Appearing on The Outlaw Show was Too Short who explained what went wrong with Hip Hop 50 and how he would have celebrated the milestone.
Coming out of Oakland, there is no denying the impact and contribution in which Too Short instilled into the genre of hip hop. The rapper and producer who gave us hits such as Blow The Whistle and The Ghetto, is also known for never shying away from expressing his thoughts and it’s no different when it comes to hip hop 50.
“I heard hip hop for the first time, I heard Rapper’s Delight. And then not long after that it was Grandmaster Flash was dropping something. Stuff was coming out from Sugar Hill Records, Spoonie Gee, Kurtis Blow came out. It was probably like a year later, 1980, I’m like man I think I can do this,” said Too Short when asked by host EDI Mean why he started rapping.
The Bay Area rapper does believe celebrating Grandmaster Caz and his peers before Rapper’s Delight was the right call, but at the end their contribution was outshined by other artists who followed. Artists such as Slick Rick and Chuck D, who undeniably deserve to be celebrated, but ultimately overshadowed those who came before them.
“The 50 should have been, let’s just stop and appreciate the first seven years before Rapper’s Delight,” Too Short explained. “I’m like man, let’s celebrate them first.”
While various platforms such as the Grammys and the VMA’s, along with sold out shows such as the one held in Yankee Stadium back in August, many felt not all contributors to the culture were properly celebrated. With many areas across the states producing various artists with their own unique sound and incredible stories respectively, according to many the east coast, primarily New York, appeared to have consumed most of the spotlight.
“Did we really celebrate the story of hip hop in Chicago? Did we really celebrate the story of Miami, Houston, Oakland, L.A., and Atlanta? Everybody got a different story. So I think we missed the mark by not singling out them dudes and saying thank you for giving us this industry. Then the rest of us could have said we carried the torch, we did it right,” said Too Short on The Outlaw Show via EDI Mean TV.
Regardless, Too Short will continue to celebrating hip hop and showing love to all who came before and those who are on the rise. The Bay Area legend’s weekly show Don’t Stop Rappin’ on LL Cool J’s Rock The Bells Radio (Ch. 43) on Sirius XM does exactly just that. “I always show love to the young homies and the O.G.’s, but I can also show special love to everything that came before me because I know it made me fall in love with hip hop,” said Too Short.