BLOG: Why Can’t Rapper’s Retire?

 •  Bloggers  •  by XXL Staff  •  49 Comments

Is it just me or does it seem like rappers don’t know how to just hang it up. Lord knows they are able to threaten retirement (see Jay-Z, Lupe, The Game, Saigon), but when it boils down to it, none of them can pull the plug.

Grandmaster Flash, LL Cool J, Big Daddy Kane, Slick Rick, Ice-T, Naughty By Nature, Too-Short, Cypress Hill, the Beastie Boys, Busta Rhymes, Hov, etc, etc, etc – they are all still recording material or putting on shows. I’m not hating (well maybe just a lil’), I know times are tough and all, but for once I’d like to see one of my old favorite rappers living a normal, quiet life at home with his wife and kids and not trying to stage some sort of a comeback or re-live the glory days. And no this excludes Rev Run. Dude just went on tour with Kid Rock.

I propose a rule to be passed by the yet to be founded hip-hop board, once you get inducted into the VH1 Honors, you can no longer put out anymore albums. Maybe this will help the new generation of rappers push the art form forward and discourage 40 plus year old men from using the bedazzler.

What do you guys think? Who needs to just hang it up already?-J-Giss

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  • JRock504

    SNOOP,JAY-Z,NAS BASICALLY ANYONE THAT BEEN OUT SINCE ’96 NEEDS TO FACE FACTS DEY JUST AIN’T HOT NO MO PASS THE TORCH AND STOP HOLDING ON TO IT

    • General

      Nas needs to hang it up? Please go drive your ride off a bridge while bumpin your Souilja Boy CD

      • Pana

        Waaaaaaaaoooooow! (like flava flav)

  • DV8

    due to the current state of hiphop, im not mad at these “older heads” still doing music. As long as its dope ill fuck with it. Even if they stop doing live shows and just release new music every know and then. Artist cant stop being artist. Its like a addiction they have to do what they have been passionate about for most of they life.

  • yooooo Nupes

    master p dude nobody in the world is buyin his shit lmao

  • Worley

    I have no problems with the old heads doing shows. Their core audience respected their music and will come out to see them perform. It’s the putting out new music that is the problem. Think about: how many 40 year olds hang around kicking it with teens and tweens? That’s exactly what happens when old heads try to release new music. Stop the madness.

  • amar

    they claim that it’s for the love of music and they still got it in them, but it’s not.

    really it’s because when u get used to a working routine and are succesful at it, it becomes your life. When you retire, wtf are u supposed to do now? In general, not just with rap.

    When you retire, u miss the money and spend your life at home, doing boring shit, getting yelled at by your wife and ultimately not feeling useful.

    Or in the case of michael jordan, your clothing line and savings are still not generating enough to allow u to continue to afford your gambling habit ;-)

  • King Tov

    U think De La Soul should hang it up? Hell No.

  • El Tico Loco

    Why only rappers gotta retire? No one suggested Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, Aretha, Stevie no one tells them to retire, if they can still rock a show or put out decent music let it be. The only way that’s possible is if the next gen rappers can outshine the older rappers’ TALENT not sales, not downloads, not spins just TALENT. That’s why they’re still in the game because they figure hey if Yung Lil Big Shawty is gettin his shine with that garbage they might still keep makin music and shows for their true fans earn a decent living and satisfy their appetites and keep the same vibe hip hop had before it went commercial which would totally kill it if that’s all there was to it. (Guess that goes for underground artists too)

    • amar

      good point

      what a retarded era we live in…when oldheads aren’t able to retire, but newheads who haven’t even reached the peak of their careers (lupe fiasco, the game) are talking about retiring after 3 albums

  • mr.martin

    Why do rappers need to retire. The Temptations are still performing. Only rap fans, make that our people, see our artists as disposable. You got the Grateful Dead touring forever and putting out cds online for free but they still perform. If you can still sell out a club somewhere in Japan, why not. You probably never been to Japan (Neither have I). Blues players play in sugar shacks and juke joints from the age of 13 til they damn near 85. Miriam Makeba died on stage singing, doing what she loved. I don’t get why people like you make these posts talking about what’s wrong with hip hop and how come it ain’t like back in the day then turnaround and asks cats to retire. What if he doesn’t want to. Remember these rappers ain’t 65. They may be 42..that ain’t retirement age bro. Cats can’t rest on their laurels cuz you’ll write them out of history. As long as they can do what they love, they got most of us beat

  • $ykotic

    We were at the bar last nite debating the same topic.

    I agree with all the comments above.

  • Danny Myers

    I agree with mr. martin, rappers shouldnt retire because they are 40 plus. However they shoulnt be walking around wearing baggy pants and doo-rags either! If the music is dope, then why not continue to do so. Rap seems to be the only genre of music that cares about age. Prince and Madonna aint 20! nor is Mary J or Toni Braxton. No one would trip when they drop their next LP!

