In one of my candid interviews with producer 9th Wonder, he said he likes Hip-Hop a certain way, and he knows all of friends do as well. At first, I didn’t really think too much of that comment until I found myself arguing with a “teen-something” about the song “Deep Cover.”

A DJ happened to be playing the version that featured Big Pun and Fat Joe instead of the original with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg at this event I attended a while back. And as the Terror Squad version played, the teen said something along the lines of, “This is one of the hottest beats the Terror Squad ever made!”

At that point, I informed the young whipper-snapper the Latin Lyricists’ weren’t the creators of the track, only borrowers of it, and that Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg first brought it to light. He went on to say that I had no idea of what I was talking about. So instead of getting into a concentrated debate, I realized that when the original “Deep Cover” was released back in 1992, he was probably switching from diapers to under-roos.

After that experience, I was reminded of another quote from a 30-something artist I had a chance of talking to, and it was Kurupt from the Dogg Pound. During our chat, he told me that Hip-Hop ha s always been a young person’s game, and they’re going to decide what’s relevant in their eyes. The once brash and braggadocio MC from the West Coast, now turned elder statesman, actually had a good point.

My parents grew up in the Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, and Smokey Robinson era, and I can only imagine what a special and magical time that was. When I was coming of age and Hip-Hop started sparking my interest, it flooded my parents home with the sounds of A Tribe Called Quest, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, EPMD, Brand Nubian, The UMC’s, Public Enemy, De La Soul, Das EFX, and many other classic acts of the 90’s.

Those groups filled my eardrums with socially charged issues, solid lyricism, and melodic melodies. I wasn’t at all surprised when my mother didn’t approve of what I was listening to, but I couldn’t understand why she never gave the music a chance. She would already have her pre-conceived notions about Hip-Hop, and she wasn’t shy about sharing them whenever I came home with another new album.

Now as I enter my third decade on this planet, I found myself acting just as my mother did some 10-odd years ago. The groups I listened to back then; like the De La’s, the EPMD’s, and the O.C.’s were my versions of the Marvin Gaye’s, and the Smokey Robinson’s that my parents held so close. But then I started to view new acts like Soulja Boy, The Pop It Off Boyz, Kid Sister, and ‘Lil Mama like my mother saw all my favorite performers from the 90’s. And at that point, I knew I wasn’t giving them their fair share. Everything must evolve, but when it comes to Hip-Hop a lot of people don’t like change.

When Outkast dropped their record-breaking album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, people argued that André 3000’s side of the CD wasn’t Hip-Hop at all. But how can you truly define Hip-Hop nowadays? Hip-Hop is just like technology; it’s constantly changing everyday. So there really can’t be one true definition on what Hip-Hop is.

A while back, YouTube fanatics (such as myself) got their fill when they heard a tipsy GZA/Genius say “F**k Soulja Boy” to an audience during his show in London. Now is it necessary for a 41-year-old artist to diss a 17-year-old artist who’s clearly only reaching out to the people in [his] fan base? That’s like Hank Aaron bad-mouthing A-Rod, or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar having negative statements about all the young players in the NBA.

It’s true that a lot of new artists today choose to talk about their lip gloss, fingernails, or give people a “how-to” instructional music video on their new dances, but that is just the time that we’re living in now. If you look for it, you can still find that niche of Hip-Hop that [you’re] accustomed to. But when you hear something that’s out of your comfort zone, don’t be so quick to judge.

I remember watching this Hip-Hop DVD documentary once, and they had a segment with Busta Rhymes. And I remember him saying that he hates how older acts don’t give credit to the younger acts that are contributing now, and probably contributed more than the old-timers that came before them. He went on to mimic those artists of yester-year by quoting their patented saying, “N***a, I’ve been doing this since such-and-such.” And then he quickly lashed-out by saying, “WHO GIVES A F**K?!” “You ain’t relevant now!” “My son don’t give a f**k—about anything he can’t identify with in the time frame that he’s living in right now!” And that ladies and gentlemen—is the God’s honest truth.