Cardi B has accepted Joe Budden’s apology after snapping on him for criticizing her music career.

Cardi B Accepts Joe Budden’s Apology Following His Criticism on Her Career

On Saturday (July 20), Cardi B hopped on X, formerly known as Twitter, and accepted Joe Budden’s apology for his criticism about her music career. This comes after the Bronx rapper slammed the popular podcaster for being a hater following his harsh commentary about her music career as well as Drake’s alleged $400 million deal.

“I got love for you to Joe but you been changing your tone on me real heavy the last 3 years whether music or personal,” Cardi wrote in her post, which can be viewed below. “Like, when I was goin through real sh*t wit my marriage in December you went on ya platform and tried to make that about somebody else and what they got going on.”

“I know criticism comes wit the territory but sometimes the narrative yall decide go run with be soooooo toxic,” she added. “It’s all love tho see you soon.”

Cardi B Slams Joe Budden for Being a Hater

“Shut the f**k up, you don’t even know me,” Cardi said. “Everything you do, whether it’s my personal life or my music life, you’re always talking sh*t about it, but then you fake thirsty for my album.”

She then recalled one time when she gave Joe a lap dance during her stripper days when she was working at Starlet’s.

“Bro, I gave you a lap dance two times in f**kin’ Starlets, you was high as f**k on coke, n***a. I could smell that coke through your breath.”

Joe caught wind of Cardi cursing him out on X Spaces and eventually apologized to her on his X account. The rapper-turned-podcaster also promised to never say her name or talk about her career on his podcast moving forward.

“I promise you and can assure you, i will not cover a single thing this girl does for the remainder of her career… Peace & love,” Joe wrote in his post, adding, “I have also never gotten a lapdance from this lady. I have also never done coke.”

Joe Budden/X

Joe Budden/X

“She cursing me smooth out but she still hilarious lol…. I’m going to bed, i apologize to @iamcardib for whatever i did and peace and love to all,” he concluded.

Check out Cardi B’s apology post and her snapping on Joe Budden after he criticized her music career and marriage on his podcast below.

Read Cardi B’s Post Accepting Joe Budden’s Apology

Listen to Cardi B Calling Out Joe Budden for His Criticisms on Drake and Her

See Older Rappers’ Complaints About Hip-Hop and Where It’s Headed

Ice-T performs on day 2 of the 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture™ at Caesars Superdome on July 01, 2023 in New Orleans, Louisiana

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Ice-T

Ice-T hasn’t put out a solo album in over two decades, since 2006’s Gangsta Rap. He’s fully transitioned into a successful acting career. But that doesn’t mean the West Coast rap veteran hasn’t been eager to share his opinions on hip-hop over the years. Ice-T is quite vocal.

After receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this past February, Ice-T sat down for an interview with Variety and said the reason for his music hiatus was due to the state of the rap game. Ice-T criticized modern day rappers for being “soft,” and said rap was now “goofy.”

“Hip-hop changed,” Ice-T said. “The music got goofy to me. The kids started looking weird. It all turned into something I wasn’t comfortable with. There was a point where I was selling tons of records, then it cooled off. I felt a certain way. Then I realized Public Enemy, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane and Wu-Tang Clan weren’t selling records, either. There was a paradigm shift.”

He continued, “These kids got softer, and soft is not something I’m able to give audiences. The first word in hip-hop is ‘hip’ so how something stays hip for over 10 years is difficult.”

Ice Cube visits SiriusXM Studios on July 10, 2023 in New York City.

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Ice Cube

Ice Cube is never afraid to speak his mind, and he didn’t miss a beat when he was asked to share his thoughts in July about A.I. being used in hip-hop.

“I think A.I. is demonic,” Cube said in an interview on the Full Send podcast. “I think A.I. is gonna get a backlash from real people, real authentic people.”

He specifically talked about the song “heart on my sleeve,” which used A.I.-generated vocals to imitate Drake and The Weeknd.

“I think that’s terrible,” Cube said. “I don’t wanna hear that bulls**t. He should sue whoever made it.”

Melle Mel attends day 1 of the 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture™ at Caesars Superdome on June 30, 2023 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

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Melle Mel

Despite being one of the founding members of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Melle Mel has made headlines in recent years more for his disparaging comments about rap rather than his rhymes.

In an extensive, multi-part interview with The Art of Dialogue earlier in 2023, Melle Mel criticized everyone from Nicki Minaj and Kendrick Lamar to Eminem and DMX.