  • Simple like ABC, 123

    The most “ignorant” blog of all-time

  • http://tonygrands.blogspot.com tony grand$

    That shows the “micowave” mentality of the rap industry. A rapper puts out solid efforts for a decade, & not only does he say “he’s retiring”, but in some perverse way, we expect him to. Why?

    Rock n roll cats, soul brothers, jazz musicians, country singers all thrive off of their artform for basically the rest of their lives. What makes hip hop so diff? We box ourselves in, so much so that by the time the relevency wears thin, we’re too pidgeon-holed to expand, altho it seems that’s changing now.

    Too $hort is a great example. Dude is nowhere near a “hot MC”. But, he has a solid fanbase & never disappoints them. So, why would he stop that guaranteed income?

    I say do it til u can’t? Why tf not? True, rap is a hustle, but its still music, which is supposed to be timeless.

  • Bobo D

    J-Giss your post is fucking pointless, how can you examine small part of the picture and come to a conclusion with looking at the rest.

    As the people above me pointed out musicians in other genre’s tour and release albums till they need resperators, wheel chairs or until their in coffins. The Rolling Stones are still doing what they do and they use to play shows for dinosaurs, Madonna has been carbon dated to be born around the time the red sea parted, and even Kiss still do shows even though they’ve done alot of things to loose fans.

    “Who needs to just hang it up already?”
    ^^^^^^^
    It’s obvious you’re the one who needs to hang it up.

  • El Tico Loco

    Maybe this will help the new generation of rappers push the art form forward-

    I disagree the new generation (at least one artist) like the one before needs to take it and push the artform forward. If you can go back you notice that the rappers you want out of the game did not wait for their predecesors to bow out or fall back; no, they rushed the scene took it by force and the ones that remained had to roll or get rolled on because they had to keep steppin their game up to keep up with the new cats (see Kool G Rap)the ones that didn’t fell off. Name a new cat capable of doin that? *crickets* No they want the shine and what are they bringing to the table?

    youth?

  • http://myballsandmyword.blogspot.com Ammon-Ra

    its cause they got nothing else to do or don’t know anything else. once you’ve lived a lifestyle for a while you can’t remember what it was like not to live it. regular life is too boring for most of these dudes

  • macdatruest

    When should A RAP MAGAZINE RETIRE?????

    -When they talk down on Hip Hop more than they help advance it by FINDING new artists to cover.XXL act like rap is dying cause Fiddy flopping and they eat of Interscope ads.

    -When they start favoring certain artist like the Source did Benzino, and like XXL been doing all Eminem related projects since he ended the Source (XXL presents Shade45 Magazine?? WTF? and a whole YEAR of G-Unit covers???)

    -When they fail cover relevant issues and artist that been pioneers and cover Gay shit like Real & Chance instead of Red & Meth

    -When your award show (XXL Awards) is a joke like The Source Awards turned into.

    I think XXL needs to hang it up this year. I predict this being the last year of XXL, They couldn’t find a new artist to introduce to people if he got signed in the XXL office.
    next cover: Dipset….SMH

  • macdatruest

    You’s Guys need to “just hang it up,” and let Ozone Magazine do what it do

  • crooks

    the consumer decides when a rapper retires not some wannabee rapper(90 percent of bloggers and writers of rap magazines)
    take note writers an bloggers, when u say rappers cant rap past 40 u saying rap music isnt as good as rock or any other genre of music that doesnt put an age limit on their artist

  • Mark_Man

    everybody bitching and crying on these here comments about the blog, when these OLD ass rappers really need to stay the phuck up out the game. good things must come to an end, and i co-sign this blog, i dont want to listen to no 50 year old rapper, shit aint hot AT ALL.

    • Phil

      THEN DON’T LISTEN. Oh, and guess what, NO ONE CARES what you don’t want to listen to. In fact, I don’t think you care about what you listen to if you’re wasting time bitching about MCs with EMBEDDED FANBASES you can’t do anything about as evidenced by Rock The Bells each and every year. All your bitching is just making these vets come out more and more every year to reach their fans, so in a twisted sense, thanks for bitching. Now go back to your CD collection and enjoy that shit.

  • Jhon da Analyst

    I got two words for ya………”Rolling Stones”. These muhfuckas are like the walkin dead. Shit if they can do it, I’ll still check out Rakim and KRS until “I’m motherfuckin’ 60!!”

  • http://hiphoponmymind.blogspot.com/ DJ Daddy Mack

    i was talking about this with someone the other day. i say if u don’t have it anymore just retire *looks at curtis*

  • Simple like ABC, 123

    Wu-Tang Forever!!!

    • Simple like ABC, 123

      that’s mean Hip-Hop is forever.

