When it comes to separating pop music and hip-hop from each other, the ever-rising popularity of the latter genre is making it extremely difficult these days. A$AP Ferg, who closed out 2017 strong with several singles and a new album, Still Striving, is one of those who believes that hip-hop and pop are now one and the same. More than that, he has picked out one emcee in particular as the face of music's new pop-punk movement.
During a recent interview with GQ, Ferg touched on a variety of subjects, including the new project he's working on and more. However, perhaps the most interesting passage was his statement on pop music and hip-hop music, how they're related, and how one Lil Uzi Vert is comparable to one of the 21st century's most popular bands. See what he had to say below:
"When I think about pop music, I think about hip-hop music. I feel like Young Thug is the new pop star. Lil Uzi [Vert] is definitely the new pop star. Like, he’s definitely the new Blink-182. And I don’t think it’s weird! It’s just the progression of hip-hop. Hip-hop just became the monster that it was always supposed to be. I think hip-hop started off embracing all cultures anyway. Hip-hop started off with Kraftwerk—Kraftwerk making sounds and drums and beats, something to feel. We didn’t know what that s**t was, but people liked it, and they danced to it. And then the DJ said, 'Oh, we can just loop this part of the beat and make a breakbeat?' People started breakdancing to it, and then you have a song like “Planet Rock,” which was sampled from Kraftwerk, which became hip-hop—the culture, the dancing. So we already embraced rock—Aerosmith and Run-DMC. We embraced electronic music, with Kraftwerk. We embraced soul music: James Brown. We embraced the Funkadelics, with George Clinton, and G-Funk, which Dr. Dre was creating in the beginning, with The Chronicand all of that. Doggystyle. We embraced all types of music, so it’s no wonder that we’re the new pop stars. And the new rock stars."
Do you agree with A$AP Ferg? Is Lil Uzi Vert the new Blink-182? Is Young Thug a pop star? Let us know in the comments.
