likes of Rihanna and Lenny Kravitz.
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He ain’t wrong …it’s so generic now it’s scary . Some of it is boring due to predictability and flow. And this is from a hip hop fan.
I agree a hundo percent with him
I 100% agree With Slash this is the worst era easily ever for Hip Hop Music. I blame Drake and the Migos and Future, Everybody is copying their style and sound and it is shit. You have a few out there that are good and real hip hop artist. J.I.D, Chris Webby, Bishop. Joey thats a few.
Especially migos and future. I mean it seems like every fucking rapper coming out sounds exactly like them. Even Drake, on scorpion, started with the Migos ad libs and shit. Imagine where we would be if Dr Dre dropped Detox, kept his label together and released albums from Stat Quo and Bishop Lamont. They would have Dre, Em, 50, Busta Rhymes, Obie Troce, Stat Quo, Bishop Lamont- plus content from any g unit, d12 etc… Aftermaths collapse fucked up errything
Slash ain’t tellin no lies. The mumbles and memes era had taken over hip-hop.
Your not a fan of hip hop if you don’t agree with this
slash knows whats happening. he isn’t impressed :/ welp.
Back in the 90s you had your wutangs, Timberland, rnb all culturally relative but very distinctive in nature. Mainstream nowadays is so corney its like production line music to lure these youngs kats
He has a point, only with today’s rap though
He’s 100% right.
I concur with Slash. Hiphop having been around 40+ years now peaked in the early 00s and is mainstream to point we’re people are just riding a certain sound “even the foreign rappers”. Now it’s about sales an popularity more so than talent an skill… quality Hiphop is still here it just moved to the websites
HE’S SPEAKING FACTS!!!! RAP MUSIC IS TRASH AND IT’S RAN BY WHITES!!!! FACTS!!!!! NOW EVERYBODY SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!
Slash actually was on “if you need a fix remix” with blackstreet and ODB. Just saying
I agree Hip-Hop becoming so huge has opened the doors to a lot of terrible rappers/music we would have never heard otherwise, but still it’s not hard to find good hip-hop. What’s shoved down our throats by the radio is one thing, but there are a ton of artists still putting out great work. Just this year Noname, Lupe Fiasco, Royce, and Jay Rock all gave us pretty good albums. The 69s, lil xans, and lil pumps will come and go, but only quality will survive.
i being saying that for 4 years
music from the 60¨s turned into radio playable and it died, same with the 70¨s, 80¨s, rock, and now hip hop is the new radio mainstream bullshit the executives are exploting
It’s not Hip-Hop on the radio, it’s pathetic pop rap! Hip-Hop lives in the underground.
But back in the day even the mainstream Rap had quality. Now you only find real talent & originality on the underground scene. It’s still here, it’s still alive, you just have to look for it. Simply put it went from 90% quality Rap & R’n’B music & 10% trash to the complete opposite.
Welcome to the Jungle!! Funny how no hip hop artist has sampled gunner’s song?
hip hop is boring , all the same shit . bring back the rock n roll
I love how he has absolutely nothing to do with Hip-Hop but we supposed to care about his opinion in reference to it.
Yeah man. Take note. Slash knows what he’s talking about. He’s been around a long time. Not one artist experiments more than Slash. He’s the shit! Betcha Kanye can’t even play a single lick on guitar. Im not a rap or hip hop fan whatsoever. Takes a better musician to get out there in front on thousands each night playing the axe than it does to get up and try to find a rhyme for the word orange!
I guess I’m the only black hip hop fan/artist that SEES what has happened in hip hop. Notice how hip hop(a black originated music art form) is now at its peak popularity wise when it’s at its lowest creatively,technically,sonically & knowledge wise? Yes it’s somewhat black folks fault,but it’s definitely the white powers that run everything that have been angling towards this for awhile.
The ratio of good music to bad music has fluctuated but hasn’t really changed. There is just so much more available. The last few years has seen a creative renaissance in hiphop music with many great projects from artists old and new. If all you follow is top 40 because you dont have your own discernment than I only feel bad for you. And as far as that rasict bullshit you’re pedaling, you are only setting the human species back as a whole. If you think its racist that I called you racist then suck a black dick
I’m white but i agree with king richard, hip hop has been dumbed down as a form of mind control, i also don’t think that’s even slightly racist cause throughout history white people are generally the ones doing shit like this, why would you trust em, plus he didn’t say white people in general he said the pussys that run shit, they don’t just enslave black people though, since social media they got all us little people behind bars
To sell rap to the masses of white Americans you have to take out all of the parts they can’t relate to and edit out the bars that make them uncomfortable. What you’re left with is promiscuity, recreational drug use and an obsession with wealth, completely detached from the social context that created them.
Just because it is related to racial norms doesn’t make it racist to point it out.
So of course mainstream rap, hollowed out as it has been, lacks any real substance. It’s mostly just a bunch of kids saying dumb shit on social media then promoting codeine for the 3 mins they can still actually focus.
For a guy that doesn`t even know what hiphop is (a cultural movement, not a musical artform), you sure feel like you own it.
As a black hiphop “fan” you should atleast know that part.
When will they stop referring to Hip-Hop as a genre of music?