“Nobody wants to rap like Kendrick Lamar,” Melle Mel said. “Nobody wants to rap like Eminem. A lot of people wanted to rap, like ’Pac and Biggie.”

Melle Mel’s comments were made while discussing Billboard and VIBE‘s Top 50 Rappers of All Time list, which was published this past February. Melle also went on to say that current rappers like Nicki Minaj being placed above old-school rappers like Rakim and LL Cool J was “bulls**t.”

“How could you disrespect the game like that? You just talking about the pure rappers like Rakim and somebody like Kool G Rap,” he said. “Those are basically the top rappers of the game, pure rappers, records aside and all, like just a pure rapper, Rakim, he should never be [No. 14]. I mean, if you’re talking records and all that, he would be closer to No. 1 because of what he did for the game and the culture.”

North Rhine-Westphalia, Cologne: Rapper Snoop Dogg is on stage during a concert at Lanxess Arena

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Snoop Dogg

Snoop Dogg has firmly stood behind a plethora of upcoming rappers over the years, but he noted in an interview with Pigeons & Planes back in 2015 that he can’t really tell artists apart anymore.

“I don’t know who is who when they’re doing that rap style, and I love them all. Future, Migos, Drake, I love all of them. They’re my n***as, but I don’t know who is who when the record is over.”

“When I came out as a rapper, everyone had their own style,” Tha Doggfather continued. “If you sounded like someone else, that word was called ‘biting.’ You biting my style, you biting my s**t. If you paying tribute, like I did with ‘La Di Da Di’ to Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh, I paid n***as who I grew up loving. I said, ‘I’m gonna redo your song, get you paid all over again, let everybody know it’s your s**t, and put a twist on it for the new kids who don’t even know it exists.’ That’s a different way of showing love, as opposed to everyone rapping the same style.”

Snoop also clowned young rappers again later that year for trying to sound like the Migos. He said in an interview with G-Unit on his GGN Talk Show that up-and-coming artists need to stop mimicking the group’s triplet flow.

“Once you be you, who can be you but you,” Snoop asked. “That’s what’s wrong right now everybody trying to rap the same style. I don’t know who created it whether it was Future or Migos but all them n***as sound the same.”

KRS-One (L) and DJ Alamo backstage at Sony Hall on March 12, 2020 in New York City.KRS-One (L) and DJ Alamo backstage at Sony Hall on March 12, 2020 in New York City.

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KRS-One

KRS-One reflected on hip-hop’s 50 years during a panel at the 2023 ESSENCE Festival this year, and said he believes modern-day rap to be a “betrayal.”

“What people call rap or hip hop today is a disgrace to our culture,” he said. “An absolute betrayal, disrespect and a disgrace. That gap you’re talking about is not even a gap; it’s traitors. It’s straight traitors because if you know what original hip hop is all about and you choose to do the opposite, you a traitor. There’s no way around that s**t.”

KRS-One went on to say the kids of today “have nothing.” KRS said that while rap music has long served as an inspiration for children, radio no longer prioritizies conscious rap music like his own.

“Where’s your parents, where’s your teacher, your minister, your grandmother?” he asked. “These kids have nothing, so now they turn on the radio, and they listen to hip hop — and somebody like KRS-One, Knowledge Reigns Supreme, Melle Mel, everyone… Black radio don’t even want to play my music, but they’ll [play] that b**ch, and that h**, and that tramp, and that s**t. This is African Americans doing this to African Americans.”

Rapper Fabolous attends Labor Day Takeover at Republic Lounge on September 4, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Fabolous

Fabolous is another rap veteran who has a long history of collaborating with hip-hop’s newcomers, but in July of this year, he admitted on Instagram that he currently isn’t a fan of female rap.

“I love hearing female rappers talking some real s**t,” Fab wrote on his Instagram Story on July 16. “Women are so strong. Have so many stories and perspectives that we need to hear in pure form.”

He added, “No disrespect to any female rappers out there but I think there’s only one style of female rap/Hip Hop being promoted, programmed and looked at as successful now.”

Bow Wow performs onstage at Buckhead Theatre on September 10, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Bow Wow

Bow Wow didn’t mince words when he spoke to TMZ back in June at the BET Awards. When asked why hip-hop hadn’t landed a No. 1 single or album yet this year, Bow Wow simply said it was because the music is “trash.”

