Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
Thursday, on the seventh season premiere of “The Shop,” the interview show hosted by Maverick Carter, Paul Rivera and occasionally LeBron James (“The Shop” is a production of James’ SpringHill Entertainment), Nelly, Cedric the Entertainer and Becky Hammon, the two-time champion head coach of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces, joined the conversation. As its title suggests, “The Shop” is set up as a makeshift barbershop, long considered a space where Black men, especially, have the most in-depth and honest conversations about life; this episode transformed the Las Vegas Aces’ home court into the barbershop.
Anywho, there’s a clip floating around social media of part of the conversation (arguably the most salacious or compelling part) where Nelly makes the statement that the 2000s was the toughest era in hip-hop because when he was putting out music (in the 2000s, of course) he was competing against DMX, Jay-Z, Eminem, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, Ludacris, etc. His point was that all of those rappers were competing for the top rap spot, and since that competition was remarkable and all big sellers, the level of competition was steep and thus the hardest era in which to release music. And I don’t entirely disagree. Also, he forgot Kanye West, who was ALSO taking up A LOT of space in the aughts with his releases of “The College Dropout,” “Late Registration,” “Graduation,” “808s and Heartbreak” and “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.”
You might be asking yourself, why would he make such a statement? Well, what spurred the conversation was Paul Rivera talking about rap music at the Grammys and how Killer Mike took home the three most coveted rap category albums, none of which were televised. Nelly said the Grammys needed to do better. Paul then asked about Nelly having a chip on his shoulder…
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