Yall don’t even know who the fuck yall talking about….old racist white rocker? Go do some research please…no he not no hardcore hip hop head but the man has been around it long enough to see the bullshit it’s become. And he’s accurate in what he saying. The underground shit now USED to be part of the mainstream cause it was balance…now its mostly bullshit. Oh my bad he can’t say that cause he white
Saul is half black and not everyone is tripping hard over that bridge of nursury rhymes while holding phones someone else funds like squirrels or some shit on parade. And hip hop in it’s mainstream form is entirely completely uterlly omnipresently Dr Seuss garbage ass special education rehearsal hammered dogshit in a dented can.
Listen to any Joyner Lucas track at random then come back and apologize.
Hip-hop isn’t getting generic, but if you’re too lazy to scratch a bit deeper than Billboard Top 40 then of course you’re gonna get crap.
Slash’s half black dumbass.
He’s one of my favorite guitarists so yeah I already knew that. And his mom being black don’t exactly make him certified or some shit
Please go kill yourself so we can all certify your dead.
a white guy says he doesnt like hip hop. RACIST! yall are fucking comedy
Why when someone dont like hip hop because they are White it’s racist BULLSHIT I tell you right now early Rap had something to say say for example LIFE IS TO SHORT ,if you just going to talk shit with some beats behind it I can take my white ass home to Los Angeles stand on the street corner listen to people talk shit all day for fucking free ,also when you are making music on a computer and a drum machine and talking over it like Kanye does don’t get on TV and call you self a musical genius because your not ,PRINCE WAS A MUSICAL GENIUS, KANYE IS FUCKING NOT ONE hey you think you one’s that cry racist are the one’s that are racist!
Relax bro…he was trolling….
We’ll put.
He is not a white guy, he is mixed black, Indian and white as l remember. From music of Hendrix and Prince you come to the synthetic computer beats of many Lil’s and Puffs. That’s a shame not rasism.
Umm his mother is 100% black btw
Yes, she is …
He also did all about the benjamins with puff daddy lol
Pretty much every kind of music is running out of ideas it’s all getting repeated over and over with a slightly different spin from time to time
Hes right! Plus we all know that the dope shit is underground
He’s completely right. Hiphop in top 40 is generic crap. The good stuff isn’t popular. I’d rather listen to guns n roses than all of the top hits these days hands down. If an of Y’all hiphop heads also like classic rock n roll, check out Greta Van Fleet. And rap wise, check out Grieves and Prof.
I wouldn’t say a diss. Slash just calling it for what it is. Why must every article have some negative connotation to it? So for all the heads out there that feel the same way (me included), doesn’t mean we’re dissing it. We can’t always go to war when facts are laid out in front of us, Trent.
Total agreement…
This wasn’t a diss. The title of this article made it sound like another out of touch bitter rock star (like Gene Simmons ofr example) shitting on hiphop but Slash actually has a point. Now that hip-hop is the #1 genre in the mainstream, the ambition and rawness has been casted aside for Pop-Rap, generic music that are only saying things that people are comfortable with it saying. Hip-hop is the most popular genre in the world but at what cost?
He was also on the remix of If You Need A Fix With Blackstreet. Dope ass guitar solo towards the end of the song.
I’m sure he’s references today’s “Hip Hop.”
Das raciss mayn
before you start that racist shit……. Slash is half black. lol….. no he really is.
He’s not black enuff thus not qualified to comment on BLACK culture. #BlackLivesMatter
Slash is very correct and has credibility to make such a statement regarding Hip Hop. This genre is NOT what it used to be of course once the music industry exploited it. It’s just a shit show now, beyond saturated and exploited. What’s next after mumble rap, what’s the next fad? Who knows, but fact of the matter is that Slash has been around long enough to see the continuing shift in Hip Hop, even though he doesn’t compose in this genre of music. If you can’t agree with this, then you are part of the problem with Hip Hop.
Headline was totally misleading and sensationalist.
fun fact: Slash performed guitar on the “Fix” remix for Blackstreet featuring ODB, back in the late 90s. He’s also in the video.
He isn’t lying. Hip hop has been dying for years
Title of this story is completely misleading, what I will say is that I can appreciate most of the people in the comments agreed with Slash and didn’t start talking shit and try to discredit him, it almost brought a tear to my eye. Slash is a fuckin legend , I’m glad we showing him respect , now everyone go listen to “Civil War” that’s the best GnR track
The same people that pushed top 40 rock are now pushing top 40 rap.
It is as repetitive as the top 40 rock songs back then were. The bigger problem is the radio stations playing the same 10-15 songs on constant rotation. People have a very limited musical palette as a result.
Agree with him.
There’s one dominant form of music right now, and its a b@stardized version of EDM. Rock, rap, pop, even country to a certain extent, they’re all succumbing to this generic, dumb downed sound that has been pushed over and over by the powers that be (record labels, radio stations, etc) until people have accepted it. Think about it, Eminem made that out and out radio friendly song with Rihanna, next thing you know he’s getting play on country stations. So many country stars try to sound like Eminem over pop beats for similar exposure. It’s just pathetic. If you have a brain and don’t just listen to what is force fed to you, there just isn’t much there anymore.