“’Cause n***as puttin’ out trash a*s music,” he said. “Everything sound alike, everything repetitive, same tempo … everybody could do that, you know what I’m saying?”

He added: “You really gotta have talent, you really gotta go. I think people are startin’ to get tired of it now, that’s why you don’t see nothin’ chartin…I ain’t hear nothing where I said, ‘I’m gonna hear this 30 years from now.'”

Cassidy attends the StyleWise Presents: Fashion Double Header at Limelight Shops on September 12, 2012 in New York City.

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Cassidy

Cassidy showed no mercy when he criticized rap’s younger generation in an interview with VladTV back in 2017. When asked if he kept up to date with current rap music, Cassidy said he did because of his teen son showing him artists. However, Cass admitted it was hard for him to listen to some of the newer rappers.

“He bringing all type of muthaf**kas to my attention and I be hearing ’em and I be like, Yo, it’s so many flaws,” Cassidy said. “As soon as I hear ’em. It turns me off, a n***a that dedicated 20 years and, you know what I mean? Never wanted to have any flaws or even if you got any you’re always just working on perfecting ’em. So when I hear a n***a making all of these flaws, making all of these mistakes, can’t even rap, I get turned off from it.”

Cassidy later corrected himself during a follow-up interview with VladTV in 2023, saying he feels differently about mumble rap.

“I’m in a different place now,” he said. “I think dudes that are considered to be mumble rappers are dope in a lot of different ways. I just ain’t really acknowledge it because my main focus is bars.”

Slim Thug attends the 713 Day & National French Fry Day at Checkers restaurant on July 13, 2023 in Houston, Texas.

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Slim Thug

Slim Thug clowned 2023 rappers in a freestyle posted to his Instagram back in May. In the video, the Swishahouse rapper is seen sitting in his car while smoking a blunt on a hot summer day. He then starts nonchalantly spitting over a Jersey Club beat, almost as if to show how easy it is.

“Me tryna rap like rappers of today,” Slim Thug wrote in the caption. In the video, he spits ludicrous bars such as “Your sh*t start drippin’, your baby keep trippin’/Yeah, I got her slippin’ all on my flow.”

Joe Budden speaks onstage during day 2 of REVOLT Summit x AT&T Summit on September 13, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Joe Budden

Joe Budden is another veteran rapper who never backs down from sharing his thoughts, no matter how controversial or divisive. On a September episode of his Joe Budden Podcast, the former Slaughterhouse member said rap was in a grim place, and expressed concern about the genre’s future.

“Dark,” Budden said when asked how he feels about current hip-hop. “I think we already there. Everybody can’t do a show. Everybody can’t put a song on a playlist. Everybody cannot access their fans or the information behind the units that they are moving. It’s dark out there.”

He continued: “N***as don’t know how to respond to A.I. Label people are leaving for the tech companies and they playing all kinds of stock games at the top. They selling IPOs. Their artists are not getting one red penny. It’s disgusting out there.”

He added that rappers need to come together to figure out what’s next for the genre.

“We need a meeting,” he said. “We need a meeting to share our own information to come up with our own plan. We need to figure out who need to be with them over there…and who wanna be over here. It’s gonna be tough to do that. People are voluntarily giving their rights away. I feel like I been a broken record for years.”

Xzibit poses backstage at The Belasco on March 23, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.

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Xzibit

Xzibit has shared his thoughts on his time in hip-hop during its 50th anniversary this year. While serving as a guest speaker on a Roc Nation panel on Sept. 14, the former Pimp My Ride host showed his appreciation for the art form and all it’s done for his life. However, he also claimed the new generation has made the genre “a mockery” that has continued to “spiral out of control.”

“It’s become a mockery of itself,” Xzibit said. “It’s become too accessible. There was a time that there was somebody that you had to go into their office and get an investment into your career. Now, if you just have a laptop and WiFi, you can be an artist… People do themselves a disservice by trying to participate in that.”

Xzibit went on to say that had artists unionized, hip-hop wouldn’t be heading in the direction it’s currently heading in.

“We should have unionized,” he added. “We should have had some kind of union, we shoulda had a board, we shoulda organized ourselves. ’Cause right now, you know, becoming 50 years later we still don’t own s**t.”

