Soulja Boy and A$AP Rocky aren’t seeing eye to eye right now.
It seems that A$AP Rocky no longer thinks that Soulja Boy is the blueprint for rap music as he shares that music has been stagnant since Soulja Boy last blew up. In a recent interview with Jerrod Carmichael, Rocky was asked about his perspective on growing older in rap.
However, the Harlem rapper had very strong opinions about the state of rap music, noting that it had not grown much in recent years, specifically singling out the period when Soulja Boy became famous on the internet.
“Rap is in its adolescence and it’s been stuck here since Soulja Boy,” he explained. “Before, everybody looked 35 and up. When Lil Wayne and Jay-Z and T.I. and Jeezy and Ross was on, rappers looked old. Like, we had Lil’ Bow Wow and that was it. That all changed with the internet and self-releasing. Now, rap is stuck in this braggadocious, adolescent space. It’s not as mature,” he said.
A$AP Rocky also added that the genre needs unity to go forward.
“But the thing is, being a rapper now, you don’t want to exclude anybody or neglect any demographics. As somebody that people look up to, there’s a responsibility to put people on the right path,” he said.
Meanwhile, Soulja Boy had a response for A$AP Rocky as soon as news of his statement was shared.
“Come on man…stop listening to people bro,” Soulja Boy said. “N****s don’t know what the fk they talking about. On gang, that’s what I found out, bro. These n**(s don’t be knowing what the fk they talking about bro. N****s be on my Instagram, n****s be on Twitter, n*****s be in-person, talking, talking, talking, talking, talking about nothing. Bro, what is you talking about, bro? What is you talking about? N****s be talking about everything but how to get some money…”
Years ago, Rocky had praised Soulja Boy as the first rapper to use the internet to go viral, and that has set the stage for how many artists operate in the industry. It’s unclear if he is now saying that rap got worse after Soulja Boy or beginning with Soulja Boy.
However, it seems that social media users who weighed in on the issue feel that Rocky is right and that music is either stagnant or getting worse, as many accuse nowadays rappers of all being alike or sounding the same with little to no real talent.
