RZA says hip-hop’s “godfathers” need to decide how to “govern and guide the culture”

nme.com:

RZA has shared his thoughts on hip-hop and the culture surrounding it in a recent interview honouring Hip-Hop 50.This month, hip-hop music celebrates its 50th anniversary.

The milestone has been marked by numerous events and performances so far this year.While talking to Rolling Stone, the Wu-Tang Clan member reflected on what is next for hip-hop. “Somebody tweeted recently that ‘We are still not aligned.’ I think we need to align,” he said to the publication. “Maybe get some of the godfathers to come together and talk about what we’re going to do with this culture, and how we’re going to protect it, preserve it, and advance it.”He suggested that there should be a “Hip-Hop Hall of Fame” as The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and BET Awards are “great” but are governed by the “corporate” world. “We need people of the culture to govern and guide the culture”, the rapper explained.RZA’s comments follow Ice-T sharing at this year’s Essence Fest that he thinks the modern scene needs “to get a hold of itself” because “every week somebody’s going to jail.

People are dying of drugs, killing each other.”“My generation, we lost Tupac, we lost Biggie and we got the memo,” Ice-T said. “Everybody calmed down.

We all figured this out: We [were] rapping to get out of the streets.”Elsewhere in his interview, RZA also spoke about the late rapper and his former Wu-Tang Clan bandmate Ol’ Dirty Bastard. “He was such a unique talent,” he said.