22-year-old rapper Vince Staples caused some controversy this month when he questioned why the 1990s are considered a "Golden Era" in hip-hop. As was previously reported, the rapper was born in 1993 and did not truly "experience" the decade. He said, "I was born in 1993 in Long Beach, California and I don't remember any of it because I was a baby." The California rapper also mentioned what he sees as a deficiency of charisma in the era, and pointed out the lack of artists like 50 Cent, Kanye West, or Jay Z (in what Staples considers his prime). In response to Staple's confusion, New Jersey rapper Redman explained why the '90s get so much credit from hip-hop heads.
Redman calls himself a '90s artist, and sees the era as the most "pivotal" in the evolution of hip-hop. Many remember Redman from his slew of early 1990s albums including Whut? Thee Album and Dare Iz a Darkside.
Redman told WatchLoud, "I think the '90s era was the most pivotal era of this hip-hop culture. For the reason why? We're the middle babies. You got the eras before us and you got the era now. So where did that leave us? In the middle, and everybody knows that middle kid is always f*cking spoiled, always thinks he's the best."
Redman also discusses the crossover of hip-hop from an underground phenomenon to a mainstream musical movement.
"It was the era where we were branching hip-hop over to the commercial scene. When we had it, it was large. We elevated that b*tch," he added. "Burger King started using hip-hop. All the heavy hitter brand names started adding elements of hip-hop to be the cool guys on the block with their brand. Our era brought that over to make it a universal language."
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