“So until we own it, until we control it, until we have a say who gets to f**kin’ call themselves this and call themselves that, like everybody else, it’s gonna continue to spiral out of control,” Xzibit continued. “And that’s why we’re not on the Billboard [charts], because nobody is in the pilot seat guiding us to where we supposed to go.”

In November of 2023, Xzibit was a guest on The Adam Carolla Showwhere he again weighed in on the current state of hip-hop. According to X to the Z, the new era lacks staying power.

“I don’t know if they’re doing it on purpose or not, but hip-hop doesn’t have the staying power that it used to have,” he said.

“Right now, I think the music itself isn’t a good representation of what we’re supposed to be,” he continued. “Not taking anything away from these kids, because they’re feeding their families. They’re not in the street. They’re not doing… some of them aren’t doing anything illegal. But I think there’s a real path right now for somebody to come out with some real content and have that staying power, and show that it’s possible.”

Ghostface Killah during The celebration of Ghostface Killah Day on May 20, 2023 in New York City.

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Ghostface Killah

Ghostface Killah needs no introduction for those privy to hip-hop’s history, which is exactly why the Wu-Tang Clan member said rap newcomers should make it a priority to study past MCs before picking up the mic.

“I’m all for these young Black kids getting money and doing what they do,” Ghostface said in a 2021 interview with Vulture while discussing his career. “But musically, I think that becoming a rapper now, you should know the history. Know now who the Spoonie Gees and Sugarhill Gangs was, the Wu-Tangs and the Biggies, all that. Grand Puba, all these guys. You need to know these people. You gotta add to that. We got bodies of work. Mobb Deep, Nas, Wu-Tang, Jay-Z, we got bodies of work. These days, you might hear one record and don’t even care about the rest of the album.”

“Some of them really got talent,” he continued. “You might not be able to understand that talent because that’s not the era you come from, but being an artist, you gotta be willing to listen to everything. It took me a while to start to understand these kids and their sound.”

In May of 2024, Ghost complained about the lack of storytelling and lack of variety on the female rap scene in today’s hip-hop.

“I don’t hear n***as doing storytelling no more, man,” he said. “There might be Nas. You might still got [Slick] Rick out there doing it … Raekwon, [GZA]. A lot of stuff be regular darts, regular raps.

He continued, “Everything with this new generation is about clubs. A lot of p***y getting thrown around and s**t. It ain’t like with MC Lyte. Even when Lil’ Kim did it, she was gangsta with it. She was a rapper’s rapper. She was Erica Cane with it. But the Lauryn Hills of this s**t [are] gone. Even the Foxys and s**t like that, like a lag came over it. But all this other ‘lick my a*s,’ ‘my butthole brown’ shit, it’s like … it’s too much.”

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson attends WE TV’s “Hip Hop Homicides” New York Premiere at Crosby Street Hotel on November 10, 2022 in New York City.

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50 Cent

50 Cent is another rap veteran who has often sided with the younger generation and championed upcoming rappers over the years such as DaBaby, Lil Tjay and others. But the G-Unit mogul called the new generation of rappers “crazy” on Instagram back in July after he shared NLE Choppa’s song, “Shotta Flow 6.” On the track, Choppa raps about YNW Melly‘s alleged double murders and seems to be praising him.

In the clip 50 Cent posted, Choppa raps that he “turns into” Melly whenever he feels he’s being threatened by the opposition.

“Yo these little [nina emoji]’s crazy, LOL WTF!” 50 Cent captioned the clip.

Separately, 50 Cent also told the Houston radio station 97.9 The Box back in 2022 that it’s way too easy for young rappers to make music these days.

“It’s easier, the cadences are the same, they’re rapping the same way on the record,” 50 Cent said. “You can actually take their favorite records and write your version of your favorite records with your words on that track and go get the next track because they’re using the same melody every time.”

Rapper Rakim performs onstage at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre on July 18, 2015 in Irvine, California.

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Rakim

Eric B. and Rakim’s success can be entirely attributed to their lyrical ability on the microphone, that’s why the duo have distanced themselves from hip-hop in recent years, because of the lack of lyrical content.

The pair wrote out a lengthy rant on Twitter back in 2018, in which they criticized emerging artists like Young Thug, and said rap fans were witnessing the death of their favorite genre.

They felt there was no longer a desire to “create meaningful change through words and verses.”

“You are now witnessing the devolution of rap music,” they wrote in part. “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.”

