Legendary hip hop duo Eric B. and Rakim have a lot to say about the current state of the genre they helped pioneer. In a series of tweets, they spoke out against the new generation, saying that we are "now witnessing the devolution of rap music."
"You are now witnessing the devolution of rap music. The death of poetry and smoothness, they use this. The absence of a message," the first tweet read. "The inability to create meaningful change through words and verses, but the worse is, they don’t even know they hurt this artful purpose, it’s tragic."
After receiving some flak for the tweet, they responded to their critics, making it clear that there is a distinction between rap and hip hop. "You need to look real close at this previous tweet that’s reached almost 1 million people already and see what you read. It says “rap” not “hip hop,”" the tweet said. "If you don’t know the difference, you can’t make a difference."
This isn't the first time the official Eric B and Rakim twitter account has made headlines after it tweeted support for Donald Trump and Mike Pence during the 2016 election. They claimed they had been hacked.
It is still unclear whether or not Eric B and Rakim are directly linked to their official Twitter account. Check out the tweets below:
You are now witnessing the devolution of rap music. The death of poetry and smoothness, they use this. The absence of a message. The inability to create meaningful change through words and verses, but the worse is, they don’t even know they hurt this artful purpose, it’s tragic.
— Eric B and Rakim™ (@EricBandRakim) February 12, 2018You need to look real close at this previous tweet that’s reached almost 1 million people already and see what you read. It says “rap” not “hip hop”.If you don’t know the difference, you can’t make a difference. #KNOWtheLEDGEhttps://t.co/417eUZO3yY
— Eric B and Rakim™ (@EricBandRakim) February 14, 2018
When the magic is gone and the rhythm don’t hit like a gong; when the ledge is unknown and the samples is wrong...there’s no strength in a song, if they all sound the same. There’s no harmony in a melody, if you just playing the game...play that chord <sustain>
— Eric B and Rakim™ (@EricBandRakim) February 14, 2018
Even iconic funk artist George Clinton chimed in and agreed with Eric B and Rakim's statement. Do you feel the same way about the current state of rap?