Was Jack White appropriate when he claimed that hip-hop is the brand new punk rock?

Whereas Jack White’s musical DNA is rooted within the blues, he’s open to new concepts and travelling exterior of his consolation zone. Hip-hop is an space of music that the guitarist has more and more discovered himself exploring in recent times, and he even claimed it “is the brand new punk rock”.

Under no circumstances is White the primary individual to attract the comparability between the 2 genres, and he gained’t be the final both. In spite of everything, they each despatched shockwaves throughout the musical panorama. Nonetheless, hip-hop has managed to remain and develop over the many years, whereas punk crashed and burned after only a few quick years.

Though there are lots of variations between the 2 genres, they’re each fuelled by anarchy and a burning need to refuse the shackling nature of normal guidelines. Each punk rock and hip-hop tapped into the psyche of disgruntled youth whereas concurrently horrifying their elders.

In 2018, White spoke to Conflict and revealed that he has been listening to a variety of Ye, Nicki Minaj, A Tribe Known as Quest, in addition to “’80s and ’90s hip-hop particularly”.

The previous White Stripes frontman elaborated: “In a variety of methods, it’s the new punk rock. They’re doing the harmful issues – whether or not it’s Trippie Redd or Tekashi69; these are a really punk, harmful facet of music. In case you hearken to Nicki Minaj’s ‘Solely.’ I imply, a few of these lyrics are like, ‘Holy shit!’ I, as an grownup, listening to that on my own, am shocked at a number of the phrases that I’m listening to.”

White continued: “Nevertheless it’s sensible! It’s sensible to have the ability to say that, to have the ability to say no matter you need. I couldn’t get away with saying half of these issues that Nicki Minaj says in that tune. It’s simply sensible to see how far issues have gone in that sense, and the way cool it’s for folks to speak about these moments and say, ‘Wow, verify this out.’”

He went on so as to add how guitar music wasn’t stimulating him like rap, and White mentioned he was crying out for a “model new band to come back out and be like, ‘I can’t wait to listen to that subsequent tune…’ That’s that second that we don’t get sufficient of these days”.

Though it has just lately change into extra excessive, the previous White Stripes chief’s infatuation with hip-hop isn’t new. In 2014, White spoke about his disappointment after a possible collaboration with Kanye West fell by the online. He additionally claimed that seeing Ye in Nashville “might need been the best present I’ve seen in my life”. He added: “It was extra punk, extra in-your-face than something I’ve seen”.

Though the wait continues for Jack White to completely immerse himself into the hip-hop world, there’s little question about his respect for the style. For the music business to be wholesome, it wants a component of chaos, and proper now, that’s coming from rappers.

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