>>There is no denying that he and many of his contemporaries
>are
>>the "old guard" so to speak. The problem that you're
>>addressing is that there is essentially no "new guard"
>yet...
>>
>>But how can anyone expect the stars from 15 years ago to
>still
>>carry this shit and be relevent?
>>
>
>
>In deed, when you look at it even cats like Jay Z, Mos Def,
>Nas et al have been out recording for over 15 years (or nearly
>that). Its like what KRS-One said on his epic "I'm Still #1"
>-- 15 years down the line we'll be the old school artists.
>Therefore at this point there a generation of listeners that
>look upon the aforementioned in the same way some may look
>upon KRS, Dougie Fresh, BDK, Rakim et al of another era before
>their time.
>
>
>
>>which makes Its really rare that somebody can be at the
>forefront of
>>importance to his genre for multiple generations.
>>One of the only people I can think of off top is Herbie
>Hancock because he drastically reivented himself multiple
>times. In the vast
>>majority of cases though people either a)fall off b)become a
>>self parody or c) become irrelevent because someone new
>>renders them irrelevent.
>
>True indeed basically the point as I take it is no matter the
>genre at some point the audience turns over to the point where
>your music doesn't speak to them any more on their level.
>Rarely can an artist transend and maintain relavence with a
>generation of listeners other than those who sparked his/her
>fame.
>
>
>From a hip hop frame of reference KRS is the only one I know
>that truly can still rock a crowd like he did in his "heyday".
>And he's done it across 3 decades (80's, 90's, 2000's).
>Although his albums in the last 2-3 years haven't quite had
>the same punch as some of his early 2000's work.
>
>
To me KRS' albums pretty much fell off a the point he broke with Jive. The productions feel low-budget and the hooks forced. He can still body a track (That's Not Hot, My Life, I Come Back, the Ridah Freestyle) but as for full album work since that point its been spotty.

But I highly respect the fact that he stays true to himself and never reduces himself to a nostalgia act. He really will be ripping a microphone until he's mothafuckin sixty.