Ice T is a real life rap veteran and gave some really interesting thoughts on the current state of Hip-Hop in a recent interview with Rolling Stone. In the interview, Ice T gives his two-cents on the Nicki Minaj Pop Vs. Hip-Hop debate, and he has a pretty good take on it. While Ice gave Nicki props for doing things her own way and even compared her to a female Busta Rhymes, it looks like Ice is riding with Lil’ Kim on this one. Check out a portion of his interview below:
“I think it’s all “real hip-hop.” You have the core hip-hop, which would just be beats and breaks, more something like what you hear with DJ Premier. Then you get into the more highly produced hip-hop, which is something like what DJ Khaled does. But at some point, it starts to get kind of pop. It goes into this other realm,” Ice explained. “Nicki went on tour with Britney Spears, so she’s on another channel. But to me, it all comes from hip-hop; it’s like a growth of hip-hop, whether you agree with that growth or not. Like me, I’m not the biggest Nicki Minaj fan but I think she can rhyme. She does her thing. She has her own way of doing it. She has an ill vocal delivery. She kind of reminds me of a female Busta Rhymes, like how she throws her voice in different directions – but she’s no Lil Kim. I think when people say “real hip-hop,” they want it more buried in the streets. They want it more connected to the streets and the grime and the roughness of the streets. They don’t want the fluff.”
So is Ice T calling Nicki Minaj’s music fluff? What do you think? Do you agree with him?