Jazz Legend Wynton Marsalis Calls Out 50 Cent and Ludacris

Wynton Marsalis is widely recognized as one of today’s best jazz musicians. Now, the jazz legend is calling out hip-hop and artists such as 50 Cent and Ludacris for their vulgar language. “I call it ghetto minstrelsy,” Marsalis tells The Guardian. “Old school minstrels used to say they were real darkies from the real plantation. Hip-Hop substitutes the plantation for the streets. Now you have to say you’re from the streets, you shot some brothers, you went to jail. Rap has become a safari for people who get their thrills from watching African-American people debase themselves — men dressing in gold, calling themselves stupid names like Ludacris and 50 Cent, spending money on expensive fluff, using language like “bitch,” “ho” and “nigger.”