Q-Tip has voiced his concerns over 9th Wonder’s recent push for a new Hip Hop subgenre.
Inspired by a collaborative album from Common and Pete Rock, 9th Wonder suggested the creation of a subgenre called ‘Adult Contemporary Hip-Hop.’ He drew parallels to how the term ‘Neo-Soul’ was established in the 90s.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, 9th Wonder said, ‘This Common and Pete Rock album begs the conversation I’ve been having with folks for at least 20 years now. Adult Contemporary Hip-Hop needs its own category. Word to DO IT ALL from Lords of The Underground….we’ve been said this homie!!!’
He added, ‘Tell that to the moment in music history when they created the term “Neo-Soul”. It not only separated it from other R&B styles, but it damn came with a starter kit.’
However, Q-Tip is not a fan of this idea. He believes it could create unnecessary divisions. ‘Adding
ADULT CONTEMPORARY
category to hip hop programming is divisive. It would be nice to have everything in one pot BUT.. if there is a need to do so.. call it TRADITIONAL hip hop as
ADULT
will make AGEIST prejudge,’ Q-Tip tweeted.
He agreed with a fan who said, ‘To me it’s just hip hop. I never considered a recent Nas release that, nor do I consider the new Common
adult contemporary
adding, ‘Totally agree… but a lot of folks inside are pounding the table for it.’
Q-Tip believes that more subgenres could separate generations of Hip Hop fans rather than unite them. He prefers to keep it all under one umbrella, suggesting the term ‘Traditional Hip-Hop’ instead.
While 9th Wonder is pushing for new labels to define Hip Hop’s evolution, Q-Tip remains cautious, fearing that it might lead to unnecessary divisions within the genre.
