Does Hip-Hop Have an Age Barrier?

Somebody recently posed me the question: when you get to your middle age and you're a balding git with a beer gut out to HEYEAH, will you still be hanging at the record stores buying the latest hip-hop music?

We live in a culture that is obsessed with youth. It's gotten to such ridiculous extremes that we have videos like the new song for the movie 'Rugrats' in which Mya and cohorts Mase, BlackSTREET, and Blinky Blink romp around an oversized baby crib in Dick Tracy-esque solid colors. We like our R&B singers younger and younger; to the point that most of them at least started platinum careers in their teens even if they are NOW legally of age. And just look at Calvin Klein ads..

Even back when I lived in Iowa, there was this one white guy twice my age who always came in on Tuesday and picked up the new rap releases at Co-Op. Dean always kept around a minimum of 5-6 copies of anything new because he expected me, Ron, this older guy (never found out his name) and a couple of heads from ISU to be there for product when the doors opened. And a few months ago at the "Grand Opening" for my sister's company, I met a guy easily twice my age (who I believe was in accounting) that was grilling me about Master P, Public Enemy, and Tupac because happened to mention I run a rap website.

To quote both Aaliyah and the Missing In Action rapper known as Chi Ali, "Age Ain't Nothin But a #". Just because you're pushing Dick Clark status or about to ride the geriatric Soul Train with Frankie Crocker doesn't mean you have to give up your passions. John Glenn, if anything, has taught us this lesson by boldly facing another trip to outer space. And music, especially hip-hop, is a trip to INNER space. A voyage we need never stop taking.

I guess I'm just saying age doesn't matter whatsoever and neither do funny looks. Just do your thing.

-Flash (whose been getting funny looks since he was 9 years old and STILL don't give a fuck)

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