Cypress Hill spoke to HipHopDX in a recent interview and dismissed the notion Hip Hop is a 'young man's game.'
Busta Rhymes routinely dominate the G.O.A.T. conversations and theyre all over 40. Unlike rock-n-roll musicians, who dont seem to have an expiration date (just ask Mick Jagger, Keith Richards or Paul McCartney), Hip Hop artists often feel dismissed once they hit a certain age. But B-Real and Sen Dog, who are both in their 50s, arent buying the young mans game theory. Cypress has always done our own thing, Sen says. The culture has always rewarded us by sticking true to it. I dont think weve ever left it or anything like that. Its always been a steady progression of the Cypress style and what we represent. I dont know how Bobo feels or whatever, but I dont think its like were trying to do a takeover or anything like that or come back, this and that. Were still here. Weve never gone away. This is the 30th anniversary of the band and thats what we need to focus on. The new album, the documentary and everything that we got going, I think is a pretty strong package. Its not like were doing anything out of the ordinary to impress our fans. Were just being ourselves still and giving it to them the way that we think it should be presented. People have always received us well for that. A post shared by Cypress Hill (@cypresshill) Bobo adds, Were not following trends nor have we ever followed trends. If we were trying to compete and do this music that is most popular now with a lot of trap stuff and everything like that, then it would seem forced because thats not what were about. We try to stay true to what we want and what we like and we improve on that. B-Real hops in, Yeah. I think with that connection, that theres with the Hip Hop is a young mans game thing, it really isnt. Its for whoever and those who hold onto the passion for it and if you keep razor sharp. Our school, the gold school, we continue to work even past the so-called prime. Everybody continues to work and its like playing a sport. The more you train, the better you get at it. The more you do it, the more it becomes innate its second nature. Artist such as Ice Cube,Public Enemy, Nappy Roots, Eminem, Nas and JAY-Zhave all dropped albums over the past five years, proving theres still an audience thats hungry for the golden era Hip Hop so prevalent in the late 1980s and 90s. This resurgence youre seeing of gold school artists from our time coming back, B-Real says. Again, its like Sen Dog said, its not like we ever left. Its just that this industry, this music, this genre goes in cycles. It always tends to trend younger because when you get to the age above 30 and 40, how do you connect with the teens and the young adults? Companies never figured that out. Your fan base gets older and they get younger if youre lucky. What happens is the record companies dont know how to find the folks that grew up with you once theyve become adults and theyre now out to the world, not as young people. They dont have that game down. So theyre geared to keep marketing and promoting towards a younger audience. Theyre the ones, the record companies and the record industry are the one who plays artists out like that. Well, Youre above 30, youre above 40, done. That is not true. He continues, Were fucking seeing it more often now. And because the doors have been broken open, now you dont really need them to show that. People can make a video, go on YouTube, crack it off and create the wave. It goes to show you, they werent trying and they never will because its easier to market towards younger people. Read more