It has been going on for years, a lot of our “old school” singers (and some actors) criticizing hip hop and wondering when will it improve. You hear them complain about how derogatory and vulgar the lyrics are. But we defend hip hop to the very end. It reminds me of that Chris Rock special when he said that he loves hip hop but is tired of defending it.

So, Gladys Knight is the latest one to criticize hip hop music. Funny, as many times that rappers sampled her music (my personal favorite sample is from Raekwon’s “Can It Be All So Simple”), she would be chilling with some type of sample clearance royalties, right? Nope. She’s just basically saying the same thing that the older artists are saying, it’s negative and vulgar.

“It’s been bad, in my opinion, as far as the quality of the music and the stories that they tell. It’s one thing to be raw about your history, but they took it to another level and it became vulgar,” Knight said.

“It definitely has not elevated us as African-Americans, because we show disrespect for our partners, men and women,” Knight stated. “I believe we have lowered our self-esteem with these performances and presentations.” (source)

Hmm….so is hip hop dead now?