E-40 isn’t buying the idea that hip-hop has an expiration date. After more than three decades in the game, the Bay Area legend has watched rappers, sounds and eras come and go while continuing to make his own rules. At 58, 40 Water still has plenty to say about where rap is headed and who’s got the gas to keep it moving.
For XXL‘s Keep It a Buck series, 40 sits down to weigh in on rap myths, industry scenarios and some tough “would you rather” questions. Fresh off his new four-album release, Turning My Money Over (Quadruple Album), he gets real about the streets, Larry June’s success and other hip-hop talk.
The Bay Area legend read an interesting question asking him if he would rather have the industry respect him more or the streets respect him more. His answer was sharp on all four corners.
“Me personally, you want my opinion, I want the streets to respect me more ’cause that’s who made me,” he tells XXL. “To this day, I speak street language. Hip-hop was based on the streets.”
“The people outside of the streets [are] dictating who the streets should listen to. That s**t is interesting to me,” he adds.
Naturally, when presented with the idea that rap is a young man’s game, Forty Watta had one immediate response: “Fiction!”
“It’s many rappers from the ’90s that will gas the young generation,” he says. “You know, because we’re storytellers, we’re more charismatic, we’re creative, we got many styles, different voices. We do it all and it’s game involved. Muthaf**kas be late like holiday freight. It’s an old man’s game, an older man’s game. But there’s some youngins out there that got some gas too.”
And at this stage of his career, 40 isn’t particularly interested in playing the role of talent scout. When asked whether he’d rather discover the next big superstar or make one more classic album himself, the answer arrived quickly.
“I’m done with discovering rappers,” he says. “If they make it, you got nothing to do with it. But if they don’t make it, you got everything to do with it. That’s just crazy. I’m very established so I’m cool. I’d rather just make more classic albums, brother. Period.
“I’m cool. I don’t ever want to sign any artist ever,” he adds. “I don’t give a f**k if they a square from Delaware. I’m good. No disrespect to Delaware. It just rhymed.”
Still, being done with discovering artists doesn’t mean 40 isn’t paying attention to what’s happening around him. If he could team up with any up-and-coming Bay Area artist for a collaborative album, there’s one name that immediately comes to mind.
“My pick is Larry June,” 40 says, although he acknowledges Larry is not a new artist. “Larry June is getting a lot of success and he has been getting a lot of success. Financially I know he’s doing good because I know what it is to be independent and make a lot of scrilla.”
Check out the full interview below to see what else E-40 has to say about whether he feels artists today have it easier because of social media and more.
Watch E-40 Keep It A Buck
See Rappers With Streets Named After Them