Rakim later came out and said he had nothing to do with those tweets, telling TMZ in February of that year that the tweets didn’t reflect his honest opinion. However, he did say rap was filled with artists who were “degrading the culture.”

“Without no disrespect to any artist, there’s a lot of degrading music out there, as far as degrading the culture and degrading society, as well,” he said. “That’s individuals that choose to make that kind of music. As the listeners, I think that they should be a little more opinionated on what they’re listening to and what they like, and a little more opinionated on what they’re hearing.”

Pete Rock performs onstage during the Grandmaster Flash & Friends “Birth Of A Culture: The 4 Elements Block Party” at Crotona Park on August 04, 2023 in New York City.

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Pete Rock

Pete Rock has never shied away from trashing modern rap music over the years. The veteran rapper and producer clowned drill music in May of 2022, calling it “doo-doo” that disrupts the soul. However, Rock really let his frustrations fly in 2016, when he lamented over mumble rap. In a lengthy Instagram post, Rock condemned the new generation entirely and said they have no respect for the culture.

“…Im a lil tired of people taking this culture for a joke,” he wrote in part. “Feeling like Kaepernick right now real talk mayne. Im obviously passionate about good music and good lyrics. Cant understand the mumble rap shit da hell is that? Lol cmon man i can make yall sound real good. I can clearly see yall dont care about the culture so why you in it? Yall not gonna last doing dat!”

Grandmaster Caz appears onstage at the “Biography: Bobby Brown” And “Origins Of Hip Hop” NYC premiere event on May 17, 2022 in New York City.

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Grandmaster Caz

Grandmaster Caz hasn’t been a fan of the new generation for quite some time. The rap veteran referred to gangsta rap as being “detrimental” to hip-hop, and in a 2015 interview with VladTV said there wasn’t a single new rapper he respected.

“I can’t think of none,” Caz said when asked which newer rappers he respected. “Y’all maybe thinking about A$AP Rocky or 2 Chainz or one of them. I don’t even consider that hip-hop. Nah, just rap music cats that got a deal. Anybody can do that. Anybody can do that.”

However, he added that he’s open to giving newer rappers a chance, and said he’d start by listening to more of 2 Chainz’s music.

Queen Latifah performs live during the NMAAHC Hip-Hop Block Party at Smithsonian National Museum Of African American History on August 12, 2023 in Washington, DC.

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Queen Latifah

Queen Latifah has often used hip-hop and her place in it to advocate for those less fortunate. In an interview with Ebro Darden on Hot 97, Latifah spoke very frankly about how the new generation doesn’t seem interested in doing that. She criticized them for ignoring important issues.

“They got soft,” Latifah said. “Like, when things are going on in the world, like Donald Trump or elections, this was the stuff we chewed on. Or how [many]…people addicted to heroin…Where’s the flip side to ‘Molly Percocet’? Well, the flip side is that you’re missing out on life, you sleep, you crash your car.”

She clarified, “I’m not judging either way. I’m just saying it’s always good to have both those sides.”

Sean “Diddy” Combs attends the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference National Town Hall on September 21, 2023 in Washington, DC.

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Diddy

Diddy is known in hip-hop as one of the most successful self-made men in the industry. Therefore, he went on an Instagram rant back in 2018 to share this thoughts on how the younger generation makes music. While he’s all for people picking up a laptop and ProTools and uploading music themselves, there’s an art that’s being lost. Diddy expressed concern about rap getting “diluted” as a result of all the young people entering the game, especially since he believes a lot of them sound the same.

“So many people rapping right now, I love it. It is literally like too much,” the Bad Boy Records leader said. “It’s a lot to take in every day, everybody saying the same s**t, in like different ways. I’m not knocking nobody’s dream. I just don’t want the culture to get diluted. Where it gets so mass produced that it doesn’t mean anything. Artists have to be special.”

He continued, “Every artist needs to be unique in they own right. If you ‘gon be in this game, be great, cause you can also be part of the noise.”

Rapper Lil Boosie on the set of the music Video “Shottas” at Private Residence on September 23, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Boosie Badazz

Boosie BadAzz has beefed with multiple rappers over the years due to his staunch anti-snitching beliefs, but in a June interview with VladTV, he said the younger generation often takes their rap feuds too far. Rather than keep it about the music, he criticized the younger generation for their “disrespectful” behavior both on and off their records.

“All this new young s**t…n***as shooting videos on n***as gravesites, like I have never saw nothing like that,” Boosie said. “I have never saw nothing that disrespectful.”