  • http://www.xxlmag.com jackpot

    Yo! De La is one of the few groups from that era who still holds it down. They still got heat.

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  • Phil

    My thing about this whiny-ass blog is this: what are these MCs retiring from? A host of truly promising SUCCESSORS who have clearly outshined them?

    NO.

    There are a bunch of reasons why these artists still do music. And like someone said earlier, why do RAPPERS HAVE TO retire? NO ONE bitches about U2! NO ONE tells Tina Turner to “please stop” performing! So, if a dude is still setting it off on the stage and the lab, who is ANYONE to tell them how to live their lives or careers?

    The ONLY way you can argue this is by presenting the NEXT GUY WHO CAN DO IT BETTER. That could be Cory Gunz. Could be Kid Cudi. Could be Mr. Hamilton. But the “oldheads” don’t have ANYTHING to do with their progress…that’s a cop-out move to blame them.

    • Mark_Man

      lol at your bitch ass coming at me sideways. LOL at dont listen, so i guess your that guy that has his head stuck up these old ass rappers heads huh, breathing in all that toxin they release.

      It’s just a certain age where you pose to hang up that damn mic, lets be real, noone wants to see a 50 plus rapper in a fucking wheelchair tryna still tear shit down, i say 50 plus because Rakim is in his 40s and i wouldn’t mind listening to him drop some shit but you cant do this shit forever

      • Phil

        Here you go trying to MAKE cats do things you might just be jealous of…like the fact that they’re CONTENT doing them and have no effect on your life whatsoever. If you don’t want to hear them, then don’t.

        Why CAMPAIGN to stop niggas’ lives? Who the fuck are you to tell anyone they’re SUPPOSED to do anything? They taking your spot? They taking your money?

        Please, I’m begging you right now to tell us all why it’s so fucking vital that brothers out there who are still enjoying their fame, the effect their music has had on people, and are just happy black men period, should quit music for you? And, I guess it’s fair to say that any young whipper snapper can come up to YOU and tell you to “just stop it old man”. Right? Other people are allowed to tell you when to “stop”, too, right?

  • THAT DUDE

    THIS IS THE DUMBEST SHIT I HAVE EVER HEARD!!!

    IT’S CLOWN’S LIKE THIS blogger WHO ARE CONTRIBUTING TO WEAK STATE OF THE GAME.

    THERE’S NO AGE LIMIT ON ANY MUSIC FORM WHETHER IT BE R&B,ROCK or HIP-HOP!!

    WHEN YOU TELL PAUL McCARTNEY,NEIL YOUNG or THE ROLLING STONES TO RETIRE THEN YOU CAN TALK ABOUT HIP-HOP LEGENDS YOU PRICK!!!!
    YOU EITHER NEED TO GO CHECK OUT THOSE LEGEND’S LIVE OR STOP SPEAKIN’ ON A CULTURE YOU OBVIOUSLY CARE NOTHIN’ & KNOW NOTHING ABOUT!!!

  • http://www.incilin.blogspot.com Incilin

    I don’t know wtf your talking about, you act like Jay’s and Nas’ last albums was hot.

    Look man, it aint easy to leave the spotlight like that. Being famous is an addiction. How you gonna live a “normal life” when all the bitches used to wanna fuck you, and everyone was on your dick, and mad ppl showing u love, and all that. That aint easy to leave behind. Let the old men make they music. It aint no big deal. Besides, they just might make some good music, we all know they got talent.

    • http://www.incilin.blogspot.com Incilin

      Correction: Jay and Nas last albums were hot.

      • sb

        el tico loco you are so on point with your comments man…..no your artist has the vets shook…when jay,ll cool j,kane,krs-one,nas,pac and big,,,came one the scene other mc’s were shook…..i can’t name one rapper now that would make me say wow he’s a problem…a lot of the new mc’s lack soul….you could feel what cats were saying..it felt authentic….the artists best work comes when you bear your soul and when your hungry….

  • kashrulz

    Because no matter how much they wanna retire, music will always be in their veins. They can’t stop making music cuz it’s their life. I could understand when you’re that passionate about somethin and you can let it go. Maybe they’ll quit when they find something more important in life.

    BUT PLEASE! IF YOU’RE GONNA RETIRE, THEN STAY RETIRED! WHAT’S WITH ALL THIS RETIREMENT TALK ANYWAY?

  • Jhon da Analyst

    Courtesy of Dart Adams:

    So what if kids today don’t know who Lord Finesse is, tell them! Share his music with them and fill in the generation gap. If an 18 year old doesn’t know that Just Blaze isn’t the end all be all as far as producers go then break out your records and sit him down and have a real open dialogue about it with him. If young girls think they have to rhyme or look a certain way to get noticed by labels and her talent and lyricism doesn’t matter then show her the long line of proud female emcees that demanded respect and forced to look them in the face and acknowledge them as equals and peers. Like Mos Def said “Hip Hop is as we are”.

