Comedian Chris Rock is a close friend of Hip Hop. The New Jack City actor recently appeared on Busta Rhymes’ highly anticipated album Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of Godand has been an outspoken fan of Public Enemy, Lauryn Hill and Outkast in past interviews.
But when it comes to rap’s younger generation, he’s not exactly up to speed. During a recent appearance on Showtime’s Desus & Mero show, Rock was asked what new artists he’s been listening to but couldn’t come up with an answer.
When NBA YoungBoy’s name (or YoungBoy Never Broke Again) gets thrown in the ring, Rock says, “NBA YoungBoy? I don’t even know him.” While he said he was a fan of Pop Smoke, he admitted he’s more likely to listen to J. Cole or Kendrick Lamar who he deemed “the truth.”
But Rock especially struggles with the single-driven era.
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“Who’s the new album artists, you know what I mean?” he said. “I like DaBaby, but is there a DaBaby album? There’s a lot of guys dropping hot singles, which is lovely. But I like to … a whole experience that I can marinate on, you know what I mean? Kendrick is like the truth.
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“That’s what I’m aiming for. A musical journey. The ups, the downs, the weird single that you know — the weird album track that you know is never gonna be a single, but you love it. Like Slick Rick ‘Lick The Balls.’ This is never going to a single!”
Elsewhere in the interview, Rock discussed roles he’s had in movies such as Pootie Tang and New Jack City, The Knicks and more. Watch the full discussion above.
