Xzibit Admits to Being Tired of Hip-Hop and Concerned About Its Staying Power

Xzibit, the rap veteran who’s been in the game for nearly three decades, isn’t holding back when it comes to his thoughts on the current state of Hip Hop.

During a recent appearance on The Adam Carolla Show, alongside Hollywood legend Rob Reiner, Xzibit got candid about what he sees happening in the world of Hip Hop today. He didn’t sugarcoat it.

In his eyes, he believes that the education system has let people down, leading to a decline in the quality of communication. He pointed out that the era of social media has reduced conversations to “emojis and farts and beeps in thirty-second intervals,” essentially dumbing down our ability to communicate with depth and comprehension.

“I think the education system has failed us,” he continued, explaining that the social-media-induced need to communicate with “emojis and farts and beeps in thirty-second intervals” has caused people to dumb themselves down and “communicate with this new language that doesn’t give you much room for comprehension or expansion.”

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Xzibit also acknowledged that in the age of streaming, artists are pressured to capture their audience’s attention within the first 30 seconds of a song. This, he believes, makes it “impossible” to create full albums filled with great songs, as opposed to just a few catchy singles.

But it doesn’t stop there. Xzibit expressed his concern that the emotional connection between music and fans has been lost in the digital age. Gone are the days of holding a physical CD or cassette, examining the album cover, and reading the lyrics. According to him, these elements that used to sustain careers for decades have vanished.

“There’s no emotional investment in the music, like when we were putting music out,” he said. “You had the CD cover, the album cover, cassette. You get to open it, you get to see who produced it, you get to read the lyrics. You’re not guessing. A lot of the things that made us have 10, 15, 20, 30-year-long careers doesn’t exist anymore.”

“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.”

As for whether this shift is intentional or not, Xzibit isn’t quite sure. He didn’t specify whether he’s pointing fingers at fellow rappers or the music industry as a whole. What he did emphasize, though, is that Hip Hop seems to have lost some of the staying power it once had.

In a world where Hip Hop’s longevity is questioned, Xzibit pointed out that this genre has had a profound influence on every other genre of music. Despite its disposable nature today, its impact remains undeniable.