Recording artist RA The Rugged Man poses for photos at King Magazine Editor-In-Chief Datwon Thomas’ Birthday Party at Rock Candy May 12, 2005 in New York City.

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RA The Rugged Man

R.A. The Rugged Man was very quick to criticize mumble rap in a 2017 interview with VladTV, and said after listening to Migos’ “Bad and Boujee” that everyone is mimicking the group’s triplet flow.

“Everybody’s doing that same pattern,” RA said. “So, now with some background and knowledge of that particular record, if those were the originators of popularizing that sound that everybody is biting off of, that’s why you need historical context for certain records…everybody I hear rapping raps like that now. All the new kids, same pattern.”

He went on to say that while he sees the historical purpose of mumble rap, a part of him believes that “rap is where you come if you want lyrics.”

“Take the c**k out of your mouth and speak clearly young man,” R.A. added. “F**k this mumble bumble. Speak clearly let me hear what the f**k you’re saying.”

Rapper E-40 stands court side of the Golden State Warriors game against the Sacramento Kings in Game Six of the Western Conference First Round Playoffs at Chase Center on April 28, 2023 in San Francisco, California.

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E-40

E-40 is a true veteran of hip-hop who has been serving up hits in the rap game for 30 years. So naturally, with hip-hop celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023, the Yay Area veteran was asked his thoughts on the current state of rap. During his interview with CBS Mornings in December of 2023, 40 Water did not hold back in his assessment of where rap music is headed.

“I don’t like where it’s at because I feel like it’s not enough creativity,” he told CBS Mornings cohost Nate Burleson. “A lot of people sound the same bro. A lot of people sound [the] same…a lot of copycats. A lot of them is saying the same thing over and over and over instead of mixing it up.”

“I’m not trying to act like I’m hella positive,” E-40 continued. “But I am because I’m a storyteller. The things that sound like they ain’t positive, I talk about the repercussions and consequences if you do this. I’m a storyteller.”

(2nd L-R) Keith Murray, Redman, Erick Sermon, and guest attend the BET Awards 2023 at Microsoft Theater on June 25, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.

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Erick Sermon

Erick Sermon, of the legendary rap duo EPMD, feels that hip-hop is in an unrecognizable state right now and is not evolving. In a viral video, edited from a November 2023 interview on the Say Word! Podcast, E Double said today’s rap music is not hip-hop and they should change it to something else.

“I just think that [today’s] hip-hop is just not hip-hop,” Erick explained in the clip. “I just think that they should change the name. No disrespect. But hip-hop what it is, it [comes] from a culture and hip-hop can evolve but this is not evolving.”

“Evolving is Melly Mel to Rakm stage to the whole nine to [Wu-Tang Clan],” he continued. “From Wu-Tang to Murder Inc., that’s evolving. To Cam’ron and them you know Dipset that’s evolving, it’s still the culture. You can’t go from that and don’t evolve and come to where we are at right now, that’s not what that is.”

“That is not what this culture is about,” Erick explained further. “This culture is about content. It’s about being able to say something that resonates that feels like something that’s what we come from. We have bars…technique, flow the whole nine. Beats and rhymes.”

Additionally, Erick Sermon wanted to emphasize that he’s not hating on the younger generation of rap artists. Instead, he simply wants to see the music and culture elevate into a new sound and direction.

Pete Rock attends the BET Hip Hop Awards 2022 on September 30, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Pete Rock

Pete Rock has been very outspoken about his dislike of today’s rap music and where it’s headed. On Jan 3, 2024, the veteran producer posted on his Instagram page a clip of Erick Sermon talking about how hip-hop is in an “unrecognizable” state right now and added his own thoughts in the caption.

“They should change the music too WTF,” Pete wrote. “Tryna create a narrative that aint working. Pile driving the culture straight in the ground.”

“We created real history! idk what da hell they creating today but it damn sure aint history or hip hop, that’s a fact,” he continued. “We lost our integrity chasing the money. The bag as they say has become the problem and the focus point in the culture.”

Pete Rock went on to criticize people who don’t like his opinion and chalked it up to people being sensitive.

“Everyone extra sensitive about opinions smh,” the Chocolate Boy Wonder typed. “Soon as you have an opinion your a hater automatically lol. Clown s**t. We all out here working to make better music. Why don’t [you] try and do the same thing.”