Grown Folk Rap - A Submerging Genre We Should Get Excited About

J. Cole’s highly anticipated 6th solo album, Off Season, was released May 14th and crashed Spotify as fans eagerly flocked to streaming services. After listening to Off Season several times, there is indeed a need for “Grown Folk Rap” and it’s safe to say veteran artists sharing their wise perspectives is a growing lane within Hip Hop.

Multi-platinum Hip Hop recording artist, J. Cole

My love for Hip Hop started at the tender age of 4. Ride homes from daycare helped bubble a love for the smooth sound of hard knock beats and lyrical rhymes. Everytime Jump Jump by Kris Kross played on the  radio, you could guarantee my little head would be bopping in the backseat. Jump Jump, was a cult classic among all the kids in the playpen. My love for the song grew so intense that my Mom bought me their CD so that I could dance endlessly at home. Personally, I believe 90s Hip Hop and fashion was one of the best eras of the genre. Everything was colored out of the lines; Hip Hop was bold and fearless. The variation of storytelling from artist to artist was phenomenal and there was room at the table for all rappers to eat. From hard core gangster rap, conscious, or party tunes, Hip Hop had a healthy balance for everyone that was open to hearing their messages.

90’s rap duo, Kris Kross, (left) Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith and (right) Chris "Mac Daddy" Kelly.

However,  almost 30 years later,  unique and authentic artists are tough to find. Many artists are mumbling through tracks and promote low vibrational lifestyles that reverse engineer the esteem that the Black community desperately needs. The slim pickings of thought provoking flare is still present in a rare form.   Throughout the years, a few diamonds in the rough have saved Hip Hop’s roots by prioritizing lyrics and storytelling. Artists like Kendrick Lamar, J.Cole,Wale, and BIG KRIT have become major heavy hitters and actively push the culture forward in the right direction. Their contributions have helped maintain a sense of pride and skillful poetry that over time dwindled among most rap stars. To make matters worse, their content has been labeled them, “conscious” and secondary to mainstream; as if Hip Hop wasn’t built on the shoulders of it. 

Older and wiser fans have been left with the crumbs of lyrical gibberish and trap beats that leave us only feeling good to dance to. There are a few in the current rap circuit that are great but often their musical content perpetuates African American stereotypes and ignorance. So it’s no shock that when J. Cole, Jermaine Cole, drops his 6th solo project, fans would highly anticipate a pastime Hip Hop; bar for bar creativity and real storytelling. 

Grammy award winning rap artist, Kendrick Lamar

After having a conversation with my close friend and equally yoked J.Cole enthusiast, he sparked this theory that as rap artists get older they still want to indulge in Hip Hop but as mature adults. He referenced Jay Z and Nas, as they kicked off mainstream Grown Folk Rap with current music more accurately portraying their lives now. They are Black men that are thriving and it feels good listening to the golden gems they drop to communities of people that worship their every move. The seeds that they currently are sowing  will shake the shackles from the Black kids in every impoverished neighborhood across America. At their age, this stance is adding intellectual value that their previous music missed the mark with; which I also grew up with and adored. The difference now is they are using their platform to build by simply being their best selves, grown folks tend to do that. 

The majority of current rap is the complete opposite. It has the “turn up” scene lit but can’t relate to most of it. I can’t lie, some of it is enjoyable. When I want to take on an alter ego for the evening and become a sexy video vixen I turn on Megan the Stallion to ignite my inner Hot Girl. When I want to nod my head to cutesy rap lines, Da Baby is my go to guy. However, the lyrical content, as I approach 30 years old no longer interest me. It’s not in my daily musical diet and it may be unhealthy for the community without other mainstream Hip Hop options. There’s no secret that Black America has been pinned down to white supremacy for 400+ years and the family home structure has been disrupted. Single parents are becoming a growing disparity in the Black community. With so much strain on parents, working around the clock to survive, parenting often gets the backseat.  Younger people listen with hopes of Hip Hop role models, whether rappers want to bare responsibility for that role or not. Grown folk rap fills that void, and doesn’t mind sharing life changing advice for their audience to apply. It’s not squeaky clean but like adulthood the approach is raw, real and honest. 

Rap stars, (left) Megan Thee Stallion and DaBaby

Personally, I believe that Hip Hop has room for a space of wisdom and authenticity that all age groups crave and can appreciate. After multiple rotations of Off Season, I’m convinced that “older”  rappers don’t have to retire unless they want to. There are people, like myself, that desire content and vulnerability in the music I grew up to. We desire those stories of struggle and triumph. Grown Folk rap is submerging the market and it’s development is playing out right before our eyes. The preschooler in me is happy for the balance and I can rest well knowing that there is a colorful space in this era, too. 

Grown Folk Rap and their topics. 

J.Cole - Dream Chaser & Self Awareness 

Wale - Self Awareness 

Nipsey Hussle -  Generational  Wealth 

Kendrick Lamar - Political and Spiritual Awareness 

Jay Z - Business Acumen & Financial Literacy  

Nas - Self Awareness and Empowerment 

Black Awareness and Overcoming Advertises 

BIG KRIT, D Smoke & Rhapsody

Which artists did I miss? Let's make Grown Folk Rap a thing, we need it.

Houstonian, Tézya Thomas is a writer, director, and producer.