CyHi has sparked some discourse online following a recent post where he expressed his displeasure about the current state of hip-hop.
In a post on X on Wednesday (Feb. 11), CyHi claimed hip-hop used to have lyricists who were “from the streets,” but now the genre consists of “a bunch of straight A students” who dropped out of college and became rappers. “You can tell they don’t have any life experiences they’re just good with words,” he wrote.
The post came minutes after CyHi called today’s hip-hop “boring” due to repetitive subject matter, along with a lack of creativity, or even “too much creativity.”
CyHi explained that he misses the era in hip-hop when a rapper came from the streets, and became a mainstream success. The 41-year-old rapper and songwriter acknowledged his longtime collaborator Ye as “the original” college dropout rapper, but felt as though this has been the path that every mainstream rapper takes.
CyHi later clarified that his definition of a “street” rapper does not primarily have to do with illegal activities.
CyHi listed a few rappers these days that still fit that “street” mold.
While some disagreed with his take, quite a few understood where CyHi was coming from.