Does respect for the history of hip hop make any difference to the quality of the music?
I think that the respect for your place in hip hop history to not make wack tracks helps, but not necessarily knowing the history. i’m sure it wouldn’t hurt, but i don’t know that if the same rapper would be drastically different if he one day knew everything there was to know about hip hop and it’s roots. one guy mentioned lupe, and although he’s nice, i agree that i don’t believe that he knows too much about the history of hip hop. i can even take it one step further and mention p.o.s., he himself stated that he grew up on rock music, but i don’t think that makes him an inferior hip hop artist, in fact i think it was beneficial because that infusion of rock influence makes his music unique and great. but i digress. i think knowing would be good, but respecting/appreciating the history you do know would be more beneficial. personally i think you need to respect whatever you do, be it music or art or even something like accounting, because if you don’t, you won’t really care about it a
