Coolio Thinks Older Rappers Should Teach Younger Rappers How to Be Good Artists

The new generation of rappers may be popular on SoundCloud and Spotify but according to Coolio, they aren't able to put on good live performances.

Speaking at the 2018 Pollstar Live! event during the Underground to Mainstream: What Are Metal And Hip-Hop Doing Right (And Where Does It Go From Here?) panel—which was moderated by Josh Bernstein, Townsquare Media's Director of Live Events—the veteran rapper said it's up to the older generation to help the new rappers. "With a lot of these kids you got to give them time," Coolio said inside the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown on Feb. 8.

"I’m tired of seeing bad hip-hop shows. I’m so tired of it," he added." It [once] took a village to raise a child. Everybody forgot that. So if we want music to be good we got to teach these young cats how to be good."

Elsewhere during the event, Coolio sounded off on mumble rappers, calling them bad artists. "I was upset at a lot of hip-hop artists for what they did to my culture," he said. "Because hip-hop saved my life. I took it personally, people being so bad."

But while one of the members of the panel just saw mumble rap as today's generation's genre of choice to get back at their parents, Coolio wasn't having it. According to the rapper, he's sees some of the artists as his enemies.

"If you’re telling my children something wrong that might get into their brain and cause them to hurt themselves or hurt others, or not become productive, then I look at you as my enemy," said Coolio.

The rapper's plans to improve hip-hop aren't the only ideas he has. Last year, Coolio revealed he would be running for vice president of the U.S. in 2020. Planning to run alongside adult film star Charlie DeVille, the rapper said normal, everyday people are needed in office.

See New Music Releases for February 2018