  • AVENGER XL

    yet more proof that XXL is becoming the source. You dumb asses why are you going in on vet rappers fucking vet rockers stay doing albums and tours for their crowd. As long as they have heads checking for them they can still rock. The only thing they need to do is grow pass the young impulses. I don’t want to hear a 40 year wax poetic about the club or roc fads but I do want to hear your take on OBama,the economy, the world and you can still talk about love, loss, gain etc…

    Harris Publishing is fliping xxl into the new BET shitting on black culture and big uping it’s death.

    • macdatruest

      Real talk. Does XXL give a fuck about Hip Hop? Nah them niggas gotta eat, and controversy is what sell magazines. Tey just throwin shit out for attention (like this blogger) at this point. BET Magazine. Less rapper and rappers, more clothing ads, and “beef” reports.

  • Curtis75Black

    “Never retire, put my mic on the shelf/The Baddest rapper in the History of Rap itself” to “Torturing emcees, I’ll never get whipped/ when I retire, I’ll be worshipped like an Old Battleship” – The Artist, LL Cool J The Track, I’m Bad. The Year 87. 22 Years later and he’s still rippin’ the mic !! Nothing But respect for the Vet for not only setting the groundwork through his verse but staying true to his word !! Regardless how you feel about the man or who you claim is G.O.A.T. (Wouldn’t be having that convo without his claim in 97) He’s the only emcee from His era still on the market. staying longer than newer emcees from every era after him. How can you not as a fan of Hip Hop take pride that we have someone who continues to stand the Test Of Time !! This could easily be Rakim, Big Daddy, Nas or Busta and the same respect needs to be given. Can’t shit on the emcee who’s still emceeing because you can’t hold his mic or the rookies can’t shine.

  • http://www.thezookru.ning.com Slick Tha Kid

    Only reason why Jay & other rappers Aint retiring is because he/they can still sell records & sell out shows. Also, only reason why some say they retiring is that they know once you hit 3 albums, you might not sell like you could with the last 2. Another thing, i feel that if Pac was still here, he probably would’ve went full fledge actor & do music on the side(my guess)Only people who i kno or guess hung up they mic are MC’s who only made like 1 hit wonders. I think the ones who hung it up all together was ma$e, Will Smith(I think he made the right decision.Million dollar movie man.), Kid-N-Play. Add on the list.

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  • Pana

    Shoot the blogger, I say! I never heard a mothafuka in the Jazz/swing genre tell Tony Bennett to sit his old ass down. Why must hip hop have so many boundaries??? stfu with this bullshit propoganda. u worst than foxnews.

  • Clever

    Its some real Hip-Hop fans on here, I love ya’ll for that. Keep da love.

  • http://www.xxlmag.com Dreez

    Every stupid rapper from the SOUTH should shut the FUQ up, that old chicken george sound is annoying. They sound like they are still in some cotton field somewhere. Now before he does anymore damage to the face of music, hip hop, and the black race kill the noise that that Soulja Boy puts out, I have never wanted to strangle a little fuckin’ kid, but him I would lynch. OUT

  • PNNIMAN

    RAP IS AN ART FORM,AND LIFE IS AN ART,I’M PERSONALLY FED UP WITH THIS PROMOTION OF DEATH,SELL IT TO SOMEONE ELSE!!THANK GOD,FOR THE INTERNET THAT NOW WE HAVE THE FREEDOM TO LISTEN TO WHO EVER WE WANT.IT SEEM XXL IS SLOWLY COMING TO AN END, AND AND THEY ARE TRYING TO FINDS WAYS TO SURVIVE ITSELF?REALLY, LETS TAKE A MOMENT AND UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION?CAN A BUSINESS SURVIVE WITH OUT CONTROL OF THE ART IT PROMOTES?MUSIC IS MADE FOR THE SOUL,SUCH A GIFT COME WITHOUT A EXPIRED TAG,LIKE THE LORDS PRAYER,THAT’S BEEN A ROUND FROM THE BEGINNING OF TIME.

  • http://exposeidiots.com exposeidiots

    you sound stupid..

    no wonder there’s no name on this..”story”

    it just says xxl staff…

    but this is the same magazine that touts artists like gucci mane, and plies as hip hop’s hot new generation…kick rocks

  • http://toastyslayingbutter.tumblr.com Thomas

    Canibus needs to retire, not because he isn’t a relevant rapper but because he tries too hard to stay relevant. Rev. Run still spits “hot fire”. Lupe said he was going to retire because he was losing control of music to Atlantic Records and we saw how Lasers turned out. Jay always sells well as does Nas, Djddy (even though he can’t really rap), with rappers like Gucci and Waka coming in we need the old heads rapping.