NIMH Ep #729 KRS-One Explains Why He Turned Down Grammys’ 50 Years Of Hip-Hop Tribute

NIMH Ep #729
KRS-One Explains Why He Turned Down Grammys’ 50 Years Of Hip-Hop Tribute

According to Sterogun

The easy highlight of the 2023 Grammys was the all-star salute to 50 years of hip-hop — a dazzling cavalcade of hits that drew from all across the genre’s history and geography. Earlier this week, CBS aired a Grammys-produced special that expanded on that idea. Questlove helped put the show together, and it featured legendary names like LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Rakim, E-40, Jeezy, Nelly, Rick Ross, Big Daddy Kane, De La Soul, Cypress Hill, DJ Quik, Bun B, and Too Short, as well as a DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince reunion. (At least one awards show isn’t scared of Will Smith.) But at least one old-school hip-hop luminary refused to take part.
KRS-One, one of the greatest rappers of all time, has long presented himself as the authentic voice of hip-hop culture. He was guarding those gates when he first came to prominence, chastising MC Shan for perceived disrespect in the mid-’80s. It was not exactly surprising that KRS-One didn’t take part in the show, but it’s still fun to hear him lay out his thinking.

So when I got the call, I immediately saw: Nah. Nah. First of all, it’s the Grammys? You get no respect here. None. None. You have no respect here. Now, we respect your existence. We know you exist. We know that you’re the Grammys. We understand that, and we respect that — your existence.
But you ignored hip-hop for 49 years. At the 50th year, you wanna call us? 49 years, you ignored us! The 50th year! That’s when you call! You couldn’t even call for 47 and gear it up to at least 50. At least get us into 47. No. You wait till the 50th year to wanna call hip-hop’s authentic teacher? Nah. You don’t get that privilege. I refuse to show up. Y’all go ahead and play games with yourselves.

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