50 Cent & Rick Ross Clash Over Expiration Date In Hip Hop, Missing Bigger Debate

50 Cent and Rick Ross’ latest back-and-forth has raised an interesting question: Is there an age when rappers should stop releasing music?

50 believes there comes a point when veteran rappers should step aside. Ross disagrees and on this one, we’re leaning toward Ross.

Music doesn’t have an expiration date. Neither should the artists who create it.

Hip-hop is still the youngest major music genre, so we’re creating its rules in real time. Rock, R&B, soul and country artists routinely release music and tour later in life. Why should hip-hop be different?

As Nadeska Alexis points out in the conversation, audiences grow with artists and still want to hear new music from the people they grew up listening to.

Ross’ latest album may not match the commercial heights of his earlier work, but that shouldn’t determine whether he keeps creating. In today’s numbers-obsessed music business, established artists can become afraid to release music because every project gets judged against their prime. Ross deserves credit for still putting his art out there. And plenty of 50 fans would welcome new music from him too.

Biggie and Tupac never got the privilege of becoming older rappers. They would have loved the opportunity to still be here making music and growing with the culture. Instead, the darker side of hip-hop beef, negativity and violence — left us mourning their deaths.

The younger generation is hip-hop’s future, but we need balance. Veterans have history, perspective and wisdom that the culture still needs.

Maybe 50 and Ross shouldn’t be debating when rappers need to stop.

Maybe we should be celebrating that they lived long enough to keep going.