Legendary hip-hop artist Melle Mel explained why he said old skool rapper Jay Z is “overrated”.
Mel clarified his statement that Jay Z, 51, is overrated during a sit-down interview with VladTV this week.
“I think a lot of rappers are overrated. Yeah,” said Mel, before adding that guys like Jay Z quickly forget where they came from.
“[T]he main problem I have with dudes like that, with a lot of these dudes, when you made it, you made it. Now you out. Forget the street guy act. You’re not street like that. I’m not even a street guy, I’m a hood n***a. I’m not a street n***a ’cause I know I’m not gon’ be out on the street like that. And then, to take it a step further, these guys live in the big houses, they live in the best neighborhoods, there ain’t no street dudes around, but you’re gonna have this street dude thinking that being on the street is the right thing to do and the right person to be? You gotta give the people that’s left in the hood something to hold onto to make it out of the hood.”
Mel said Jay Z and other rappers promote a system to keep Black kids down in the ‘hood while rappers move to the suburbs.
“A lot of this hip-hop sh*t made the ghetto permanent. You ain’t supposed to stay there like that. That’s why I say a lot of them is overrated because what they’re doing is they’re selling a product and then after the product is sold, now they’re still thinking they got product to sell. And they don’t. You live a nice life. Their kids are never going to see the inside of a jail or the inside of a public school, thank god.”
Watch Melle Mel’s interview below.
